Welcome to our collection of successful Dare to Dream projects. If you’re looking for inspiration, ideas or just want to see some of the amazing work youth across Ontario have done, you’ve come to the right place.
To see all successful projects, click on the links below:
Time to get wild! The Wild Den group at Robert Bateman High School in Burlington is revamping a tired, unused space in their school to create an awesome study/chill/activities/social/mental health promotion room all rolled into one! Seeing that students at their school needed somewhere less official than the library but calmer than the cafeteria, the Wild Den team chose to create a new space where their peers can feel comfortable, get to know each other and find resources about mental health, stress, relaxation, local agencies and more.
The Wild Den space will also be used as a base for on-going mental health awareness activities throughout the school year, including events with healthy snacks, yoga and other de-stressing activities, games nights, cards, foosball, air hockey, guest speakers, open-mike and coffee house nights for the entire school. Each event will provide students with the fun and relaxing atmosphere they need to engage with their school and learn about mental health and mental wellness. Can’t wait to see the final outcome!
Tired of the same old stuff you’ve been hearing on the radio? Looking for something new to listen to? How about the creative arts of your fellow youth?
Unheard Voice of Youth is starting a new radio program, Revolutionary Lives, to broadcast youth-created spoken word, slam poetry, freestyle and radio drama productions to share youth experiences and spread the word about mental health, illness and other issues youth are facing. The group in Hamilton will also be putting on a conference to get out into the community and share their creativity. Youth will participate in baking, crafts, cartooning, photography, writing and more, making sure there is something for everyone’s personality and interest. Resources on mental health issues and local mental health resources will be provided. As if that weren’t enough, participating youth will have the opportunity to create content for the radio show! Stay tuned…
Sometimes the best kind of expression is the one that isn’t out loud, that is reflective, creative and diverse. The youth in Essex, ON understand this and want to make sure that these voices are heard throughout the community.
The Stand Together team is getting creative and using artwork, poetry, photography, writing and more to paint a picture of youth’s perspective of bullying. The group plans on putting together an art book showcasing youths’ creative side to get people talking about the causes of bullying, its negative effects, and how it can be stopped. A Bullying Awareness Day will be held to present the book and raise awareness of issues surrounding bullying and mental health. The group further plans to get youth involved in designing a magnet with a list of mental health resources for students to put in their lockers.
School stress around homework, exams, relationships and bullying can be heavy. Luckily the ASIST StressBuster Team at Brantford Collegiate Institute is hard at work providing fun, education, support and stress-busting activities throughout the year!
With exam prep workshops, contests and prizes, funny videos, healthy snacks, sports and more, the team hopes to help students find healthy ways to cope with stress and succeed at school and in their personal lives. The ASIST Team is also getting training on suicide prevention and healthy coping strategies through ASIST Training- a program that teaches how to talk to friends and keep them safe if they bring up ideas of suicide.
Do you feel comfortable, safe and happy at school? The Respect and Restore group at Aldershot High School understand that not everyone feels this way and is taking action to make school a place where students can feel safe and supported, succeed and feel connected.
The team is using Restorative Practice Training to teach students, staff and the Aldershot community how to get along, resolve conflict and support one another. Training creates a positive environment where everyone can work together to resolve problems before they escalate. The team is also creating the Respect and Restore Support Team- a group of student volunteers from all grades to give the school a peer-support system so that when conflicts arise, students have someone to talk to and to empower students to resolve conflicts positively. Way to go guys!
The students at this school are bringing learning to a whole new level by bringing mental health awareness, stress-reducing activities and a superstar guest speaker sharing her experiences in mental illness and stigma.
Throughout the mental health awareness week, the UCC group will be educating their peers on mental illness, mental health, stigma, how to deal with stress and how to be supportive and inclusive of others. They will be bringing in guest speaker Molly Burke to share her experiences, and will be giving out snacks, swag and prizes to keep messages from the awareness week alive throughout the year. Fun activities like funny videos and an awareness-raising tricycle race around the cafeteria are sure to be a hit!
People deal with stress in all different kinds of ways and the Stress-Bust That Stigma team wants to make sure the students at Saugeen District Secondary School find something that works for them!
Over the course of the school year, the team will bring in guest speakers talking about personal experiences and educating on mental health and healthy stress-busting techniques, and will run workshops with activities like yoga, dry land training, Zumba and African drumming. The team hopes that by making mental health awareness and stress-busting fun and inclusive, students will feel more comfortable talking about mental wellness and will learn effective ways to cope. Bye bye stress!
High school can be a scary and stressful place, especially for younger youth just starting out. With all the new things you have to know to get by, how do you de-stress and relax?
The Elevated Grounds team at Twin Lakes Secondary School has got you covered! Their project is providing youth in grades 7, 8 and 9 with an assembly workshop teaching healthy stress-management and relaxation techniques like yoga, time-management, healthy eating, recognizing warning signs and more. The team will also present “Elevated Grounds,” a drama and musical theatre group that educates youth on mental health and highlighting that students are not alone if they are suffering from symptoms of mental illness through theatre productions. All this info rolled into one educational and fun-filled workshop will surely be de-stressing in and of itself!
What is mental health? What is mental illness? What is stigma? What does mental illness look like? Answers to these questions can be scary and complicated. The students at Notre Dame High School want to provide their peers with these answers and more during their second annual week-long mental health awareness and promotion campaign at their school!
By working with a number of guest speakers, conversation workshops and group games, the Mental Health Awareness Week will highlight how common mental illness is, how stigma is hurting those who need help and how youth in the school can be Partners for Change. The team will be hosting guest speakers from the TAMI (Talking About Mental Illness) Coalition, Victoria Maxwell’s one-woman show, “Crazy For Life,” and a student-made video to inspire to students to keep talking about mental health and stigma after the Mental Health Awareness Week is over.
BOINGGGGG!!! What could be more fun than a carnival day full of bouncy castles, mini trampolines, bouncy balls and balloons? The Bounce Back team at All Saints Catholic High School is playing off this theme to show that mental illness is treatable, manageable and that everyone affected from it can bounce back!
Through the Bounce Back day and a kickoff video about the life of Elizabeth Manley, an Olympian who struggled with mental illness, the Bounce Back team wants to break down stigma, promote resilience and showcase community mental health resources in the school in a fun and interactive way. The video, created by students All Saints, will be distributed throughout the community, the city and on Facebook and YouTube to have the greatest impact, and the event will feature fun carnival games, activities, snacks and mental health information for the whole school. Brilliant!
Welcome to our collection of successful Dare to Dream Projects. If you're looking for inspiration, ideas, or just want to see some of the amazing work youth across Ontario have done, you've come to the right place.
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