Students fill out a We Belong Week poster during lunch.
Signature School-Wide Campaign season has officially come to a close for the 2025–26 school year! Similar to our Because You Matter campaign that relaunched this past fall through winter, our We Belong Week (WBW) Campaign allows Our Minds Matter (OMM) mental health advocates to broaden their impact outside of club meetings.
We understand that not every school will be able to start an OMM club for multiple reasons, such as a lack of time, capacity, or interest. Therefore, our Signature Schoolwide Campaigns help schools reach students by providing a supply kit with all the resources needed for a school to host the campaign, whether they have an OMM club or not, which deepens the mental health impact for the whole school.
Students using a We Belong Week bracelet-making kit.
We Belong Week is a spirit week of activities focused on building social connection and belonging, a key protective factor against teen suicide. Campaign participants had an opportunity to create new friendships, brainstorm ways to create an inclusive school culture, and learn what resources are available to them if they or a friend needs help.
Students engaged in hands-on, interactive activities like speed-friending, friendship bracelet making, and a suggestion box to propose ways to help students feel they belong. The week concludes with a school-wide pledge to create a welcoming environment where everyone can feel like they belong.
From February through May of this year, we distributed over 80 We Belong Week signature campaign boxes to our network. As we finish this school year, we’re proud to share that over 120,000 teens have been impacted by our Signature School-Wide Campaigns. All clubs that completed our post-campaign survey also agreed that the campaign fostered a greater sense of belonging for students.🌟
Many schools took the opportunity to create a full themed spirit week, including making their own custom flyers and announcements! Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church, Virginia, hosted We Belong Week activities for their Stress Less Week. The week gave students the space to practice self-care before SOL (Standards of Learning) testing. Henderson Minds Matter built on the We Belong Week agenda with therapy dog visits and a day dedicated to movement!⚽
We Belong Week was also a great tool to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month! On May 1, 2026, Ballou High School’s Knights Minds Matter club in Washington, D.C., hosted its third annual Wellness Walk. The school-wide event welcomed students, staff and other community members to engage in “walk-and-talk” mental health discussions to bridge the gap between physical and mental health. Another interactive activity at the event? A We Belong Week table hosted by OMM staff and Knights club leaders!🥰
OMM staff join Knights Minds Matter for their annual Wellness Walk!
Lastly, like many Our Minds Matter campaigns and curricula, schools are encouraged to adapt We Belong Week to fit their unique needs and interests. Any school can use schoolwide campaigns to challenge mental health stigma and spark meaningful connections across the student body.
Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland, hosted friendship bracelet making and created a bulletin board of suggestion cards. Though Key is not currently hosting club meetings, Deb Lourie, a Key social worker, said that the campaign still gave students the chance to engage in mental health conversations through OMM materials. (Key students also participated in our Because You Matter campaign in the fall!)
Below are some suggestions that We Belong Week participants gave for what they or others may need to feel that they belong:
- Creating an anti-racist group
- Having spaces where people can speak openly
- Welcoming a peer to join your group of friends
- Kind teachers and friends
- Being patient and listening to a peer
- Having more equality and being inclusive of different cultures
A We Belong Week suggestion card.
We Belong Week offers just a few ways to remind people that they deserve to take up space in their schools and larger communities. These activities also showed that teens have countless ideas for how to better their school culture and to make sure that no peer is left behind. We are grateful to the thousands of changemakers who participated in We Belong Week this school year.💙 We can’t wait to see all the ways you inspire belonging next school year!
Another special thank you for supporting Our Minds Matter goes to The J. Willard & Alice S. Marriott Foundation; Kettering Family Foundation; The MATTIE Fund; Rosendin Foundation; Van Metre Companies; and our supporter community of mental health champions like you.