Hope Squad suicide prevention program coming to Valley High School

A youth suicide prevention program new to Valley High School will see students trained to watch for warning signs.

The New Kensington-Arnold School District is getting a Hope Squad, a nationwide program founded in Utah and being promoted locally by a West Deer mother whose daughter took her own life in March 2019 at the age of 16.

Started in 2004 at a high school in the Provo City School District, Hope Squads are in nearly 1,300 schools in 35 states and Canada. There are more than 30,000 squad members, and more than 5,000 students have been referred for help.

Tam Larnerd, a training facilitator for Hope Squad in Las Vegas and retired high school principal, recounted a story in which a high school student told classmates he was going to kill himself. None of them knew what to do and didn’t tell anyone. The student carried it out.

“We know that research says seven out of 10 students before they attempt suicide will do or say something that, if recognized as a warning sign, can be prevented,” Larnerd said. “That’s what Hope Squads do.”

DuBois Area Middle School was the first school in Pennsylvania to get a Hope Squad. The school has about 1,000 students in fifth through eighth grades; 30 students in sixth through eighth grades are on the squad that started this school year, said Christine Kline, seventh grade counselor.

Kline said they have made about 10 referrals so far based on concerns that a classmate may have been having suicidal thoughts based on things they had seen or heard.

“It has been working out really well,” Kline said. “I have a couple kids that have really taken the trainings to heart and are just phenomenal at what they do. They are really taking it seriously, and I’m proud of them.”

Molly Rupprecht wants to establish a network of squads at schools in the Alle-Kiski Valley in honor of her daughter, Maura, using proceeds from an annual Deer Lakes Hockey Club game. Her son, Mitchell, played with the club.

Valley High is getting $6,000 to support its squad that came from the club’s second annual Maura C. Rupprecht Alumni Hockey Game held in May . The first in December 2019 raised $8,400 that is funding a squad at Deer Lakes.

About $10,000 was raised at the third annual game in January. Two schools are interested, but which will receive it has not been determined, Rupprecht said.

Rupprecht said they are excited about getting the program started at Valley High.

“They have some passionate people involved. I really think it’s going to be a good thing,” she said. “The skills and lessons that everybody involved will learn will last throughout their life. They will always be able to help someone or themselves or know where to go to get help for somebody that’s struggling.”

Ashley Pujol, a health and physical education teacher at Valley, said they knew they wanted to start a Hope Squad after Rupprecht spoke to members of the school’s student assistance program.

“It’s such a great program,” Pujol said. “At this age, kids don’t like to talk to adults. If anything can help and they can feel comfortable talking to a peer who then comes to an adult, I think it will be very rewarding.”

Pujol said the program will be presented to the school’s 10th and 11th grade students, who will each nominate three of their classmates whom they would feel comfortable talking to.

From the nominees, Pujol said they plan to select 10 or more students who, with their parents’ permission, are willing to do it and undergo training.

“They are not in any way counselors,” Pujol said. “They’ll be attentive listeners and easy to talk to. They will go to an adult if there’s something serious.”

Pujol said they anticipate having the program running and introduced to the entire junior-senior high school by the end of the school year.

“Suicide is the most preventable cause of death,” Larnerd said. “Hope Squads flip the script. Instead of waiting for students who are struggling to come to us, we go to them. Subtle signs speak volumes of what is going on.”