In an effort to support greater student wellness and suicide prevention goals, MCSD recently reviewed different student wellness and suicide prevention programs. With the help of school and district administrators, social workers, counselors and teachers we have have landed on one called Sources of Strength that will be considered for our three secondary schools.
District policy IN 304, requires feedback and review by two parents from each school. However, we are hoping for even more feedback on this program so we can address any potential questions or concerns.
According to the authors, Sources for Strength “is a best practice youth mental health and wellness promotion and suicide prevention program designed to harness the power of peer social networks to create healthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, violence, bullying, and substance misuse.
“The mission of Sources of Strength is to prevent adverse outcomes by increasing well-being, help-seeking, resiliency, healthy coping, and belonging. Sources of Strength moves beyond a singular focus on risk factors by utilizing an upstream approach for youth suicide prevention. This upstream model strengthens multiple sources of support, or protective factors, for young people so that when times get hard, they have strengths to rely on.”
MCSD selected Sources for Strength based on several criteria, including student participation, teacher requirements and time outside of class, along with its evidence-based practices.
District Prevention Coordinator Sierra Marsh will be hosting an information session with Sources of Strength’s team on Thursday, February 15 at 5:00 pm. This session will be virtual and address the purpose behind student wellness programming, the process through which Sources of Strength was identified, and, of course, the program itself.
Interested families may access the session using this Zoom Link. Before, during, or after the Zoom session, you may provide your input on this program using the feedback form here. We value feedback from all our Murray families and hope that you will share your perspective with us.
There will also be a follow-up session on Wednesday, February 21st at 2:30 pm to address the feedback received. You may access the session using this Zoom Link.
Finally, if you are interested in participating in the committee that will review the feedback and present the program to the Murray Board of Education for approval, please contact Sierra Marsh at smarsh@murrayschools.org. Thank you for your support and engagement!
