George County High School is partnering with Hope Squad in an effort to build connections and improve the mental well-being of students. 

   Installed in many places on the coast in light of recent years’ events, Hope Squad is a suicide prevention program that emphasizes student-to-student contact when someone is in need of help. Led by the volunteer special education teacher Kellie Dixon and inclusion teacher Caitie Mears, the program will involve the nomination of students by students. 

   Much is still to be determined about the selection and obligation of students, but the general concept is that students a part of Hope Squad will be called upon to help any student who may be struggling. . They will then take the next necessary step, whether it be directing an endangered student to a qualified adult or simply lending an ear to one’s problems. 

   “The hope is that we will just give our young people an opportunity-if they’re struggling or having suicidal thoughts- to go to certain people that have been chosen in their schools by their peers to just talk to,” Taylor said. “Not to counsel them, the Hope Squad members are not counselors. They’re just a first line of defense, someone to be there.”
  The program originated in a Utah school district plagued with multiple suicides a year. High school principal Greg Hudnall, overwhelmed with grief after a particularly taxing incident in which he had to identify a dead student, vowed that he would do whatever he could to make a difference. He assembled a task force of adults only, and while it did help, suicides still occurred. He then realized that the key was in peer support and community. The number was reduced from multiple suicides a year to zero, and the program has found its way nationwide. 

   “While it takes a village to raise a child, we believe it takes a whole community to save one,” Hudnall said. 

   “It helps to be able to go to someone their age that they can relate to,” Taylor said.

   The district is no stranger to student suicide, particularly in recent years. Taylor, Mears and Dixon all agree that ensuring students have a community of someone they can relate to and approach will likely have a positive impact. 

   “I hope that I can make a difference for somebody that feels like they don’t have anyone in their corner,” Mears said. “I hope that we can educate not only the people that need help, but the people around them.”

   “I think a lot of the problem is that some people feel left out among their peers, and I think this will be a good way to build connections,” Dixon said. 

   The goal is to have Hope Squad set up and functional by the beginning of October. 

   “If it saves even one life, then it’s worth it,” Taylor said.