The Hope Squad is a nationwide suicide prevention and awareness program that Frenship ISD has put into place throughout the district. Students involved train them weekly to learn how to recognize signs of students that may need mental health. The squad also learns how to respond to a student who reaches out for help in person or on social media, referring students to the counselor, and how to be a friend when someone is in need. 

At Frenship Middle School, 16 students make up the Hope Squad. These students have been working hard all year to be a resource for their school. The squad made suicide awareness posters to hang around the school and created 3 bulletin boards that hang at each end of the building. The board has pictures of each member so that other students recognize who Hope Squad is in case they need to approach one of our members for help. 

FMS Hope Squad has created suicide awareness posters to hang around the school. We have also created 3 bulletin boards that hang on each end of the building so that other students recognize who Hope Squad is made up of in case they need to approach one of our members for help.  

One of the projects the squad recently completed was to build a rock garden. The students painted inspirational words on rocks for students to take if they want or need one. The rocks were placed in the counselor’s flower bed outside the library window.  

The flower bed was built by the Frenship High School horticulture class a few years ago for the FMS counselor, Chelsea Click. “The garden has been an amazing asset to my counseling department to be able to plant flowers and to also use for outside therapy at times for students,” said Click.  

The rocks were placed in the garden this week and are ready to be taken as needed. Phrases painted on the rocks include “today is your day”, “we rise by lifting others”, and “you rock!” 

Click stated that the Hope Squad has been an incredible resource for FMS. The squad sees what is going on during class, outside of school, on social media, and within friend groups more than any staff can see daily in class. 

“Hope Squad fosters relationships between peers that may never have existed otherwise,” said Click. “It creates trust and confidentiality between students when sometimes those students in need may not be able to trust anyone else or know who to go to.” 

The next project for the Hope Squad will be handing out goody bags to students in the morning. They will be filled with a Hope Squad bracelet, a fidget toy of some kind, and an uplifting phrase.