BOISE, Idaho — The Boise School District hopes to raise more awareness around preventing suicide heading into the fall, nearly a year since the Treasure Valley saw an uptick in students dying by suicide.
"I think that it will just create the conversation that we've needed," said Chloe Price, Capitol High School senior.
It is National Suicide Prevention Week, which is part of Suicide Prevention Month. Capitol High School's Hope Squad facilitated several events this week.
That includes Chalk the Walk, which was a district wide effort alongside Boise State University. They also created a Wall of Trust, where students wrote the names of trusted adults in the school.
"It's really beautiful to see everybody at Capitol supporting each other," Junior Divya Danesh said.
There are now Hope Squad classes at every middle and high school. The class was created in response to the cluster of suicides last fall.
"We teach curriculum on suicide prevention," psychology teacher Kristin Barrier said. "We do community events here at Capitol and in the community. The more kids we have that we can touch with this information, I think is going to be better for everyone.”
The Ada County Coroner's Office told KTVB 14 young people died by suicide in 2023, compared to one the year prior.
Four of the students who died by suicide in the fall of last year were Boise School District students, a district spokesperson said.
"It's devastating for the teachers. It's tough on the families. It's tough for those students, it's tough for the mental health professionals. So, we had to do something," counseling supervisor Jason Shanks said.
Secondary schools are also teaching new curriculum for national suicide prevention week, "Signs of Suicide."
"It is to essentially make sure that we have all of our students knowing what to do if they come into contact with a student that may be struggling with thoughts of suicide, who may be showing signs of suicide and within themselves," he said.
Danesh said many teens her age struggled with their mental health because of the COVID-19 pandemic, something Price agreed with.
"I myself, had struggled with ... thoughts of ... would I be better off not here? You know, dealing with my depression pretty much alone during COVID," Price said.
The two Hope Squad students joined the class to help other students know they are not alone.
"I can help to create a world where we have, you know, less stigma around it, and just less suicide in general, because we'll have a broad education about it," Price said.
Danesh said she is glad the district is prioritizing the issue.
"I think it's only gonna become more apparent in the future, because mental health is an important issue, and I'm really glad we're all talking about it," she said.