Cherokee Co. School District adding six new Hope Squads

CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – The Cherokee County School District started the Hope Squad at Gaffney High School earlier this year to fight back against teen suicide rates and with its success, have begun training for six new schools in the district.

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“Seven of ten students will give an indication or tell a student of intentions of taking their life,” said Larry Lawrence, Hope Squad master trainer. “Hope Squad students are trained to listen and watch for those signs and take those concerns to a trusted adult and get that student some help.”

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Lawrence brought Hope Squads to the Upstate through the Christopher’s Hope Foundation, a foundation he and his wife created after losing their own son, Christopher, to suicide in 2019. He said he has seen the Hope Squad work and shared one example of an Upstate student who is still with us today because of it.

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Advisors from six different Cherokee County schools attended Hope Squad training Wednesday in preparation for a squad to be started at their school. They were all in agreeance that groups like this are necessary for their students’ well-being.

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“I think anything that we can do to shed light on the struggles that the students could have and even some of our adults in the school with us,” said Craig Short, Hope Squad advisor from Blacksburg High School. “It’s a good outlet for us to be able to work with one another to try to tackle this problem.”

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“I think the biggest thing is it’s peer to peer, it’s someone you see every day, it’s someone that’s your age and people that you grow up with,” explained another Hope Squad advisor, Shiniqua Hernadez.

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Short spoke from personal experience with his own daughter.

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“So many times they will recognize things before we as adults will, that was a case of my daughter’s situation,” said Short. “They can be the outlet first for their friends and other peers and I think it will bridge gap a lot of times between them and us as adults.”

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The Cherokee County School District said the goal is to have something similar in all schools later this year.

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“I would like to every school who wants a Hope Squad to have a Hope squad,” Lawrence said.

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So far, Christopher’s Hope Foundation has helped sponsor Hope Squad in 26 schools in Spartanburg County, Cherokee County, and Greenville County.

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All donations received by Christopher’s Hope Foundation will go toward training, curriculum, and maintaining school Hope Squads.