About 100 people attended Wednesday night’s suicide prevention awareness event at Columbus North High School.
Larry Perkinson, employee and student assistance coordinator for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., said there was a mix of adults and students at the event.
Guest speaker Ed Reuter, Bartholomew County 911 Emergency Operations director, talked about his work as an Indiana State trooper responding to those threatening suicide and shared his personal story of losing his father to death by suicide 14 years ago.
Future training opportunities and establishing The Hope Squad program in Bartholomew County were also discussed. The Hope Squad program provides peer-to-peer suicide prevention training which middle school, high school and college student then take into their social circles on campus. Ivy Tech Community College and IUPUC are working with local representatives to establish the Hope Squad model locally.
