Innovation Tech Wins Top Place in OCM BOCES’ Voices for Wellness Challenge

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Innovation Tech wins top place in OCM BOCES’ Voices for Wellness challenge

 

Innovation Tech’s Friends of Rachel (FOR) Club students took first place in this year’s Voices for Wellness Challenge with their short film, Behind the Mask—a moving, thoughtful look at the importance of mental health and the stories we often keep hidden.

Organized by Hillary Arnold, Coordinator of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support & Community Schools at OCM BOCES, the challenge invited students across the region to use video as a tool to spark conversation, build empathy, and highlight the role mental wellness plays in everyday life.

“This challenge was about giving voice to what mental health means in your schools, your communities and your lives,” Arnold said. “And wow—did you deliver. Every submission was powerful, personal and inspiring. You reminded us that wellness starts with listening, creating and sharing stories that matter.”

Entries were reviewed by a team of impartial judges made up of OCM BOCES Instructional Support Services department members and administrators from component school districts. Judges carefully scored each video throughout the month of April.

Joshua Dupra, an Innovation Tech sophomore from North Syracuse featured in the Behind the Mask video, says he and his peers wanted to show the reality of unseen emotional struggles that teenagers face daily—and also idea that, with the help and understanding of others, there is “a way to change things.”

“It was important to me because I feel like I was in certain positions in my life aligned with the video roles that were portrayed, Dupra said. "I felt like it was a very positive thing that could make an impact on someone."

While Innovation Tech earned this year’s top honors, Arnold said every participating district brought something special to the table. Videos were also submitted by students from the Fayetteville-Manlius and East Syracuse Minoa Central School Districts.

“While one group has been selected for this year’s top prize, we want to emphasize how impressed we were by every submission,” she said. “Each district brought creativity, thoughtfulness, and heart to this challenge—and every participant has something to be proud of.”

The Voices for Wellness Challenge aims to keep the conversation about mental health open and active in schools—and after this year’s response, organizers say the momentum is only growing.

“Let’s turn the spotlight on kindness and make a difference together,” she said.