Davis School District HOPE Squad Training Day

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

http://www.standard.net/Preventing-Teen-Suicide/2015/07/05/HOPE-Squads-gear-up-for-school-year.html[8/4/2015 11:04:14 AM]

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

TUESDAY , JUNE 23, 2015 - 10:57 AM

LAYTON — It was a day of hope when several hundred students comprising HOPE Squads from schools

across Davis School District met for training to gear up for the upcoming school year.

HOPE Squads use teens voted on by their peers to be eyes and ears at the school to see warning signs in

depressed or suicidal peers and empower them to report the signs to an adult.

Davis School District piloted the program at Clearfield and Syracuse high schools three years ago, then added

more secondary schools in following years. Since being mandated by the state Legislature that schools need to

have some form of suicide prevention program, this fall all secondary schools in the district will be equipped

with HOPE Squads.

It is the first year South Davis Junior High will have a HOPE Squad. (HOPE stands for Hold on. Persuade.

Image by: KERA WILLIAMS/ Special to the St

 Students from across Davis School District attend the HOPE Squad Training Day at Northridge High School in Layton on

Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

By Dana Rimington

Standard-Examiner correspondent

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

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Empower.)

“We’ve had 14 kids hospitalized this last year because of suicide attempts, so we got really worried and knew

we had to do something fast,” South Davis HOPE Squad adviser Polly McQuarrie said. “I think our students

being able to tell a peer orally that something is wrong will help the situation.”

(From left) Centennial Junior High School students Matt Kennedy, 11, Cara Finlinson, 13, and Jaysen Ford, 13,

link arms during an exercise at a QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) session at the HOPE Squad Training Day

at Northridge High School in Layton on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

It is the first year the district has brought all of the HOPE Squads together at the same time to receive training

on the do’s and don’ts of how to talk to someone who is struggling with thoughts of suicide, how to overcome

challenges, how to refer someone who needs help to an adult, and how to be a peer adviser.

“These are teams of students aimed at giving people hope, something they may not be able to see in their

darkness. We have a problem and we’re going to do something about it,” Christy Hutchinson, prevention

coordinator, said at the June gathering. “This endeavor came about because we believe in having a HOPE

squad in every secondary school and wanted everybody to be trained and see the bigger picture by bringing

this to a district level.”

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

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Eighth-grader Salote Katoa is looking forward to her first year on the HOPE Squad at South Davis Junior High.

“I’ve had some experiences with friends attempting suicide, and I want to try and stop that from happening. I

think this group will help because I feel like students listen more to each other than to adults,” Katoa said.

Hudnall made sure all of the HOPE Squad members put the Davis County crisis line at 801-773-7060 into their

Hudnall, a retired school superintendent, began the program back in 1998 after identifying the body of a

student attending the school where he was serving as principal. “There were no warning signs that we were

aware of, and I thought, ‘Why would such a wonderful boy take his own life?’ It was in that moment I vowed to

help prevent others.”

Hudnall began looking into suicide prevention and discovered that evidence-based research shows that seven

out of 10 adolescents who are struggling will confide in a friend or trusted peer rather than an adult. However,

most of the time those youth don’t refer their struggling peers to an adult who can get professional help for the

youth in crisis.

“I realized we were missing the piece of peer-to-peer help. The purpose of this program is to create a way

peers can reach out and support one another. We never know the challenges people are going through, but we

need to have the courage to get to know them. We don’t want to wait for the perfect moment, we need to create

that perfect moment,” Hudnall told students before their break-out sessions. “Our ultimate goal is to get them to

an adviser. You aren’t in this alone. This is a team effort and a lot of people are on board to do what we can to

prevent suicide.”

Davis HOPE squads train to fight teen suicide

http://www.standard.net/Preventing-Teen-Suicide/2015/07/05/HOPE-Squads-gear-up-for-school-year.html[8/4/2015 11:04:14 AM]

phones and the number teens can text for help — 741741.

The troubling issue of teen suicide is the focus of the Standard-Examiner’s 2015 initiative. Through the year,

the newspaper will explore the complex problem through a variety of stories, videos, photographs and graphics.

The aim of the Teen Suicide Initiative is to raise awareness in our communities and to provide information

about resources available to youth, parents and citizens to prevent such deaths.