7th grader shines in suicide prevention effort
UPPER POTTSGROVE >> A suicide prevention poster by Christine Hires, a 7th grade student at the Pottsgrove Middle School, was selected as the third place winner in the Montgomery Country Suicide Awareness Poster Contest.
The second annual contest was sponsored by the Montgomery County Suicide Prevention Taskforce and Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital and its theme was “Your Story Doesn’t End Here.”
In Montgomery County about 100 people are lost each year to suicide.
The Taskforce’s purpose is to promote understanding that suicide is a preventable community health problem in our county. The goal of this contest is to encourage emotional well-being by promoting the concepts of communication, hope, community and friendship, in an effort to prevent suicide.
All schools in Montgomery County were invited to submit original artwork.
The idea behind the project is to help to teach students that talking about feelings and reaching out for help when feeling down is important for everyone in Montgomery County.
Judges looked for positive themes, clear messages, creativity, uniqueness and artistic ability.
Students were urged to draw ideas about the following themes:
• Hope
• Peace
• Love
• Not keeping Secrets
• Life is for Living
• Support
• Friendship
• Connections
• Communication
• Being a Role Model
• Healthy Ways to deal with Stress
For more information about suicide prevention and upcoming events, visit the website: https:// www.montcopa.org/1439/
Suicide-Prevention-TaskForce