Student Instagram storytelling campaign
Are you a newcomer student with a positive school experience to share? We’d love to hear your story!
We’re launching a storytelling campaign where newcomer students can share short stories about positive experiences at school. These stories will help other newcomer students feel inspired, welcomed and connected to a larger community.
Right now, we are collecting short written submissions. If selected, these submissions will later be turned into short videos to share on Instagram alongside other resources for newcomer students:
How to participate
- Read the prompts below and think about which one you want to answer.
- Click the submission link.
- In the form, select the prompt you want to answer.
- Write your response in 150 words or less.
- You can submit responses to more than one prompt.
Guidelines for your submission
Before you start, please keep these submission guidelines in mind:
- Consider how your submission can bring a sense of hope, meaning and belonging to other newcomer students.
- Write about positive experiences you have had at school and what made them positive.
- Avoid making light of mental illness or equity concerns.
- Avoid sharing stories that could be upsetting, harmful or bring up strong emotions for others.
- Submissions with slurs or offensive comments will not be accepted.
- Keep your word count under 150 words.
- Parent/caregiver consent is required to participate.
- We welcome submissions from students currently enrolled in publicly funded Ontario schools (Catholic and public).
All submissions will be reviewed by the School Mental Health Ontario team before being posted. If a submission does not follow the guidelines, the student will be notified that it was not accepted.
Thank-you gift
If your submission is selected and you create a video sharing your story, you will receive a $10 honorarium as a thank you.
Prompts
Choose from these prompts:
- What’s one thing that made you feel welcomed or happy at school?
- What is a moment at school that made you feel included?
- What is a positive experience you’ve had as a newcomer student in school?
Click the button below, choose the prompt you want to answer and write your response in the form.
Timelines
Submission deadline: May 29, 2026
After May 29, we will review all submissions, which may take some time.
We will contact students in June. If your submission is selected, you will receive instructions and support on how to record a video of your story.
The videos will be shared publicly this fall (2026).
We are excited to read your submissions and share your voice with our audiences.
If you have any questions, please email Huda at hadnan@smho-smso.ca.