During the past school year the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation and the community it serves were forever impacted by the suicide deaths of a student, his father, and a staff member. Two students and a second staff member also passed away during the school year. It was a very tragic and difficult year for the school corporation and the community.

Recognizing the community looks to its schools for leadership, the Tippecanoe Valley Community Mental Health Task Force was formed in February 2013 to help the schools and community deal with these traumatic losses and prevent future suicide deaths. The 17-member Task Force consists of school counselors and administrators, youth leaders, mental health specialists, students, pastors, and other individuals interested in the well-being of the schools and the community.

The vision statement adopted by the task force is, “A community that recognizes, responds, and empowers all citizens to good mental health.” The mission statement states that “The mission of the Tippecanoe Valley Community Mental Health Task Force is to develop and implement strategies to both increase knowledge and provide support, while reducing the stigma of mental illness.”

An initial goal identified by the Task Force is to provide training for all TVSC staff and the community. The training to be provided is QPR for Suicide Prevention. QPR stands for Question, Persuade and Refer – three simple steps that anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. All TVSC bus drivers and transportation personnel received QPR training in August. The remaining staff members will be trained in November and December.

The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation will host four identical QPR training sessions in November and December at the following locations:

• Tippecanoe Valley High School – 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12
• Mentone Elementary School – 4 p.m. 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13
• Tippecanoe Valley Middle School – 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11
• Akron Elementary School – 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12

The training sessions will be conducted by Huntter Randall, Crisis Team Intervention Coordinator for the Bowen Center for Human Services. Mr. Randall is a highly skilled trainer who brings a vast background of meaningful and applicable experiences to his training sessions. Participants will find the training to be interesting and enlightening.

The QPR training sessions are open to the public. Those interested in participating are asked to register in advance by calling the school where the training will be held. School contact numbers are: Tippecanoe Valley High School 574-353-7031; Tippecanoe Valley Middle School – 574-353-7353; Mentone Elementary School – 574-353-7465; Akron Elementary School – 574-893-4646 QPR SNR.