From the school walls to the student section at the Friday football game, all of Westerville South High School has been spreading the word about suicide prevention.
Posters raising awareness about National Suicide Prevention Month and hand-written notes with positive messages adorn the hallways. As part of last week’s National Suicide Prevention Week, one of the morning announcements featured a video with tips to help with students’ mental health. The student section at last Friday’s football decked out in purple and teal — the colors in the National Suicide Prevention Awareness Ribbon. Athletes attached purple and teal ribbons to their shoes and cleats to show their support for the cause.
The school’s Hope Squad student leaders have been leading the work as one of the activities in a new class, Leadership in the 21st Century. The class is built around the curriculum for the Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program all high schools have implemented this fall.
As part of the class, students receive additional support for their roles in the Hope Squad, learning how to care for themselves while helping their peers and debriefing with their advisors. They serve as the student leaders for the Hope Squad group, planning activities and eventually leading the monthly squad meetings.
“We hope the students get some good leadership skills, mentoring skills and skills on how to be a good friend,” said math teacher Kassie Gutierrez, who teaches the class with English teacher Emily Swank. Both are Hope Squad advisors.
“We’re also really focusing on how to take care of yourself as well. They are typically the students who always give, give, give to people and so we’re also practicing how to get them to take time to take care of themselves as well. That way they are not pouring from an empty cup.”
In addition to Gutierrez and Swank, Student Assistance Counselor Noelle Spriesterbach and Mental Health Specialist Sheila Ebbrecht teach a lesson focused on self-care once a week. Spriesterbach and Principal Mike Hinze also cover other topics related to leadership in the class.
During a recent lesson, for example, Gutierrez and Swank had their Hope Squad student leaders reflect on self-care and think about how they can dedicate time to relax.
The class helps the school expand the Hope Squad’s work and offers another layer of support for Hope Squad students, who were nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers. Hope Squad students received two days of training over the summer to learn more about their role, how to recognize mental health/suicide warning signs and understand procedures to properly report those concerns to an adult in a timely manner. They also practiced different scenarios in a safe space so they can better address situations with peers as they come up.
By having a class, students say they are able to dive deeper into topics that support their work within and outside of the Hope Squad space. They’ve learned more about developing boundaries and that it’s OK to be emotional, to have feelings and to take care of yourself.
“My biggest takeaway was mental health for yourself because working with people who are in need can be really stressful at times,” senior Reign Winston said. “So finding the time to relax and have times for yourself can really help you give other people the time of day they really need.”
Sophomore Lily Meek said she struggled with finding a balance between helping others and helping herself.
“I was trying to give myself love and others love at the same time,” she said. “The class has helped me manage my stress a bit more.”
Gutierrez said she is learning just as much, if not more from these students.
“I feel like it’s bridging the gap between students and teachers in the school,” she said. “With mental health awareness, they are telling us what they need and we’re telling them from a teacher’s perspective how we’re able to go about and do things.”
She has been impressed with how they’ve embraced raising awareness about National Suicide Prevention Month (September), Week (Sept. 5-11) and Day (Sept. 10). The students took ownership of the promotional work, creating posters for the school; recording videos about managing stress, boosting self-esteem and calming anger for the school announcements; pulling quotes to share on social media and creating National Suicide Prevention Awareness Ribbons for their peers.
During last Friday’s football game, they worked with the student section to switch the theme to coincide with National Suicide Prevention Day. They wrote positive messages in chalk as spectators headed into the stadium. They hosted a table with information about suicide prevention and ribbons for those at the football game to wear.
Several Hope Squad student leaders were amazed at how quickly their peers supported the cause — and they are building on that work. Next week, Hope Squad student leaders plan to visit classrooms to explain who they are and how they can help.
“I want to make sure people feel welcome and that they’re more aware of their emotions and feelings and they are not scared to hide from them,” senior Kayla Arens said.
Sophomore Xavier Berry has a similar goal for his peers.
“I want them to know people love you,” he said. “You can talk to them anytime and they will try to be there for you as much as they can.”
Westerville Education Challenge secured financial support to bring the Hope Squad program to Westerville City Schools.