Two Gillett High School students committed suicide in the past three years, and three FBLA members decided it was time to take action.
“We felt we needed to do something,” said Brianna Lemirande, who graduated in May.
She formed a team with classmates Kellie Krueger and Christa Block to develop a suicide prevention service project. Last summer, the girls formed HERO — Helping Everyone Reach Out — and began planning activities to raise awareness about suicide.
“We wanted to educate people that it’s OK to talk about depression and suicide,” FBLA adviser Jennifer Peterson said.
The girls believe that if their community service project saved just one life, it was a success. The school hasn’t experienced a suicide since HERO became active.
The FBLA team will take its message to the national stage when it competes at the FBLA National Leadership Conference from June 28 to July 3 in Nashville, Tenn. The students earned the right to advance to nationals after placing second at the state competition this spring.
“I think it’s important to reach out and help the community,” said Krueger, who competed in the state FBLA community service competition with Block in 2013. “Suicide was big problem in our community. It’s affected me a lot because these are my friends, my classmates.”
“The loss of a child is one of the worst tragedies a school can go through, and bringing that awareness is huge,” Gillett Secondary School Principal Steve Linssen said. “I think these ladies took a very mature topic and handled it with a great deal of grace and dignity.”
The students organized a Halloween run/walk on Nov. 1, using student-carved jack-o-lanterns to line the trail. After the race, participants were invited to view displays about suicide and pick up suicide prevention materials and gun locks.
The girls also partnered with a Shawano County suicide-awareness organization, ROADS (Reaching Out About Depression and Suicide), to train the teaching staff and adult community members about their roles as trusted adults.
“Teachers have told us now that they know what to say, they feel a lot more comfortable when someone comes to them,” Lemirande said.
Adults were encouraged to stay with the individual in distress, listen to them, and get help.
“Instead of saying ‘I know what you’re going through,’ say ‘That must be really tough, tell me about it,’ ” Lemirande advised.
“A lot of people thought that if you talk about suicide and depression, it would happen, but if you talk about it, people are aware of it, and they can actually help you,” Block said.
“We found out that the more you talk about it, the less it’s going to happen,” Lemirande said.
The final HERO project for the 2013-2014 school year was a balloon release after the GHS graduation ceremony May 25, done in memory of family and friends who had died.
At the national convention, the students will compete in the community service contest by presenting facts and statistics about suicide and telling about their suicide awareness projects. Lemirande and Block plan to attend the convention with Peterson. Krueger has enlisted in the U.S. Army and leaves for basic training on June 9.
The girls would like to see HERO continue next year, but its future is unclear.
Peterson, a business education teacher and FBLA adviser, was laid off by the school district, which will instead share a business education teacher with Suring. Peterson helped to start the Gillett FBLA chapter when she joined the staff in 2012.
Linssen said student interest and involvement will determine the livelihood of both HERO and FBLA for the coming years.
Having youth launch and lead the suicide prevention project made a great impact on the school and community, he said.
“They are starting to spur something like ROADS in Oconto County,” he said. “It was the kids leading the cause, based on some tragedies that have happened in Gillett.”
FBLA members have raised money for their trip by working concessions at Green Bay Packers games, selling pizza at lunchtime and by asking for donations. Anyone willing to be a sponsor may send a donation to Gillett High School.
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