Pilgrims of Hope Short-Video Contest
OCSTA Short-Video Contest
We are pleased to announce the launch of OCSTA’s Pilgrims of Hope: On the Path to Holiness Short-Video Contest for students in grades 4-12 at Ontario’s publicly funded Catholic schools.
As was announced in the spring, “Pilgrims of Hope: On the Path to Holiness” is the OCSTA 2025-26 Catholic Education Theme that will be celebrated throughout the year culminating with Catholic Education Week in May.
This short-video contest is an exciting opportunity for students to use the engaging video medium to create 2-minute presentations that demonstrate how they are “Pilgrims of Hope: On the Path to Holiness” in their Catholic school communities.
“As we begin this new school year, we are invited to rediscover the theme of hope and the meaning of hope in our lives.
In Scripture, hope is found through the actions of those who Pilgrim following Jesus’ example. God’s Pilgrims bring communities hope, peace and strengthened faith because of their trust in Jesus’ teachings.”
The deadline for submissions is: November 12, 2025
Requirements
Contest participants are invited to create a 2-minute video demonstrating how they are “Pilgrims of Hope: On the Path to Holiness” in their Catholic school communities. Please ensure videos have enough visual clarity so that student presentations can be fully appreciated on a digital screen. We also ask that attention be paid to the audio clarity so that presentations can be easily heard using computer devices.
OCSTA will review all submissions to ensure appropriateness for all students and the public voting segment of the contest.
For reference, view the 2024 short-video contest winners here:
Uploading Videos
We ask all participants to upload completed videos to YouTube (www.youtube.com). Instructions for uploading to YouTube are on the YouTube website.
The process will provide each video with a unique YouTube URL (web address) that is to be clearly recorded on the submission form which can be downloaded from the link below.
Public Voting of Short-Videos
All submissions that meet contest guideline requirements and have the audio and visual clarity to be selected for the short list of submissions, will be shared with the public on the special OCSTA video voting website during the voting period which begins on December 5 and ends on December 23.
Access Link to Video Voting Website (will not be live until December 5):
Prizes:
We are pleased to be able to provide the following prizes for the top 3 videos at both the elementary and secondary levels:
First Place: $300 Best Buy Gift Card
Second Place: $150 Best Buy Gift Card
Third Place: $100 Indigo Gift Card
The winning entries will be announced at OCSTA’s annual Catholic Trustees Seminar in January.
We thank the students, teachers and trustees of all our Catholic school boards for their continued support of this celebration and promotion of Catholic education in Ontario.
Please send all completed submissions to Ashlee Cabral, Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association – acabral@ocsta.on.ca.
If you have questions, please contact Sharon McMillan, OCSTA Director of Communications, 416-932-9460, ext. 232.