Beyond the Class

THRIVE

At Lakefield College School, we have always believed that our school community provided all of the basic essentials for good health—a sound mind in a sound body. Since its inception, the school’s programming has been rooted in its mission: "To challenge and enable students to reach their individual potential in mind, body and spirit," the campus is located in a beautiful natural environment, and our staff and faculty have a long history of nourishing genuine and caring relationships with their students and colleagues. In 2015, after a year of research in the area of well-being, however, we realized that we could make a significant difference in this area for all members of our community—students and staff alike—not just at LCS, but also beyond, because we have a strong foundation already in place.  It was the desire to strengthen our impact in the area of well-being that led to our THRIVE well-being initiative. Now in its third year, thanks to the generous support of a number of parents and alumni, in particular a leadership commitment from the Bouchard family, THRIVE is a fully funded program.

Students Flourishing Now and For a Lifetime

Lakefield College School’s THRIVE well-being initiative grew out of a mission “intended to help all members of our community – students and staff – develop the habits and practices needed for good mental health, and to develop the infrastructure (within the school’s physical plant and human resources) needed to foster those habits and practices." THRIVE is preventative mental health based on three pillars: Physical Well-being, Positive Psychology and Lifelong Habits. The program promotes good habits and practices intended to mitigate mental health issues before they start. Equally important, these habits and practices also improve the ability to focus, remember, and process information, contributing to better academic performance.

Physical Well-being

  • Sleeping Better
  • Eating Smarter
  • Moving More
  • Thinking Clearly

Positive Psychology

  • Resilience
  • Gratitude
  • Strengths
  • Meaning
  • Flow
  • Positive Relationships
  • Positive Emotion

Lifelong Habits

Student able to recreate personal and community well-being after leaving LCS.

Physical Well-being

Taking care of our bodies also takes care of our minds. Every day, we are teaching ourselves and our students strategies for keeping our bodies strong so that we can handle life’s obstacles and achieve our goals.
 
Lakefield College School has partnered with Dr. Greg Wells in the roll-out of his program first with our staff and then with our students: Eat Better, Sleep Better, Move More, Think Clearly, Perform Better. Students learn of the impact of adequate sleep, proper nutrition and hydration, physical activity and being in nature, not just on their bodies, but on their mental health and their ability to learn and remember.  As we educate, we also improve our facilities and our approach with students, in the residences, the dining hall, the sports fields and the classrooms, to support them in their quest for optimal health and the benefits that follow.

Positive Psychology

“One of the most significant findings in psychology in the past twenty years is that people can choose the way they think.”  -Martin Seligman
 
Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities, and organizations to flourish. It is not about being happy or positive.  It is about learning the practices and habits that are linked to excellent mental health--and, no surprise--to strong academic performance. Our goal is to give students the gift of thinking about themselves and the world around them in a way that allows them to grow and flourish; learning to concentrate on their strengths, rather than their weaknesses, to see disappointment and failure as opportunities for growth, to be optimistic about their futures, to value and cultivate strong positive relations with others, to seek meaning, purpose and achievement.

Lifelong Habits

We want our students to thrive, not just while they are with us, but also as they pursue their passions at university and beyond. We want our graduates to lead the way in creating thriving communities in their new learning environments and ultimately in the companies and institutions where they launch their careers.

We See Our Students Changing The World

At Lakefield College School we want our students to change the world: to know these habits and practices so well that they can create great environments no matter where they find themselves. The well-being of our students is paramount. Seeing them flourish now and for a lifetime is the goal driving our vision to “create graduates who become known as optimistic, energized leaders who can give their all and create positive environments in their workplaces and communities. We want to change the mental health not only of LCS children, but of all children.”

Since its launch, the school has been making deep changes of its own and building its infrastructure to support THRIVE.  The changes are extensive, and they include:

List of 3 items.

  • Positive Education Initiatives for Students

    • New Grade 9 advising curriculum
    • New Grade 9 course curriculum
    • Take Ten (support group for students to manage stress)
    • Healthy Relationship seminars 

  • THRIVE Infrastructure for Staff

    • Training of three positive psychology leaders
    • Designated Safe Space leader
    • Mental Health training for residential staff
    • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) partnership with LCS Health Centre

  • Spaces and Initiatives to Encourage Better Eating, Sleeping, Moving, Thinking

    • community garden
    • outdoor furniture
    • walking paths
    • contemplative space
    • comfortable seating in Upper Hadden Hall
    • disc golf course
    • outdoor hammocks
    • new Grade 11/12 fitness course
    • Sunday afternoon activities
    • culinary classes
    • stand-up paddleboards
    • water-bottle-friendly water fountains
    • yoga during Grove Time
    • healthier breakfast foods
    • black-out blinds in residences
Infusion of THRIVE principles into all of our programs has begun with our Grade 9 curriculum, advising, coaching and Leadership, Character, Values programs.  It is an ongoing project, and our students in some ways are probably barely aware of it, as it is infused in all that we do. When:
 
  • Our students are required to take a walk or do a breathing practice before a test, that’s THRIVE at work
  • Our students complete a survey to determine character strengths, that’s THRIVE at work
  • A student surrenders a cell phone to his or her head of house so that he or she will be able to go to sleep more readily, that’s THRIVE at work
  • Students see more healthy fats, like avocado, in the dining hall, and fewer high sugar products, like chocolate milk, that’s THRIVE at work

And it is all there to help our students focus better, learn better, and perform better.
 

School Information

4391 County Road 29, Lakefield Ontario K0L 2H0   705.652.3324   admissions@lcs.on.ca

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Lakefield College School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12, located in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.

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