‘Hope Squad’ being formed at Park High School

A student-led group called Hope Squad is in development at Park High School to help combat suicide and ensure teens thrive in Park County.

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The group, which could be operational next school year, will identify signs of mental distress in peers at the high school and provide a safe environment for open conversations, according to Livingston Public Schools Superintendent Chad Johnson.

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It also will organize community awareness events, encourage peer-to-peer connections, empower students to advocate for themselves and others, and collaborate with mental health professionals and resources within the local community, he confirmed.

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“Our Hope Squad program is in the infancy stages at PHS,” Johnson wrote in a Monday email.

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The initiative has the support of local city and county officials.

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“I think it's an amazing step for empowering the kids that are in the environment there to be able to recognize their peers that need help,” said Livingston City Commission Vice Chair James Willich, speaking during a Jan. 20 city commission meeting. He keeps abreast of such developments as one of the members of the Park County Board of Health.

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The 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 41% of local students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks, and that 20% seriously considered attempting suicide, according to the latest Park County Community Health Assessment.

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Montana has grappled with a higher-than-average suicide rate, according to the “Suicide among Children in Montana, 2013-2022" report published by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

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“The suicide rate among children in Montana was nearly three times the national child suicide rate from 2013 to 2022,” reads the report.

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Park County residents have grieved children lost to suicide in recent years. A Park High School student committed suicide on Nov. 19, 2025.

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Travis Horton, County Health Department director, told commissioners a little about the Hope Squad program during his presentation of the county health assessment at the Jan. 20 meeting. He said the teens on the Hope Squad will be nominated by their classmates.

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"Then they go through a bunch of training to help them identify a variety of things,” Horton said. “They go through a fairly intensive training, and it's twice a month...”

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ANONYMOUS DONOR

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An anonymous donor gave the county $7,200 to support the Hope Squad. The monies will be used for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) executed this month between the county and the donor. The donation will cover the full two years including training for two school district staffers who will become mentors for the Hope Squad kids.

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County commissioners expressed enthusiasm for the program and voted unanimously Jan. 20 to accept the $7,200 donation and execute the MOU.

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Horton indicated additional funding is being sought to get Hope Squads in other schools in the county, especially in Gardiner and Shields Valley.

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Hope Squads help students build relationships, cultivate empathy, understand themselves, develop emotional intelligence, and make constructive choices, according to Hope Squad LLC, which is based in Utah.

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HISTORY

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Hope Squad is an evidence-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program that has its origins in Provo City School District, where there had been one to two youth suicides annually in the 90s. In 1997, after a fourth grader committed suicide on school grounds, a task force was formed to address the issue of child suicide. This led to the creation of the Hope Squad program in 2004. The effort was spearheaded by Greg Hudnall, a former high school principal, student service director, and associate superintendent with the Provo City School District. He is now the founder and president of Hope Squad LLC, which administers www.hopesquad.com.

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"By partnering with local mental health agencies and training members to recognize warning signs and connect those struggling to help, Hope Squad builds positive relationships and changes the culture surrounding mental health,” reads the website.

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Part of the process establishing a Hope Squad at Park High School will be forming a leadership team for the group that includes students and adults, according to Johnson.

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Originally published at https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/news/hope-squad-being-formed-at-park-high-school/article_e0b1af58-1c92-49f7-8f52-af6080763c68.html

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