By: Alexis LeMieux

Hope Squad is a national program to reduce suicide in youth. There are over 1,700 Hope Squads at schools throughout the United States and Canada. It was originally founded in Utah in 2004.

“Hope Squad is a student peer-nominated organization that is on a national level all over the United States,” Bellbrook High School Hope Squad advisor Paige Lewis said. The main goal of Hope Squad is to reduce suicide in teens and other youth groups.

With Hope Squad being recently introduced to Bellbrook High School, it will take a step closer to not only achieving that goal, but it will also help bring recognition to both mental health and suicide alike.

“The mission of the Hope Squad is to raise awareness about mental health and prevent suicide,” junior Alyssa Lawson said. “Its objective is to equip individuals with the knowledge of available resources that can be shared when they encounter a friend or peer in need.”

“There was a huge increase in mental illness amongst teens,” Lewis said. “And we thought that any program that would bring awareness to those hard times would help.”

With the increase in mental health issues among those teens, it is more likely for a student to reach out to a peer about it, rather than an adult. Therefore, the members of Hope Squad have to get nominated by their fellow peers in order to become official members.

“Hope Squad is not something that you can just join; you have to get elected to it,” sophomore Cali Harnish said.

“I didn’t know what Hope Squad was until I was notified by Ms. Lewis that I was nominated to be a member,” senior Maya Haught said.

And being a member of the club comes with specific responsibilities. “The daily responsibilities are pretty basic,” Haught said. “Be a kind student, try to reach out to people you’ve never talked to, and respect students’ boundaries. It’s really important that our peers trust us for us to help them.”

“Through the Hope Squad, I have gained the tools to be a supportive peer and a reliable source of information and guidance for individuals in Bellbrook who place their trust in me during their struggles with mental health,” Lawson said.

“I feel like paying attention to the people around me is a big responsibility so I am aware of the student body,” Harnish said.

“I’d say one of the responsibilities is being able to talk to people, and helping them find help for themselves.” freshman Emily Betts said.

Not only do having responsibilities apply to members of the club, but to Ms. Lewis as well. 

“I have to train all of the Hope Squad members to ensure that they are certified in suicide prevention,” Lewis said. “Every day we meet, we do a little bit of training, and a little bit of figuring out how to spread what we have learned to the student body in a way that would stick with them.”

The training of Hope Squad can be various things that all the members of the club have to go through.

“We have training to learn how to help people if they are feeling depressed or something, or if they have suicidal thoughts,” Betts said.

“Currently we are focusing on training, which includes slideshows on the different aspects of mental health,” Haught said.

“We go through specific training so we help people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health issues,” Harnish said. “We go through questioning, and we learn how to question people if they are suicidal, or if we think they are at risk of hurting themselves.”

Alongside the training that occurs daily, the members of Hope Squad are always looking for various things to bring awareness not only to the club, but to mental health and suicide. They recently did posters revolving around mental health and suicide, and plan to do more than just the posters in the future. 

Posters made by the members of Hope Squad hang around the halls of Bellbrook High School.

“We have projects coming up, and we’re planning a basketball theme night for Hope Squad,” Harnish said. “We’re going to do fundraisers, and we have a Hope Week coming up.”

“Starting last week, we are planning ways to get the students involved in self care,” Haught said.

The different members of the club shared their own experiences, and how Hope Squad has personally helped them. “Being a member of Hope Squad has been very beneficial to me,” Haught said. “I’m learning more about mental health and how to take care of myself as well as how to help someone else out.”

“Personally, the Hope Squad has expanded my understanding of various mental health resources, providing me with sources to enhance my emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being,” Lawson said.

“It helps me in knowing that everybody has stuff they go through and that some people handle it better than others,” Betts said.

The members always encourage students to reach out–despite the circumstances. “At Bellbrook, we are a helping community, and don’t alienate someone from getting help,” Haught said. “Hope Squad is always a resource for anyone who wants it.”

“Just don’t be afraid to find help and ask somebody,” Betts said.