Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program initiated this Fall after several staff members attended a workshop. Students were nominated by their classmates to build the Hope Squad as trustworthy peers and then trained by advisers. Hope Squad is a part of a national affiliation with the goal to reduce youth suicide through education, training, and peer intervention. 

Because of the student body’s diverse communities, Hope Squad sponsor Traci Prather said certain kids in the friend groups stand out because their friends go to them to talk about their struggles.

“The kids nominated for Hope Squad are the ones with empathetic hearts,” Prather said. “Kids have come up to me and said, ‘This is something I want to do, I want to be a part of this.’”

According to UCLA Health, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24 in the U.S. Nearly 20% of high school students report serious thoughts of suicide and 9% have made an attempt to take their lives, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Prather partnered with ASL teacher Sarah Martindale and school counselor Kelli Frock to train students on how to identify someone who is contemplating suicide or struggling with other mental health disorders. Hope Squad students will not be the ones counseling the at-risk students. Prather said they will follow a referral process to get students the help they need.