The annual Hope Walk will take place tomorrow, March 29 at Children’s Health Stadium from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m with special guests Trent Johnson and Tim Holt. Open to the public, participants will be able to walk with all Hope Squads in Prosper ISD to highlight the importance of mental health, suicide prevention, and to spread hope across Prosper.
“Our Hope Walk is a way to just spread (mental health) and suicide awareness with the support that the Hope Squad can provide through the schools in the district,” assistant principal Elizabeth Demerse said. “It’s also to celebrate the students and what they do to help provide that support through their peers and the campuses that they serve.”
Students are able to participate in the Hope Walk through volunteering or by being a member of Hope Squad.
“Hope Squad is a program that we have throughout our entire district,” Demerse said. “But at PHS, we use it to be able to help students with suicide awareness, to be able to help our teens that are wanting to be Hope Squad members to mentor other students, and help them if they’re going through a difficult time. Then, just provide that positive culture and vibe throughout the campus to keep people in good spirits and good mental health.”
To accomplish this, the Hope Walk, featuring several physical activities, is held in Prosper to shed light on the importance of mental health.
“(The Hope Walk is) open to the community and all of the campuses throughout PISD,” Demerse said. “Providing that awareness that mental health is important, and we want to do whatever we can to help somebody else’s mental health move forward and provide the resources that they may need.”
Along with hosting the Hope Walk, Hope Squad recently concluded Hope Week where they hosted multiple activities and dress up days.
“We have multiple events throughout the year,” freshman Hope Squad member Ali Bray said. “We have (the) Hope Walk, we have mental health campaigns, and we put up posters around the school. (Hope Squad members) go through lots of training weekly. We do QPR(Question, Persuade, Respond, or Refer), we have guest speakers, and we have people come and talk to us about the importance of being Hope Squad members.”
Freshman Zoe Greenlee, another Hope Squad member, elaborated on QPR.
“We learn about like, QPR, which is ‘Question, Persuade, Respond or Refer,'” Greenlee said. “Basically, you learn about like, how to (see) the warning signs of the suicide, of suicide and stuff like that, like the indirect ones and the direct ones. And you get to help, like, guide the person to, like, a trusted adult, or getting help if they need help in that kind of case.”
Greenlee believes that the Hope Walk is important for the Prosper community.
“We kind of just get all the Hope Squads from Prosper ISD all together to just like, come together as a community to support one another,” Greenlee said. “There might be high school students talking about, like, personal experiences of suicide and suicide thoughts – it’s just a big community event.”
In order to join Hope Squad and to have the ability to take part in their activities–including being heavily involved with the Hope Walk occuring tomorrow–students can apply to be in the program soon. Information regarding applications will come out soon through Coach Mauldin – the Hope Squad adviser – and the PHS counselors.
“I just think that if someone is interested in becoming part of our Hope Squad, that they should definitely pursue it to help make our program grow,” Demerse said. “It is such an important part of our campus and our district culture. (The Hope Walk provides) awareness that mental health is important. With Coach Mauldin, I help her with any kind of needs that she has to make sure that we are making the vision and mission of Hope Squad – stay alive.”
