KSL Featured Springville Junior HOPE Squad Students – Answer to Wednesday’s Challenge

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

On Tuesday, Nadine Wimmer of KSL interviewed three  Springville Junior High students who serve on the HOPE Squad for a feature piece on channel 5. The KSL feature highlighted a huge problem in Utah: teen suicide. During the program, Nadine Wimmer stated that students can play an invaluable role in helping to stop suicides among their classmates. The students she interviewed were Jaqueline Bradford, Halle Acor, and Spencer Johnson. She asked them questions about what would surprise parents when it comes to depression and stress among teens, and what advice they have for parents. All of our students on HOPE Squad do a great job supporting their peers, watching for warning signs, being a friend to everyone, and getting kids the help they need from adults if they are having thoughts of hurting themselves. Our three students who were interviewed represented our school and HOPE Squad very well.

Adviser, Courtney Droz, has run the Springville Junior HOPE Squad for the last three years and two years at Mt. Nebo Junior High. She said, “The HOPE Squad is a peer support team whose goals are to provide service and support to students and the community, to prevent youth suicide and suicidal behaviors, and to improve access and availability of appropriate prevention services for vulnerable youth groups and high-risk individuals.”

A student on the HOPE Squad is nominated by his or her peers as someone students would trust to talk to during a difficult time. These students are  trained to be a supportive listener, and to refer the students in need to an adult helper.

For more inforamtion, please watch the KSL feature or visit Springville Junor's HOPE Squad information page.

Congratulations to Koriane Maughan, Springville Junior High English teacher, for getting the Where Are We Wednesday Challenge.

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