How Students are Turning Lived Experiences into Peer Learning
As part of May Student Wellness Month, students at Innovation Heights Academy (IHA) are using film and storytelling to explore mental health, coping skills, and substance use prevention. They plan to share their messages with peers across Highline.
The work builds on learning that began in October during Substance Use Prevention Month, when students first began developing prevention messaging grounded in their own experiences. This spring, students continued the project during their wellness block, giving them dedicated time to reflect, collaborate and create.
The project is led by Amelia Gross, LICSW, Highline’s Substance Use Prevention Manager, and connects mental health learning with hands-on media production. Students worked alongside community partner and filmmaker Kyle Seago of Seabreeze Studio, learning how to plan, film, and tell stories using professional equipment.
Through the project, students are building future ready skills, including leadership, communication, collaboration, and media literacy, while creating messages rooted in lived experience.
Student Voice Through Film
Over the last few months, students created several short public service announcements. Each videos features a theme:
- Choices: Explores ways students can use their goals to make choices that guide them towards a healthy future.
- Affirmations: Focused on grounding techniques and coping strategies students use when feeling emotionally overwhelmed.
- Take Space: Encourages students to pause, reflect, and care for themselves and others.
Rather than relying on traditional prevention messaging, students focused on creating content they believe their peers will find relatable and real.
Students wrote the video storyboard, planned each shot, filmed content from multiple perspectives, and reflected together after afterwards on what it felt like to be on camera and share personal experiences.
The student-created public service announcements (PSAs) will be presented at the Virtual Stanford Conference in April and shared in advisory classes throughout May for students in grades 8–12.
"What made me join this project was wanting to share my story and show others it’s possible to stand your ground and use your voice. It’s important to be heard," Aedrea B., senior.
Strength in Every Story
The videos align with the Student Wellness Month weekly themes, which guide learning and discussion in classrooms throughout May:
- Week One: In every story there’s strength
- Week Two: I choose myself by…
- Week Three: I take care of myself by…
- Week Four: I take care of others by....
By sharing their stories with students in grades 8–12, IHA students are helping normalize conversations about student wellness and reinforce that caring for oneself and others is a form of strength.
Pictured: Top row (L to R): Kyle Seago, Rebecca Salinas Bottom row (L to R): IHA students Aaliyah, Jazzy, Aedra