Student poem on Mental Illness

Blyth Academy Student, Nawaf R., composed a palindrome poem about mental illness that was recently published on the blog ‘Boys Cry‘. When writing this poem, Nawaf was inspire by a poem called ‘Refugees’ by Brian Bilston.

James Deacon, creator of Boys Cry, shared his comments on Nawaf’s poem:

“His use of the palindrome form is such a clever way of presenting life with a mental illness. The outward self so many of us project, full of hope and a belief things can be (or are) different, and the inward self, impossibly cruel, endlessly critical, robbing us of life’s vitality. This is a beautiful and tragic exploration of the juxtaposition that is life with a mental illness.”

Please enjoy Nawaf’s poem below.

—-

Mercurial

I can do this

I was foolish enough to think

I’m not strong enough

I feel

Happiness

Long gone are the days of

Pain and distress

There is nothing but

Success from now on

There will be no

Unhappiness.

I have found

A way out

There isn’t

Any more sadness

I don’t need

Help

(Now read from the bottom to the top)

Though our physical doors remain temporarily closed, the minds of our students stay open. Summer classes are continuing to meet on their regular daily schedules, in virtual classrooms with face-to-face instruction and peer interaction.  The Blyth Academy model of small class sizes, flexible scheduling and individualized approach have enabled us to remain faithful to our standards. Our commitment to ongoing and meaningful communication between school, teachers, students and families has been critical to this effort.

Although our students have transitioned into summer mode and COVID-19 restrictions have begun to loosen, we are looking ahead to what September will hold for our campuses and families.
We want to be clear - our preference and our priority is to get students back to our campuses, but we must ensure this is done in a safe and effective way. While we await official guidance from Public Health and the Ministry of Education, a "return to school" task force has been hard at work putting concrete operational plans in place for all likely scenarios. This includes a full return to campus with safeguards, a blended model of virtual and in-campus learning and the continuation of fully virtual classrooms. All scenarios will provide robust learning and live, daily instruction and interaction with teachers and peers. 
With ten campuses across Ontario, we realize that each one of our schools is a unique space and community. We will be implementing across-the-board policies on hand washing, facility cleaning and social distancing measures. Each school is also prepared to pivot individually based on the guidance of local health authorities and to best serve students and families. 
Our recent survey showed that over 80 per cent of Blyth Academy families are eager to return to campuses, and we are hard at work to prepare for this day. As September's scenario becomes clearer and more information becomes available, we will continue to communicate. 

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