Teachers/ counselors/ mentors/advisors that would like use the THIS IS ME program, after signing the licensing agreement, will receive access to the web app, the complimentary curriculum, and will be invited to the annual THIS IS ME International Film Festival where participants can showcase their short films. The website, with password protected pages for participating schools/ organizations, hosts all relevant materials. There is flexibility about how best to implement THIS IS ME in an individual school or organization. However, it is recommended that the three verbal journaling interviews and accompanying lessons are all used, as they build on one another.

Students complete the question sets on their own. Then the teachers/ counselors/ mentors/ advisors are encouraged to use the complementary curriculum to build coping strategies and life skills.

This person plays a critical role in ensuring that students feel a sense of protection and connection. The role of the teacher/ counselor/ mentor/ advisor will be to encourage students to complete the question sets and to integrate the complementary curriculum into their classroom or group setting, which will give students the opportunity to share aspects of their story. It is encouraged that teachers/ counselors/ mentors/ advisors who use THIS IS ME see it as an opportunity to connect with students and to build school community. Finally, if a participant mentions that they themselves or a classmate might be in danger during a video journaling session, THIS IS ME staff will be alerted, and depending on the severity of the concern, a school counselor will be notified and asked to check in with the student.

In order to be a good teacher/ counselor/ mentor/ advisor for THIS IS ME you need to be willing to support, mentor, and connect with your participant(s). The ideal faculty advisor is someone who is willing to encourage and empower students to share their own stories. This person should be non-judgmental, caring, and a role model.

To encourage authenticity and respect student privacy, only students will be able to access their own videos. The student can chose to share individual videos in class or as part of their THIS IS ME short-film.

All that is required to complete the verbal journaling sessions is access to a stable internet connection. It can be done on a computer or phone however, it is recommended that Chome or Firefox web browers are used to capture higher quality video.

Schools, at their own discretion, can make this call as they are free to use any number of apps in educating students without parental permission. However, it is recommended that schools get parental permission especially for participants under the age of 13.

Your child, with the guidance of a faculty advisor, will engage in verbal journaling., which is a fancy way of saying talking to themselves guided by important life questions. Your child will be asked to reflect on questions regarding themselves, their communities, and the world. The question sets are designed to empower youth to share their own stories in a protected and supportive environment. You can expect your child to participate in three verbal journaling sessions over the course of the academic year and to engage in various classroom discussions and activities.

To encourage authenticity and respect participant privacy you will ONLY be able to access your child’s video if they choose to share them with you. Storage of the video time capsules is HIPAA Compliant.

To ensure your child’s privacy, each individual THIS IS ME participant will have their own password protected account via the website. All verbal journaling footage will be sent directly to the secure password protected site.

Unfortunately, not at the moment. The program is designed to be rolled out in the context of a classroom environment or a group setting to get maximum utilization of the verbal journaling exercises. We also want to ensure your students’ safety. Not that THIS IS ME poses any risk to participants. It doesn’t. THIS IS ME has built-in, keyword technology that can pick up anything the student says that suggests they may be in danger. We need to have a way to follow-up with students we are concerned about and that protocol exists within your school/ organization. Currently, we are offering THIS IS ME to a small cohort of youth who are helping us to refine the program. If this is something you think your student would be interested in, please reach out today.