The province will pay for two local school boards to add two mental health nurses to their staffs in January.

The two hires are two of 144 nurses the province is funding as part of Ontario’s Comprehensive Mental Health and Addictions Strategy. The pair will work with the Greater Essex District School Board and Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

The nurses will help teachers recognize the signs of mental illness in schools in and around Windsor, Ont.

Sharon Pyke, a superintendent with the board, said stats provided to the board show that between one in four or one in five Canadians suffer from mental illness or addiction.

"We have a huge area of students and adults suffering from mental health or addiction issues," she said. "This is going to be a nice addition."

The board doesn't have its own statistics but plans and strategizes based on national stats.

By next January, all Grade 11 gym classes will feature lessons on mental health.

Pyke said teaching mental health to students in phys ed makes sense because students learn how to maintain a healthy mind-body balance.

"That can be the age where it begins or when kids are seeing differences in themselves," Pyke said. "We certainly want it to be earlier because we want people to know the warning signs. But we started with Grade 11 and we'll work our way backwards as well as coming forward through the elementary curriculum."

The course was developed by the board and several local health agencies. It will be taught by phys ed teachers, who received board-certified training in May and June.

Kim Baker, the health and phys ed dept head at Walkerville, received the training. She said it makes the curriculum more relevant. She also said it’s likely there is one kid in every class suffering from mental illness.

"I find it a really good program. They have to understand it's something that may affect them or one of their friends and how to help recognize symptoms and get help for it," Baker said.