C R E AT I N G A C U LT U R E O F I N C L U S I O N
Loyola’s HOPE Squad: Reaching out to peers before they reach a breaking point
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EVEN OUT OF TEN ADOLESCENTS experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts will confide in a trusted peer before approaching an adult. To help these teens before they reach a breaking point, Loyola Academy and other schools across the country have implemented a nationally recognized suicide prevention program called the HOPE Squad. Loyola was selected to serve as a HOPE Squad school by Elyssa’s Mission, which provides resources to bring suicide prevention education into schools. To prepare for the program’s Spring 2020 launch, our Counseling Help and hope for struggling students: In Spring 2020, Department staff Loyola was one of the first schools in Illinois to implement a participated in an nationally recognized, school-based, peer-to-peer suicide intensive training prevention program called the HOPE Squad. program and then asked students to nominate caring and compassionate Ramblers to be trained as the HOPE Squad’s inaugural members. “HOPE Squad members are nominated by their peers because they are trustworthy, good listeners, easy to talk to and approachable,” explains Counseling Department Chair Sheila Blanchfield. “Since the program’s launch, they have become the eyes and ears of our school. They see things on social media that adults don’t. They see kids eating lunch alone. They are trained to identify students or situations that require adult intervention and seek out the help of a trained HOPE Squad advisor. “Many safeguards are already in place at Loyola Academy to help Ramblers who are struggling emotionally,” she states, “but the HOPE Squad formalizes the process and casts a wider net. It also builds on the innate strengths and values of our students, faculty and staff—and Loyola’s longstanding Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, or care for the whole person.”
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Loyola Academy Annual Report 2019–2020
A Global Dialogue About Differences
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N FEBRUARY 2020, Ramblers in our World Religions course connected with peers as far away as Jordan and Indonesia to engage in a video dialogue about culture, identity, beliefs, values and attitudes. Led by a dialogue facilitator, the international video conference was sponsored by Generation Global—an initiative of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change—to give young people the skills and experience they need to navigate differences in a peaceful way and flourish in an interconnected world. During the international exchange, Ramblers were encouraged to articulate their views about the complex issues surrounding wealth, poverty, inequality and charity as they encountered and considered the perspectives of teens from other cultures and countries. Although, at first blush, the dialogue may not seem to be directly connected to world religions, Theology teacher Chris Howe points out that it has everything to do with developing a broader understanding of other cultures and belief systems. “Our World Religions course is not principally about what different religions believe or how they pray,” he explains. “The first unit is entitled ‘Dialogue’ because, at its most fundamental level, the course is about how to build relationships based on trust and respect among different peoples.”
