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SpeakUp ReachOut: Suicide prevention starts with compassionate training

Jennifer Owens Bloess
Valley Voices
Jennifer Owens Bloess
Courtesy photo

SpeakUp ReachOut provided suicide prevention training to 3,700 students and 2,000 adults in the Eagle River Valley over the past year because of the incredible generosity and compassion of individuals and businesses in our community. Vail Resorts EpicPromise Employee Foundation in particular supports our suicide prevention programs for students.

If data shows that working-age, middle-class men die by suicide most frequently in Eagle County, then why do we focus so much attention on suicide prevention for students?

Based on the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey in the fall of 2021, 745 (38%) of our high school students and 363 (27%) of our middle school students reported feeling a level of sadness and/or loneliness within the past two weeks or more that their behaviors changed.



Many of these students felt a level of depression that they considered taking their own life. Unfortunately, 243 students felt isolated in their pain they reported attempting suicide. These numbers represent the real-life experiences of children in emotional pain in our community.  

From fifth grade through 12th grade, all students receive one classroom period of suicide prevention training every year through SpeakUp ReachOut with support from EpicPromise. The curriculum is evidence-based, age-appropriate training that helps our children learn how to identify signs of suicide and depression. This compassionate approach helps students learn how to speak up and reach out to a friend in need.

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Through guided discussion, students talk about how to have a supportive conversation with a friend that shows they care. Simply hearing you matter to someone else can make a world of difference. Feeling connected to others reduces the risk of suicide. Students learn how to refer friends to a school counselor or other trusted adult.

SpeakUp ReachOut has been teaching Signs of Suicide in middle schools for close to 10 years. The number of middle schoolers indicating a high level of sadness is down from 471 students in 2019, to 363 students in 2021. The trends are heading in a positive direction in Eagle County, yet we must all continue to do more to support our children’s emotional health.   

As an adult, you may have seen our children don’t always want to talk when they are hurting. Children and teens often turn to the family members of their close friends for advice. Because of this, our children need a valley full of trusted adults like you. 

Trusted adults give support and advice with the intent of keeping a child safe and away from harm. SpeakUp ReachOut offers training for adults within the community to provide tools for conversations that are thoughtful, caring, and non-judgmental with our young people.

For years, Vail Resorts has funded suicide prevention trainings for our students and parents through EpicPromise grant awards to SpeakUp ReachOut. All our community-wide efforts in partnership with the schools are helping support young people.

SpeakUp ReachOut is grateful for the leadership of Vail Resorts, Eagle Valley Behavioral Health, Eagle County Schools and people like you for the remarkable generosity and kindness that makes suicide prevention programs available at no charge across the Eagle River Valley.

Thank you for your support of suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

Jennifer Owens Bloess is a SpeakUp ReachOut board member, a counselor for Eagle County School District, and a mother of two teenagers. Learn more at SpeakUpReachOut.com.

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