By 1808Delaware
Westerville students charged with helping classmates find support are asking a practical question: Will their peers know where to turn when it matters? Twenty-three Hope Squad members from Westerville Central, Westerville North, and Westerville South high schools gathered Thursday for the district’s first Hope Squad Student Leadership Summit. Their task was to develop goals, events, and activities that can make the peer-support program easier to recognize and approach during the school year. Post Detail
Read Westerville City Schools’ October 2 account of the summit.
Trusted Peers With A Defined Role
Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program. Students nominate classmates they view as trustworthy, and those selected receive summer training on supporting peers, recognizing warning signs, and promptly reporting concerns to an adult. That last step defines the role. Hope Squad members are not substitutes for counselors or clinicians. They are trained to listen, notice concerns, and help connect another student with a trusted adult. Members continue learning through monthly meetings and debrief with adult advisers. Their annual work includes awareness activities during National Suicide Prevention Month in September and Hope Week in January.
The national Hope Squad program describes the model as student-led and peer-to-peer, with training and adult support built into its implementation. Youth Suicide Prevention for Schools
Visibility Becomes The First Assignment
At the summit, mixed groups from the three high schools generated ideas ranging from a Hope Squad mascot and pep rallies to a stronger presence in advisory periods, morning announcements, and social media. Students then returned to their individual school groups to shape plans they can carry out this year. They are expected to share those plans at October Hope Squad meetings.
Westerville North senior Leely Hittle summarized the program’s intended bridge between students and help: “It is OK to ask for help. It’s OK to struggle, but not to struggle alone.”
Executive Director of Student Services Tami Santa and Director of Student Well-Being Jessie Martin organized the summit. The district says they will follow up after the October meetings to support the students’ plans.
A Program Growing Into Younger Grades
Hope Squad is entering its sixth year in Westerville’s three high schools and its third year in all five middle schools. This fall, the program expanded to seven elementary schools. The district plans to introduce it at the remaining eight elementaries next year, extending the model across every grade level.
The Westerville Education Challenge, a local nonprofit that supports school mental-health initiatives, provides financial support and a long-term commitment to the program.
The summit did not produce a single districtwide campaign ready for launch. It produced something more local: student plans tailored to each high school, with October meetings as the next checkpoint. For a peer-support program, that visibility is part of the work. Students cannot approach a trusted classmate through Hope Squad unless they first know who the members are and what they are trained to do.
Where To Find Immediate Help
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support by call, text, or online chat 24 hours a day. People do not have to be suicidal to contact 988. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911.
