Our conferences and programs have Impact.
We invited two Dartmouth College seniors to speak at our April 2024 student conference in Hanover, NH about a new virtual mental health service at Dartmouth. The attending high school students asked why a similar service couldn’t be offered in their schools.
To investigate that question, Safe Schools convened a smaller conference with educators and industry experts to discuss the feasibility of online therapy for younger students. The potential benefit was huge, and the conference recommended a three-year pilot study.
Safe Schools drafted the study and asked five New Hampshire school districts to join the initiative. They all agreed. Only sixteen months after the Hanover conference 3,000 NH students now have fast access to online mental health care. They are the first students (grades 7-12) in New Hampshire to have this resource.
We introduced the Hope Squad suicide prevention program at our Portsmouth conference to over eighty students and educators. Not one person had heard of Hope Squad, even though it operates in over forty-two states, and not one NH school offered the program.
Students from Exeter High wanted to bring Hope Squad to their school. We awarded them a Challenge Grant to get them started. The student team prepared a presentation to the superintendent and Exeter School Board. Their Hope Squad proposal was approved, and the program launched fourteen months after our conference.
Both these programs save and improve student lives. They were not known or operating in NH schools. We introduced them at our conferences, and they launched in 16 months or less. That is impact.