Hope Squad realizes the struggle of battling mental health is hard, and they are trying to take steps forward to help remove the stigma that is around both suicide and mental health. They are doing so by orchestrating a Hope Week for the Westerville South community that will be taking place January 24 to January 28.  

There is a spirit week happening for this occasion between Jan. 24-28.  The days are as follows; Monday is Monochromatic Monday (wear all one color), Tuesday is Hope Day (wear suicide prevention colors, yellow, teal, or purple), Wednesday is wacky Wednesday, Thursday is Thriving Thursday ( wear what makes you feel the best or most confident), and Friday is Wildcat Friday (wear South gear). 

People are affected by Mental health issues daily and recently suicide rates are rising, according to nami. org, suicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death for people 10-34 years old. 

Mental health and suicide is unpredictable and can go unnoticed on many occassions, also according to (nami.org, 1 in 6 U.S. youth (6-17) experience a mental health disorder each year.

There are lasting negative effects when someone is dealing with a very serious mental illness or when someone ends up taking their own life, and sometimes people get lost and don’t know how to deal with certain things and with Hope Week, Hope Squad advisor, Kassandra Gutierrez shared that Hope Squad wants to “… raise suicide awareness, spread positivity, and help students find resources needed when they’re struggling.” 

Sophomore Zoe Guice added, “ It is important because anything that is spreading hope and joy is important to the school.”

With wanting to achieve this goal there are many hands on deck, including Hope Squad members, Hope Squad advisors,  and district members.  The Hope Squad is doing what they can in order to make sure this week is successful. Since they have so many events happening which includes, a raffle, a morning giving out free hot chocolate, giving out kind notes/ candy grams, etc. 

Putting together an event comes with expectations for the event and one of the things Gutierrez mentioned that she was looking forward to was, “… all the positive notes that students and staff will receive throughout the week.” 

Guice said, “ I am most looking forward to spirit week.” 

According to Gutierrez, Hope Squad’s goal is to reach as many people as possible, and have a large amount, if not everyone at South receive a kind note. 

Gutierrez also touched base on how the notes that are made, are made by the person who chooses to send it and it is also handwritten. She shared that they are handwritten because handwritten notes seem much more personal and are often more  appreciated. 

According to Guice and Gutierrez, Hope Squad this event means a lot, with high expectations comes many ups and downs as well, whether it be stress, difficulties, etc. Gutierrez mentioned how the students in the Hope Squad class came up with ideas that were good and easy to execute as well. 

She also shared that the easy part of this process was that they received great support from the district.  Gutierrez also said they’ve done a great job preparing, and they are ahead of schedule finishing many things a week or two ahead. Yet, one of the difficulties was timing everything right, being sure not to do things too early or too late such as announcing the spirit week.  She said they didn’t want to do it too late to where people found out last minute and weren’t prepared. 

Gutierrez also shared how she hopes this will impact the community here at South stating, “January and February are most commonly the hardest months for a lot of people with mental health…” adding, “… we hope it spreads smiles, strengthens friendships, and just gives the school motivation to keep going.” 

Guice also shared that, “ I think that it will help by spreading hope throughout the student body.” 

The overarching goal is to help everyone feel joy and love in a time when they may need it the most. Gutierrez expressed, “I want people to feel loved and know that we are a family at South that every student and staff member is a part of.”

Hope Squad is trying to help remove the views of suicide and mental health as a taboo topic. With this Hope Week,  the group knows it won’t fix everything, but they seek to at least make people feel good, help them feel safe talking about what they may be going through, and allow them to feel love from the people around them, whether that be someone they may or may not know.