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Henderson County schools to pilot Sources of Strength peer-mentoring program in seven schools
Summary
District staff and the county health department presented a student-led, upstream suicide-prevention and resilience program. Initial funding from Project Serve, the Community Foundation and local partners will cover training and a first-year crisis counselor; program rollout will begin in seven middle and high schools.
Shannon Otten, director of student services for Henderson County Public Schools, told the board April 14 that the district will implement the Sources of Strength peer mentoring program in seven high schools and middle schools over the next two years.
The program is a student-led, adult-advised model designed to build connectedness and protective factors to reduce bullying, substance use and suicidal thoughts, Otten said. She said the district’s student services team completed a weeklong pre‑training and will use a train‑the‑trainer approach to expand the program districtwide.
Sources of Strength trains adult advisors (3–6 hours each) and peer leaders (5–6 hours each). Peer leaders design school-based “campaigns” — for example, “We Belong,” gratitude chains, or social-media videos — that are intended to strengthen student bonds and increase awareness of trusted adults available to students.
Why it matters: Presenters and public‑health partners described the program as “upstream” prevention — connecting students to supports before problems escalate. Melissa Whitmire, public health strategist for behavioral health at the Henderson County Department of Public Health, said national research shows implementation of Sources of Strength is associated with lower rates of bullying, substance use and suicidal thoughts in schools that adopt it.
Funding and timeline: Otten said the district secured training and initial implementation funds through Project Serve and the U.S. Department of Education (covering the expensive training component), plus additional grants from the Community Foundation of Henderson County and local partners including the Henderson County Education Foundation and AdventHealth. The initial package also includes a crisis counselor for at least the first year; the district said it will seek sustained funding and may request additional support from the Community Foundation to cover unanticipated needs.
Otten described a phased rollout: district staff will first seek principal and administrative buy‑in at scheduled principal meetings, recruit peer leaders and adult advisors at each participating school, and then co‑lead training with the national Sources of Strength team. The district plans to start at one school at a time until staff are confident with the model, then scale up.
Board questions and follow ups: Board members asked whether the program is strictly a suicide‑prevention model. Whitmire and Otten said it focuses upstream on connectedness and other protective factors rather than on clinical intervention; students identified as at risk would be connected to counselors or clinical services. Board members also asked which schools would start first; Otten said specific sites were not finalized and that principals’ input would guide the selection.
Next steps: The district will brief principals and the principal supervisors, recruit peer leaders and adult advisors, and schedule the first round of trainings with the national team. Staff said they will report back to the board as sites are selected and campaigns begin.
Ending: Board Chair thanked the presenters and the health department for the partnership and said the board looks forward to implementation updates as the program moves into individual schools.
