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Success Story: StudentGuidance.AI - Supporting Students with Technology and Community

StudentGuidance.AI, founded by a group of high school students, Polina Saltevsky, Yashika Katyal, and Ridha Shaheen Hamood, is a youth-led initiative focused on making school guidance more accessible through technology and community engagement. 

In July 2025, StudentGuidance.AI was awarded a Youth Creativity Fund grant, which enabled the team to scale their work and move from a prototype to a fully independent platform. Under Polina’s leadership, the team focused on strengthening both the technical foundation of the project and its connection to the local community.

Earlier in the year, StudentGuidance.AI gained momentum at Youth Tech Labs’ Demo Day, where the project won second prize and welcomed its first users and supporters. In May and June, the team built its first independent platform, featuring an AI chatbot, a centralized resource hub, and curated free opportunities for students across the Waterloo Region.

In August, StudentGuidance.AI officially launched its platform at studentguidanceai.com., while simultaneously preparing for its first-ever public event as part of Waterloo Tech Week 2025, which attracted over 100 registered attendees. The event, titled “404: Ethics Not Found,” took place in September at the Accelerator Centre and featured speaker panels and discussions on ethical AI and technology’s impact on youth. The event was later recognized in the BitBakery Guide’s Top 5 Waterloo Tech Week 2025 events.

Throughout this period, Polina served as the team’s lead, balancing technology development with community engagement. She contributed to training the AI, guiding platform development, building partnerships with community members, and leading the overall direction of the project. Alongside this, she coordinated major aspects of event planning, including logistics and speaker outreach.

Team members played key supporting roles in bringing the project to life. Ridha Shaheen Hamood focused on structuring and organizing platform resources to ensure students could easily find the information they needed, while Yashika Katyal led promotion and marketing efforts, helping grow awareness of both the platform and its events.

In October, the StudentGuidance.AI team was invited to lead a workshop and host a booth at the Incubator Hacks hackathon, engaging with over 80 students from across the Waterloo Region. In the following months, the team continued developing new tools and platform updates, preparing for further expansion in 2026.

Through this work, Polina strengthened her skills in project management, leadership, teamwork, and responsible AI development. She gained experience communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences and adapting to unexpected challenges while managing both technical and outreach responsibilities.

Polina is especially proud that StudentGuidance.AI is already becoming a trusted resource for students, and that its events created meaningful spaces where youth voices were centered. Her leadership demonstrated resilience, creativity, and strong organizational skills under pressure, helping ensure the project continued to move forward.

Through StudentGuidance.AI, Polina reported personal growth in several key areas:

  • Increased confidence and leadership skills

  • Stronger communication and teamwork

  • Greater awareness of ethical technology and responsible innovation

  • A deeper sense of purpose and community connection

Overall, StudentGuidance.AI illustrates how youth-led, collaborative innovation can create real community impact, while supporting young leaders in building skills, confidence, and a long-term vision for the future.

To learn more or connect with StudentGuidance.AI, visit studentguidanceai.com.