 Gone are the days of the basic needs of kids being seen as just food clothing and shelter. We really need to look at the basic needs of students meeting their needs at school holistically as emotionally, mentally, spiritually, physical, well-being, all of them tied in together. Health is so much larger than just physical fitness just because if you have a great mental state then you can achieve anything. When you're happy you feel like you feel very confident. They all go together, body, mind and spirit, you know, the one motivates the next and you know you become a functioning person. And a big piece of that is that self-worth and students get that self-worth through having a voice and opportunities within the school to share who they are. Student voice is essential in the school because without students believing and knowing that they're valued, they don't connect. A lot of students feel as though they can't just open up and have conversations with teachers and share their voice or their opinions. You're on this world for purpose, you're not just here because you're here, you're here because the Creator gave you a reason to be here. You have a story to tell, you have an identity. By creating a safe, caring environment where students are free to express themselves those conversations are rich and we also work on providing students with the language they need so they can be very clearly understood. So we thought what's a medium, what's a way for us to have students share the thoughts that they have, the ideas they have with educators. So we looked at photo voice and we talked to a number of students in different high schools within Edmonton Public Schools, First Nations, Métis, and New York students about representing what health and well-being means to them through Indigenous eyes. So the photo voice project was to kind of give a visualization of just what Aboriginal mental wellness means to us. I took one specific picture and my friend going down a set of staircases in the ravine. It was a very gloomy kind of day. My friend was just by herself and it kind of to me represented isolation, the feeling of abandonment, the feeling of just kind of going a downward spiral. So I don't want anybody to ever feel that way. And so I thought if I took that picture people would actually be like, wow, like that's so sad she's walking by herself in this gloomy kind of place and that's how it often feels for a lot of youth, like they don't feel like they have the support around them that they need to have a healthy atmosphere, healthy state of mind, a spiritual guidance. It offered them a voice. It offered them a way to share what's been inside their heart, inside of their head for a long time and to be able to show that to other people that this is what health and well-being means to me. They're really intelligent, intelligent humans and at 12, 13, 14 years old, they're really just exploring their role in the world and they're in this massive transition from child to adult and we get to see this beautiful transition period with them. But they absolutely want to be heard. They have important things to say and they want to shape culture that makes sense to them. Sometimes the kids have tools or even an idea of how they could see life a little bit differently with having these experiences and building on them for future confidence. I think it's important to get involved because I want my voice to be heard. It's really exciting to see our students step up with such pride and commitment to their history and their culture and their willingness to share and teach and be vulnerable and share their own stories. Most of the students walk through the door and they're not speaking and they're just kind of hiding in the back corner and to watch them on their pathway to flourishing is incredible because they find themselves and they find a voice and they step up. I think it's inspirational for them to feel that they're able to share their identity, their culture, their mental well-being. I think we're in the business of hope. We talk about knowing your past is important but it doesn't dictate your future. If you grow up in this environment, it doesn't mean you're going to live in that environment all your life.