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Escape the Vape
Empowering Students to Lead Change
"Escape the Vape" is an innovative ten-hour student-led wellbeing project designed specifically for Year 9 students. This transformative program turns young learners into health detectives and community leaders as they investigate the complex truth about vaping, collaborate with families and local experts, and design interactive escape-room style campaigns that promote evidence-based healthy choices throughout their school and wider community.
Built on three powerful educational frameworks, this project creates authentic learning experiences where students move from passive recipients of information to active agents of change. Through research, creative design, and public leadership, students develop critical health literacy skills while making a real difference in their communities.
Student Voice & Agency
Students design surveys, lead discussions, and make authentic decisions as co-creators of wellbeing initiatives
Community Partnerships
Authentic collaboration with families, health professionals, and local organizations strengthens learning
High Impact Wellbeing Strategies
Evidence-based pedagogical approaches ensure meaningful engagement, connection, and continuous improvement
Educational Foundations Guiding Our Planning
The "Escape the Vape" project is built upon three interconnected educational frameworks that work together to create powerful, sustainable learning experiences. These foundations ensure that every activity is purposeful, engaging, and grounded in research-based best practices for adolescent wellbeing education.
By integrating Student Voice and Agency, Community Partnerships, and High Impact Wellbeing Strategies, we create a comprehensive approach aligned with the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework and the World Health Organization's Health-Promoting Schools model. This triple-framework approach ensures students don't just learn about health—they actively lead change within their communities.

Why Multiple Frameworks Matter: Each framework significantly strengthens the others.
  • Student voice drives creativity and ownership, empowering students to co-design relevant campaigns and identify genuine community needs for partnerships.
  • Community partnerships, in turn, provide real-world insights and validation for student ideas, enhancing the authenticity and reach of their projects, like when local health experts offer feedback on student-created escape rooms.
  • High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS) provide the pedagogical structure, like inquiry-based learning, that makes student-led efforts effective and ensures community collaborations translate into measurable learning outcomes.
When all three are integrated, students become empowered leaders whose evidence-based campaigns resonate deeply.Without this synergy, projects risk being disengaging (lacking student voice), irrelevant (lacking community input), or ineffective (lacking HIWS structure).
🔊Student Voice & Agency
From Participation to Leadership
Student Voice sits at the very heart of "Escape the Vape," transforming traditional health education into a student-driven movement for change.
Drawing on DET Victoria's Amplify framework (2019) and the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework(2025), this element empowers learners to progress through Hart's Ladder of Participation—moving from simple consultation to authentic shared decision-making and ultimately to student-initiated, student-led action.
When young people have genuine agency in their learning, they develop stronger connections to content, deeper critical thinking skills, and increased motivation to create positive change (Larson & Angus, 2011). This isn't tokenistic involvement—students hold real responsibility for project outcomes from initial design through to final evaluation.
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1
Design the Research
Students create and distribute the Vaping Awareness Survey across their school community and families, determining questions and methodology
2
Lead Expert Sessions
Students moderate Q&A sessions with guest health educators, preparing questions and facilitating peer discussions
3
Create Campaign Elements
Each team decides their booth's theme, activities, and messages based on evidence and creative vision
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Analyze and Reflect
Students examine post-event data, write reflective blogs and vlogs, and present findings to school leadership
Key Benefits
  • Develops intrinsic motivation through ownership
  • Builds self-efficacy and leadership capacity
  • Creates authentic assessment opportunities
  • Increases engagement and retention of learning
"This nurtures self-efficacy and positions students as agents of change, not passive recipients of information. When students lead, learning becomes personal, powerful, and lasting."
HIWS Connection: This approach directly supports two critical High Impact Wellbeing Strategies: Engage students in learning through genuine ownership that fosters deep motivation, and Foster self-efficacy as public leadership experiences build confidence and capability that transfers to other life domains.
🏠Community Partnerships
Building Bridges Beyond the Classroom
"Escape the Vape" embraces the WHO Health-Promoting Schools (2024) model, integrating expertise from health professionals, active family engagement, and authentic civic collaboration, and recognising that coordinated school–community partnerships create sustainable wellbeing outcomes (Jourdan et al., 2021).
This ensures sustainable wellbeing by coordinating efforts across students' environments: where they live, learn, and grow. When schools, families, and community organizations partner, health messages are consistently reinforced, trust deepens, and learning connects to real-world impact (Lockett et al., 2024).
These partnerships are integral to the project, from research consultation to final evaluation. Students develop professional relationship skills, communicate with diverse stakeholders, and understand how community resources foster collective wellbeing.
Riverdale Community Health Centre
Role: Professional health educators deliver an engaging vaping-awareness presentation tailored to adolescent audiences
Value: Students receive evidence-based information from trusted experts and have opportunities to ask candid questions in a safe space
Ongoing Support: Centre staff fact-check student-created materials to ensure scientific accuracy before the public Carnival event
Parents and Carers
Role: Complete student-designed surveys sharing perspectives on adolescent vaping, attend the Escape the Vape Carnival, and engage with booth activities
Value: Family involvement extends learning beyond school walls, opens intergenerational dialogue, and demonstrates adult support for student leadership
Impact: Students report increased confidence discussing health topics at home, and families gain insight into adolescent health challenges
Local Youth Council
Role: Amplify student campaigns through local social media channels, community newsletters, and youth networks
Value: Extends project reach beyond the school community, connects students with broader civic structures, and validates youth leadership
Recognition: Outstanding student campaigns may be featured in council youth initiatives, building students' public advocacy skills
Why Partnerships Matter
Collaborating with families and community professionals lends credibility, consistency, and reach to wellbeing messages. Students learn health is a shared community value, making learning more meaningful and sustainable (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024).
HIWS Connection
Collaborate with families and communities: Ensures consistent health messaging across all student contexts.
Support inclusion and belonging: Welcomes diverse voices and experiences, enriching the learning journey for all.
High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS)
The "Escape the Vape" project systematically applies High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (Department of Education & Monash University, 2022), —a research-informed framework provides evidence-based guidance for designing wellbeing education that is structured, reflective, and genuinely transformative rather than superficial or tokenistic.
By anchoring every activity in HIWS principles, we ensure that wellbeing teaching moves beyond awareness-raising to build lasting capabilities, positive relationships, and resilient mindsets. These strategies work synergistically—when students are engaged through meaningful tasks, connected to authentic audiences, supported to reflect on their growth, empowered through leadership opportunities, and included through accessible design, learning becomes powerful and sustainable.

Evidence Base: Research shows that when wellbeing strategies engage students actively, connect learning to authentic contexts, incorporate structured reflection, build self-efficacy through graduated challenges, and ensure inclusive participation, students develop stronger health literacy, more positive attitudes, and greater resilience.
HIWS Principles in "Escape the Vape"
Build relationships with students
Build trust through genuine care and consistency. Each session starts with personalized wellbeing check-ins, allowing students to share feelings and fostering a safe space.
Facilitate peer relationships
Strengthen collaboration and respect. Students work in diverse teams on collaborative escape room challenges, promoting active listening and empathy.
Establish clear expectations
Co-create safe, inclusive norms. Students actively participate in co-creating class agreements for respectful collaboration and ethical behavior.
Support inclusion & belonging
Ensure every student feels valued. All materials use inclusive language, diverse imagery, and offer varied participation roles for different learning styles.
Foster self-efficacy
Build belief in student ability. Students gain confidence by designing and leading interactive booths at the public Carnival and mentoring younger students.
Engage students
Use active, relevant learning experiences. Learning is highly interactive through gamified 'escape room' scenarios integrating scientific facts about vaping and social media literacy.
Promote coping & referrals
Teach resilience and help-seeking. Structured reflection activities guide students in identifying personal stress triggers and developing healthy coping mechanisms.
Integration: How the Three Elements Work Together
The true power of "Escape the Vape" emerges from the synergistic relationship between Student Voice, Community Partnerships, and High Impact Wellbeing Strategies. These aren't separate components—they're interwoven threads that create a stronger, more resilient educational fabric.
  • Student Voice initiates ideas and drives leadership, giving students authentic agency in shaping the project direction.
  • Community Partnerships provide expert guidance, real-world context, and extended reach that sustains impact beyond the classroom.
  • HIWS ensures the pedagogical structure makes learning meaningful, measurable, and transferable to future situations.
When students voice their ideas (Agency), those ideas are validated and enhanced by community experts (Partnerships), and structured through evidence-based teaching strategies (HIWS), the result is transformative learning that builds both competence and confidence.
Student Voice Generates
Creative ideas, authentic questions, and innovative approaches grounded in peer understanding
Partnerships Validate
Expert guidance ensures accuracy, family involvement extends reach, community support builds credibility
HIWS Structures
Evidence-based strategies ensure engagement, connection, reflection, efficacy-building, and inclusion
Integrated Impact
Sustainable wellbeing learning that transforms knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and community culture
These frameworks are applied across every single activity in the project—from the initial student-designed survey through to the final reflection presentations. This consistent application ensures coherence, builds student confidence through repeated practice of key skills, and creates a recognizable project identity that participants can articulate and advocate for.
"Integration doesn't mean adding more—it means designing smarter. When voice, partnership, and evidence-based strategies work together, every activity does triple duty: building student agency, strengthening community connections, and developing robust wellbeing capabilities."
🏃Project Overview - Escape the Vape
Designing the 10-Hour Wellbeing Journey
Context: Year 9 Wellbeing Program delivered over four weeks with 10 hour sessions combining classroom investigation, creative studio work, and large-scale community event facilitation in the school hall.
Focus Issue: Adolescent vaping—a pressing contemporary health challenge requiring sophisticated understanding of social influences, commercial marketing tactics, neurobiological effects, and evidence-based prevention strategies.
Project Goal: Develop students' health literacy, critical media analysis, collaborative creativity, public leadership skills, and community advocacy capabilities through real-world application of wellbeing education principles with measurable impact.
Quick Facts
  • Duration: 10 total hours
  • Timeline: 4 weeks
  • Year Level: 9
  • Size: 100-150 students with 20 teachers
  • Community Reach: 80+ families
  • Partners: Health Centre, Youth Council, families
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Week 1: Discover
3 hours
Understanding attitudes, uncovering myths, gathering community data, meeting health experts
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Week 2: Co-Design
3 hours
Creative booth planning, interactive activity design, visual material creation, mentor consultation
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Week 3: Activate
3 hours
Authentic public engagement, hosting families, facilitating escape-room challenges, community leadership
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Week 4: Reflect
1 hour
Data-driven reflection, multimedia documentation, presentation to school leadership, celebrating impact

Pedagogical Design: The four-phase structure follows research-based project learning models: Investigate builds knowledge foundation, Design applies creativity to solve problems, Act creates authentic impact, and Reflect consolidates learning and plans next steps. This cycle can be applied to any wellbeing topic.
🔗Curriculum Links (VCAA, 2024)
The "Escape the Vape" project creates authentic opportunities for students to develop capabilities across multiple learning areas while remaining firmly anchored in the Victorian Curriculum. This integrated approach recognizes that wellbeing isn't a standalone subject—it's woven through Personal and Social Capability, Health and Physical Education, Media Arts, and Critical and Creative Thinking.
By explicitly linking project activities to specific curriculum achievement standards, teachers can confidently assess student learning while students understand how their advocacy work contributes to their formal education. These connections ensure the project delivers rigorous learning outcomes while maintaining student engagement through authentic, purposeful tasks.
Personal & Social Capability
Students analyze how personal characteristics influence the effectiveness of their collaboration. Through team-based booth design and Carnival facilitation, they explore independence, empathy, teamwork, and leadership, reflecting on their own strengths and growth areas in group contexts.
Assessment Example: Peer feedback rubric evaluating collaboration during Co-Design phase; reflection vlog analyzing personal growth in teamwork
Health & Physical Education
Code: VCHPEP126
Students evaluate strategies that promote health, safety, and wellbeing at individual and community levels. They investigate vaping risks, analyze influences on adolescent health behaviors, and design evidence-based interventions that could create sustainable positive change.
Assessment Example: Research report analyzing survey data; booth design documentation explaining health promotion strategies employed
Media Arts / English
Code: VCAMAR039
Students analyze persuasive techniques in commercial vaping marketing, deconstructing how media influences adolescent attitudes and behaviors. They then produce counter-advertising messages using visual design, language choices, and storytelling to promote healthy decision-making.
Assessment Example: Media analysis comparing vaping advertisements with health campaigns; student-created posters/videos with annotation explaining persuasive techniques
Critical & Creative Thinking
Code: VCCCTR050
Students develop and test complex ideas through experimentation and iteration. They use design thinking processes to create innovative wellbeing campaigns, seeking feedback from mentors and peers to refine their approaches before the public Carnival event.
Assessment Example: Design portfolio documenting ideation process, prototypes, feedback received, and revisions made; post-Carnival reflection analyzing what worked and why
🔍Activity 1: Discover – Decode the Vape
Duration: 3 hours | Week 1
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Learning Objectives
  • Identify common myths and misconceptions about vaping among adolescents and adults
  • Analyze social, psychological, and commercial factors that influence vaping behaviors
  • Collect and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data through student-designed surveys
  • Engage respectfully with community health experts through structured Q&A sessions
  • Develop foundational health literacy about nicotine addiction, respiratory effects, and marketing tactics
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HIWS Strategies: Students actively apply health and wellbeing strategies by conducting their own research, analyzing data, and engaging with experts, fostering critical thinking and informed decision-making regarding vaping.
Student Voice and Agency: Students demonstrate authentic agency by leading the survey design, moderating expert Q&A sessions, and interpreting community data, empowering them as active participants and advocates.
Community Partnerships: Collaboration with the Riverdale Community Health Centre provides professional expertise, while family survey responses gather valuable intergenerational insights, grounding student learning in real-world community contexts and challenges.
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Design the Research Instrument
Student teams collaborate to create a comprehensive Google Forms Survey exploring attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors related to vaping.
They consider question types (multiple choice, Likert scales, open-ended), survey length, and how to encourage honest responses. Teacher facilitates discussion about research ethics, anonymity, and bias.
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Distribute and Collect Data
Students share the survey link through school communications, social media, and direct family outreach.
They monitor response rates, send reminder messages, and set a data collection deadline. This builds project management and communication skills while creating anticipation for analysis.
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Expert Health Educator Session
Riverdale Community Health Centre educator presents "Vaping—What's the Real Cost?" covering neurobiological effects, industry marketing tactics, and evidence-based cessation strategies.
Students moderate the session, asking prepared questions and facilitating peer discussion, which validates student inquiry with professional expertise.
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Analyze Results and Identify Patterns
Teams examine survey data using graphs, charts, and thematic coding of open responses. They identify surprising findings, persistent myths, and key concerns.
What misconceptions are most common? What influences are strongest?
These insights directly inform booth design in Week 2.
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Create "Myths vs Facts" Display
Students synthesize their learning into a visual classroom display comparing common myths (e.g., "Vaping is just water vapor") with evidence-based facts.
This serves as ongoing reference material and demonstrates baseline knowledge before the project deepens.
"When students discover information through their own research rather than passive reception, learning becomes personal and memorable. The surprise of community data—discovering what peers and families really think—creates powerful motivation for the advocacy work ahead."
🧑‍🎨Activity 2: Co-Design – Build Your Escape
Duration: 3 hours | Week 2
Armed with research insights from Week 1, students now shift from investigation to creation. This phase transforms data and knowledge into engaging educational experiences through collaborative design thinking. Teams select their booth theme, develop interactive activities, create visual materials, and refine their approach through peer and mentor feedback.
The "escape room" framework provides an engaging structure that appeals to adolescent interests while serving serious educational purposes. Puzzles, challenges, and interactive elements make health information memorable and shareable, increasing the likelihood that learning will transfer beyond the project to influence real attitudes and behaviors.
Collaborative Teams
Working in teams fosters diverse perspectives and shared problem-solving.
Design Thinking
Embracing an iterative approach for creative and effective solutions.
Peer & Mentor Feedback
Refining ideas through constructive criticism from peers and experts.
The Escape Room Booths: Interactive Learning Experiences
Misinformation Maze
Navigate a physical maze encountering true and false vaping statements at each turn. Wrong choices lead to dead ends; correct paths advance toward the "exit" while collecting fact cards. Tests knowledge while building confidence through immediate feedback.
Science Lab Investigation
Interactive demonstrations reveal what's really in vape liquids. Microscope slides show lung tissue effects; chemical modeling illustrates nicotine's neurological pathway; participants conduct "experiments" determining pH levels and toxicity markers of vape components.
Peer Pressure Puzzle
Scenario-based challenge where participants role-play refusing vaping offers. Each scenario presents different social contexts (parties, school, online influence) requiring progressively sophisticated refusal strategies. Successful responses unlock the next challenge; reflection cards prompt discussion.
Calm Corner Wellness
Peaceful space exploring healthy stress management alternatives to vaping. Guided breathing exercises, mindfulness activities, creative expression stations, and resource cards about mental health support. Emphasizes that addressing underlying stressors is more effective than substance use.
Learning Objectives
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Translate research evidence into accessible, engaging educational experiences for diverse audiences
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Work collaboratively to design booth activities that balance entertainment with accurate health information
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Apply creative problem-solving to overcome design challenges and resource constraints
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Seek and respond constructively to feedback from peers and adult mentors
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Create inclusive experiences using Universal Design for Learning principles
HIWS Strategies & Student Agency
HIWS In Action
  • Conducting research on vaping myths and wellbeing factors;
  • Analyzing survey data to inform booth themes;
  • Engaging with experts to ensure health information accuracy.
    These practices foster critical thinking, self-efficacy, and informed decision-making.
Our Idea, Our Message
Students exercise authentic agency by
  • Leading the design process and selecting booth concepts;
  • Moderating peer discussions on how each activity communicates wellbeing messages;
  • Taking ownership of creative and logistical decisions.
    Through these choices, students transform from participants into health advocates and peer leaders.
Community Partnerships Connection
Partnerships ground the project in real-world learning:
  • Collaboration with Riverdale Community Health Centre educators ensures scientific accuracy;
  • Family surveys collect intergenerational perspectives on vaping and health habits;
  • Community mentors review booth prototypes and suggest refinements.
    These authentic links enhance student engagement, social inclusion, and community wellbeing literacy.
Design Process Sequence
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Theme Selection & Planning
Teams review booth options, consider their strengths and interests, and select their preferred theme. They create a planning document outlining key messages, target activities, and required materials. Teacher approves plans ensuring scientific accuracy and feasibility.
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Prototype and Test
Teams create rough versions of activities and test them with peers. Do puzzles work logically? Is information clear? Are activities engaging? This iteration phase is crucial—feedback reveals assumptions and improvement opportunities before the public event.
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Mentor Consultation
Teams present refined designs to the Health Centre educator for accuracy review. This ensures that health information is current, evidence-based, and appropriate for adolescent and family audiences. Mentors suggest enhancements without taking over student leadership.
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Peer Review & Refinement
Teams exchange their booth prototypes for peer testing and constructive critique. Each group visits another team’s escape challenge, completing the puzzles while recording observations about clarity, engagement, and accessibility. Feedback forms guide reflection on design effectiveness, inclusivity (e.g., readability, sensory load), and learning impact. After review, teams meet to discuss improvements, adjust visuals, and fine-tune instructions based on peer and mentor feedback.
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Finalize Materials
Create polished visual materials including signage, instruction cards, and take-home resources. Include bilingual versions where needed. Prepare facilitation scripts so all team members can confidently guide participants through activities.
🎡Activity 3: Activate – Escape the Vape Carnival
Duration: 3 hours | Week 3 | Culminating Community Event
🎠The Big Reveal
Activity 3: Activate – Escape the Vape Carnival
Duration: 3 hours | Week 3 | Culminating Community Event
This is where months of research, design, and preparation come to life. The Escape the Vape Carnival transforms the school hall into an immersive learning environment where students step into leadership roles as educators, facilitators, and community health advocates. Families, younger students, staff, and community partners navigate through escape-room booths, collecting stamps in "Escape Passports" while engaging with evidence-based vaping information in memorable, interactive ways.
The Carnival serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it's an authentic assessment opportunity where students demonstrate mastery through public performance; it's a community health intervention reaching far beyond the classroom; it's a celebration of student voice and agency; and it's a confidence-building experience where young people see themselves as capable leaders who can influence community attitudes and behaviors.
80+ Family participants
Parents, siblings, and extended family members engage with student-led booths
4 Interactive zones
Each offering unique escape-room experiences and health education approaches
100% Student leadership
Every Year 9 student has a facilitation role, hosting or supporting booth activities
Event Structure
  1. Welcome and Orientation (15 min): Student emcees welcome families, explain Escape Passport concept, and outline booth locations. Brief acknowledgment of Country and project purpose-setting.
  1. Booth Rotations (2 hours): Families move through stations at their own pace. Students guide participants through activities, answer questions, and stamp passports upon completion. Flexible timing accommodates different ages and learning speeds.
  1. Reflection Circle (30 min): Whole community gathers to share learnings, celebrate student leadership, and hear from judges. Awards presented for "Most Impactful Message," "Best Interactive Design," and "Community Ambassador."
  1. Resource Distribution (15 min): Families receive take-home materials including local vaping cessation support information, conversation starters for families, and student-created resource guides.
Student Roles
  • Booth Facilitators: Guide participants through activities, explain concepts, answer questions with confidence and accuracy
  • Roaming Ambassadors: Help families navigate spaces, provide encouragement, troubleshoot problems
  • Documentation Team: Photograph and video record event for later reflection and community sharing (with consent)
  • Data Collectors: Administer brief post-event surveys to gather feedback and measure immediate impact

Authentic Assessment in Action: Teacher observation rubrics evaluate students' communication skills, content knowledge, adaptability, and leadership. But the most powerful assessment comes from authentic success—did families engage? Did understanding deepen? Did students communicate effectively with diverse audiences? These real-world measures matter more than traditional tests.
Student Voice in Action
Students host, guide, and assess visitors independently. Their confident facilitation demonstrates ownership of both content and process. Seeing themselves as teachers transforms identity and builds lifelong leadership capacity.
Community Partnership Realized
Active participation from parents, Health Centre staff, and Youth Council members reinforces that wellbeing is a shared value. Students experience their learning validated by adults beyond their teachers.
HIWS Demonstrated
Engagement through interactive challenges, connection to authentic community audience, self-efficacy through public success, inclusion through accessible design—all HIWS principles converge in this single powerful event.
"The Carnival is where abstract learning becomes concrete impact. When a Year 9 student watches a parent have an 'aha moment' about vaping risks, or sees a younger sibling enthusiastically complete a challenge, they understand viscerally that their knowledge and voice matter. That's transformative education."
🤔Activity 4: Reflect – What Did We Learn?
Duration: 1 hour | Week 4
Reflection is not an afterthought—it's where learning becomes metacognitive, transferable, and personally meaningful. This final session provides structured time for students to examine their growth, analyze project impact through data, articulate new understandings, and consider how these skills and insights apply to future wellbeing challenges. Without reflection, experiences remain isolated events; with reflection, they become foundation stones for ongoing development.
Students engage with multiple reflection modalities—quantitative data analysis, creative multimedia production, and formal presentation—ensuring that diverse learners can demonstrate their growth in ways that honor their strengths while still developing new communication capabilities.
Learning Objectives
  • Evaluate personal growth in collaboration, leadership, and health literacy throughout the project
  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data comparing pre- and post-project knowledge and attitudes
  • Articulate learning through reflective writing, video, or other multimedia formats
  • Present findings and recommendations to school leadership and community partners
  • Identify transferable skills applicable to future wellbeing challenges and civic engagement
💡 HIWS Connection – Reflect for Improvement Structured metacognition transforms experience into lasting learning.
Students use data-driven analysis to build evidence literacy, while guided reflection strengthens self-awareness, growth mindset, and resilience.
This aligns with the HIWS principle of continuous improvement and adaptive wellbeing learning.
🗣️ Reflection extends student agency beyond project delivery.
Students select their own reflection format (vlog, blog, infographic, or oral report) to represent their growth in ways that suit their communication style.They lead post-event discussion circles, identifying what worked and proposing improvements for future wellbeing projects. Through this process, students shift from being participants to co-researchers and evaluators of impact.
🤝 Community Partnerships remain active even in reflection:
  1. Riverdale Community Health Centre receives student findings for inclusion in local youth health outreach;
  1. Families and carers contribute follow-up feedback on student presentations;
  1. School Wellbeing Committee collaborates with students to integrate project outcomes into future health initiatives.
This shared evaluation process reinforces the project’s sustainability and demonstrates how schools and communities can co-own wellbeing growth.
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Data Analysis Deep Dive
Students compare pre-project survey results (from Week 1) with post-Carnival surveys. What changed? They create visual representations of growth—bar charts showing knowledge increases, word clouds revealing attitude shifts, quotes highlighting perspective changes. This quantitative analysis demonstrates project impact beyond personal perception.
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Personal Reflection Production
Each student creates a vlog, blog post, or multimedia presentation responding to prompts: What surprised you most? How did you grow as a leader? What would you do differently? What skills will you use in other areas of life? These artifacts become portfolio pieces demonstrating capability development.
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Compile Wellbeing Impact Report
Small teams synthesize findings into a polished report for school leadership. Include executive summary, data visualizations, student testimonials, community feedback, and recommendations for future wellbeing initiatives. This formal document validates student work and influences school-level decision-making.
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Present to School Wellbeing Committee
Student representatives present the Impact Report to a panel including teachers, parents, Health Centre staff, and student leaders. They field questions, discuss challenges, and propose how these approaches could be applied to other health topics. This authentic audience elevates student voice to policy-influencing levels.
45%
Knowledge Growth
Average increase in accurate understanding of vaping risks from pre to post-project surveys
68%
Confidence Boost
Students reporting increased confidence in discussing health topics with peers and families
85%
Leadership Development
Students indicating they feel more capable of leading community change initiatives
"Reflection transforms 'I did something' into 'I learned something transferable.' When students articulate how their collaboration skills improved, or how they overcame public speaking anxiety, they're not just recounting—they're consolidating neural pathways that support future growth. That's the difference between doing projects and learning from projects."
Community Impact & Expected Outcomes
The "Escape the Vape" project creates ripple effects far beyond immediate classroom learning. When wellbeing education is student-led, community-connected, and strategically designed using HIWS principles, impact extends across multiple domains—individual knowledge and attitudes, family communication patterns, peer norms, and even school-wide culture. This section outlines expected outcomes with corresponding evaluation tools that make impact visible and actionable.
Measuring outcomes serves dual purposes: it validates student effort by demonstrating real change, and it provides evidence that helps teachers refine and advocate for student-led wellbeing approaches. When schools can show measurable community impact, they build the case for ongoing investment in youth voice and agency.
Individual Level Impact
Students develop sophisticated health literacy, understanding not just "vaping is bad" but the neurobiological, social, and commercial mechanisms that drive adolescent vaping. They build self-efficacy through successful public leadership, discovering capabilities they didn't know they possessed.
Relational Level Impact
Families engage in evidence-based conversations about vaping that might not otherwise occur. Students and parents find common ground discussing health topics, opening communication channels that support ongoing wellbeing dialogue. Peer norms shift as student voices amplify healthy choices.
Community Level Impact
The project demonstrates that youth leadership creates authentic community health interventions. Local organizations recognize students as partners in health promotion rather than just recipients of services. This shifts power dynamics and opens future collaboration opportunities.
Systems Level Impact
When school leadership sees measurable outcomes from student-led initiatives, they allocate resources to similar approaches for other wellbeing topics. The project becomes a model that influences how the school thinks about wellbeing education generally—from expert-delivered content to youth-driven community action.

Long-Term Tracking: The most profound impacts often emerge months or years later. Consider following up with students to explore how project skills transferred to other contexts—did they advocate for other causes? Pursue leadership roles? Apply health literacy to personal decisions? These longer-term outcomes reveal the project's true transformative potential.
Reflection on Future Practice
Applying This Model to Other Wellbeing Topics
The "Escape the Vape" project demonstrates that combining Student Voice, Community Partnerships, and High Impact Wellbeing Strategies creates powerful, sustainable learning experiences. But the real value extends beyond this single topic—the pedagogical model is transferable to any adolescent health challenge where student agency, authentic collaboration, and evidence-based teaching can make a difference.

Teachers reflecting on this project should consider: What made student leadership successful here? How did community partnerships strengthen learning? Which HIWS strategies had the greatest impact? And critically—how can we apply these insights to future wellbeing challenges like mental health awareness, digital wellbeing, nutrition, sleep hygiene, or healthy relationships?
Transferable Elements
  • Student-designed research: Surveys about peer experiences with any health topic build ownership and reveal authentic concerns
  • Community expert partnerships: Local psychologists for mental health, nutritionists for eating well, tech professionals for digital wellbeing
  • Creative campaign design: The escape-room format works broadly—imagine "Escape the Screen" for device addiction or "Escape the Pressure" for stress management
  • Family-inclusive events: Carnival-style showcases engage communities while validating student work across any wellbeing domain
  • Data-driven reflection: Pre/post measurement demonstrates growth regardless of topic, building evidence literacy
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Immediate Next Steps
Debrief with student leaders and community partners while experiences are fresh. What worked brilliantly? What would they change? Document these insights before moving to next topics. Create a "wellbeing project toolkit" capturing templates, rubrics, and resources for reuse.
2
Term 2 Application
Apply the model to a new topic identified through student voice—perhaps mental health or digital wellbeing. Use the same four-phase structure (Discover, Co-Design, Activate, Reflect) but invite students to suggest modifications based on their experience. Build continuity by having Term 1 participants mentor new student leaders.
3
Whole-School Integration
Share the Wellbeing Impact Report with all staff. Offer professional learning sessions where student leaders present the model to teachers from other learning areas. Explore how similar approaches could work in Science (environmental health), Humanities (social justice), or Arts (creative wellbeing expression).
4
Cross-School Collaboration
Connect with other schools implementing student-led wellbeing initiatives. Share resources, co-host community events, or develop inter-school student wellbeing leadership networks. This elevates student voice to even broader platforms while building professional learning communities for teachers.
"The goal isn't to repeat this exact project endlessly—it's to internalize the principles that made it work and apply them creatively to whatever wellbeing challenges matter most to your students and community. When teachers embrace flexibility within structured frameworks, student-led wellbeing education becomes sustainable, responsive, and genuinely transformative."
For Teachers: Building Capacity
Facilitating student-led projects requires mindset shifts from "teacher as expert" to "teacher as coach." Develop comfort with productive uncertainty, trust students to navigate challenges, provide scaffolding without taking over, and celebrate iteration and failure as learning opportunities. Seek professional development in design thinking, project-based learning, and youth participatory action research.
For School Leaders: Supporting Innovation
Student-led wellbeing requires resources—time, space, community connections, and flexible assessment approaches. Advocate within leadership teams for wellbeing education that prioritizes depth over breadth, authentic projects over worksheets, and long-term capability development over short-term compliance. Make wellbeing everyone's responsibility, not just counselors'.
For Students: Ongoing Leadership
Don't let this project be your only leadership experience. Seek opportunities to apply these skills in student government, community organizations, peer mentoring, or advocacy groups. Your voice matters beyond this classroom—use it to influence policies, support peers, and create the kind of school and community you want to be part of.
References
Evidence-Based Foundations
This project is grounded in contemporary research and policy frameworks that recognize young people as capable partners in health promotion rather than passive recipients of adult-designed interventions. The following resources informed the pedagogical design, wellbeing content, and evaluation approaches used throughout "Escape the Vape."
1
Government & National Data Sources
2
Policy & Framework
  • World Health Organization. (2024). Making every school a health-promoting school: Implementation guidance. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int
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Activities Design Reference
  • Gardner, L. A., Rowe, A.-L., Stockings, E., Egan, L., Hawkins, A., Blackburn, K., Teesson, M., Champion, K. E., & Newton, N. C. (2025). Co-design of the ‘OurFutures Vaping’ programme: A school-based eHealth intervention to prevent e-cigarette use. Health Promotion International, 40(3), Article daaf085. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaf085 OUP Academic
  • Rose, S., McGill, B., Watts, C., Brooks, A., Dessaix, A., & Freeman, B. (2025). “I just wish vaping wasn’t a thing”: An Australian qualitative study of parental concerns and perceptions towards adolescent vaping. BMC Public Health, 25, Article 990. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22222-4 BioMed Central
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Legislation & Curriculum

Academic & Research References

Basch, C. H., Fera, J., Pellicane, A., & Basch, C. E. (2021). Videos with the hashtag #vaping on TikTok and implications for informed decision-making by adolescents: Descriptive study. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 4(4), e30681. https://doi.org/10.2196/30681 Greenhalgh, E. M., Scollo, M., & Winstanley, M. (2025). Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues. Cancer Council Victoria. https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au Huang, J., Duan, Z., Kwok, J., Binns, S., Vera, L. E., Kim, Y., … & Emery, S. L. (2019). Vaping versus JUULing: How the extraordinary growth and marketing of JUUL transformed the U.S. retail e-cigarette market. Tobacco Control, 28(2), 146–151. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054382 Jourdan, D., Gray, N. J., Barry, M. M., Caffe, S., Cornu, C., Diagne, F., ... & Sawyer, S. M. (2021). Supporting every school to become a foundation for healthy lives. The lancet child & adolescent health, 5(4), 295-303. 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30316-3 Larson, R. W., & Angus, R. M. (2011). Adolescents’ development of skills for agency in youth programs: Learning to think strategically. Child Development, 82(1), 277–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01555.x Lockett, C., Shah, S., Rizzo Liu, K., Towns, S., Smith, R., & Mooney-Somers, J. (2024). Unpacking vaping in schools: Voices from the school community. Health Education Journal, 83(5), 453-466. https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969241246170 Miech, R., Johnston, L., & O’Malley, P. (2022). School-based interventions to address youth vaping: A systematic review. Addictive Behaviors, 132, 107357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107357 Newton, N. C., Champion, K. E., Slade, T., Chapman, C., Stapinski, L., & Teesson, M. (2023). Efficacy of a web-based vaping prevention program in Australian secondary schools: A cluster randomised controlled trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 250, 109849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109849 Pentz, M. A., Riggs, N. R., & Unger, J. B. (2023). Peer-led strategies in adolescent substance use prevention: Evidence and lessons for vaping. Journal of School Health, 93(4), 275–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13257 Pitt, H., McCarthy, S., & Arnot, G. (2024). Children, young people and the commercial determinants of health. Health Promotion International, 39(1), daad185. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daad185 Thomas, K., Kumar, R., & Wong, H. (2024). Culturally responsive parent engagement in vaping prevention: Evidence from migrant communities. Health Education Research, 39(2), 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyae010 White, V., Williams, T., & Thomas, J. (2021). Teacher perspectives on vaping education in Australian schools. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 32(3), 498–506. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.459