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Project Wellness

How might we improve mental wellbeing in our school and community?

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This cohort of student designers embarked on a human-centered design journey to explore ways to improve mental wellness among their peers, neighbouring seniors, and the greater community of Cochrane. 

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Mitford School (Cochrane, AB)

Grade 7 & 8

Fall 2018 - Winter 2019

Partner: Rocky View Schools

Collaborator: Praxis Education

Building Resilience

We kicked things off with a bridge building challenge to showcase how we can use the various supports in our lives to help manage the stresses we encounter.

Discovery Phase

Students engaged in a variety of exercises to build empathy and understanding to help demystify and de-stigmatize the topic of mental health. 

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Part of this empathy building took place in the neighbouring seniors home. Students met with seniors to learn how they practice self-care and what challenges they face, in terms of mental health.

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Peer interviews were conducted to listen to the different perspectives and needs of their fellow students.

Ideation & Prototyping

The student teams then downloaded their learnings and started generating ideas on how to improve mental wellness in their school, the seniors home, and the larger community.

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Sticky notes and sketches turned into models and prototypes, with multiple rounds of testing and feedback inbetween.

Make it Real

The student designers got to work turning their ideas into reality.

 

The School Team redesigned a wellness room; complete with a new logo, student check-in system, and mindfulness station. 

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The Seniors Team organized a games event for seniors to participate in at the school, with custom artwork as prizes.

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The Community Team created their own podcast, featuring a mental health clinician as their first guest. 

Launch Day

On the final day, the teams shared their projects with the world. Students proudly displayed their hard work with peers, teachers and parents, and celebrated making good in the hood.

Copyright © 2021 Joshua Clarke.  All rights reserved. Every last one of them.

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