Hope in the Hallways

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - It’s a taboo topic that many shy away from discussing. It’s heartbreaking, it’s emotional, it’s difficult to process... Youth suicide.

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It’s no secret that this issue is global, but here in South Mississippi, we feel the impacts of the students we’ve lost daily.

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“I feel like East Central, our community around Hurley and stuff... that did affect us,” East Central High School junior Kayleigh reflects, a tear sliding down her cheek. “So I feel like we are taking more of a change to help those who aren’t doing okay, and I feel like we think back to that, and we want to help anyone and everyone.”

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Even one student suicide is too many, and that has people in our Coast community - parents, community members, business leaders, educators, legislators - asking, “What can we do?”

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This WLOX special presentation, “Hope in the Hallways,” documents one Mississippi county’s efforts to reduce youth suicides through the implementation of Hope Squads.

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Schools in all four schools districts in Jackson County, Mississippi, implemented Hope Squads for the first time during the 2024-2025 school year. Hope Squads were launched at each middle and high school in the Jackson County School District, the Moss Point School District, the Pascagoula-Gautier School District, and the Ocean Springs School District.

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Hope Squad started in Utah in 2004 with the purpose of “fostering human connection, community and hope by elevating mental wellbeing through peer-to-peer suicide prevention programming.” Squads can now be found in thousands of schools across the United States and Canada.

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The organization was founded by Dr. Greg Hudnall, a principal at a school district in Utah that was struggling with multiple youth suicides annually. After having to identify the bodies of multiple students who had committed suicide, Dr. Hudnall vowed to do whatever he could to stop this tragic pattern.

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“So my dad started the concept about 20 years ago,” said current Hope Squad CEO Greg Hudnall, Jr. “When he was a high school principal, he actually had to go to the body of a couple of students with the police report, recognize them and notify... the families. When he was a principal, he made a vow to himself that he didn’t want to have this continue in the community...”

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Dr. Hudnall began his first Hope Squad at a high school in his district, then expanded the team to every school in the district once they saw the major success that came from the program.

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As the need to address this widespread and heart-wrenching issue became apparent in South Mississippi, so did the necessity for destigmatizing conversations around mental health and suicidal thoughts.

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Jackson County’s Singing River Health Foundation began hosting Mental Health Summits, allowing speakers to reach a community, like many others across the world, facing a widespread mental health crisis.

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Emma Benoit was one of these speakers. Emma, a Louisiana native, survived a suicide attempt at 16 years old in 2017, and uses her story to advocate for suicide prevention across the country.

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“I dealt with thoughts of suicide for several months leading up to my own suicide attempt,” Emma told an audience at the Pascagoula Performing Arts Center in March. “As you can see, my attempt left me with some permanent scars.”

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Emma is a strong advocate for Hope Squad and has helped place around 50 squads in schools across the country.

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“The more we educate and become familiar with how to help people, how to navigate struggles, how to normalize discussions about mental and emotional hardships… the better off we’ll be as a society, and I really think Hope Squad is crucial in starting that change,” Emma told WLOX’s documentary crew.

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When Jackson County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Paige Roberts heard Emma speak at the Mental Health Summit, her interest was immediately piqued. This was an issue that community leaders had been highlighting and attempting to solve for years, but now there was a tangible, research-backed option that could easily and quickly be implemented in schools.

“You know we have to do something, and we can’t just keep kicking the can down the road and saying ‘we’re going to, we’re going to’... This has to stop. And two [youth suicides] in 11 months from the same community was jarring,” Roberts told WLOX. “So as we continue to lose these students right in our own backyard, it drove us to be more focused and more determined to find something that might help intervene in this pattern.”

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Community partners in Jackson County, including Singing River Health System Foundation, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Chevron, Navigator Credit Union, Mississippi Power, and Merchants & Marine Bank, decided they wanted to be a part of the fight and got together to provide funding to implement Hope Squads at the 14 middle and high schools across the county.

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Funding for Hope Squad goes toward training and curriculum: Each school has two advisors, who are thoroughly trained for the role. The students are trained as well, engaging in role-play to practice difficult scenarios they may encounter with peers and learning methods of response to someone who may be in crisis.

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Hope Squad members are educated on suicide risk factors and warning signs and are taught how to connect with struggling peers who may need help. They are not expected to be a counselor but are trained on when to refer a peer to a trusted adult.

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Squads are also provided with curriculum, which includes materials for events and activities to implement in schools throughout the year. These exercises are meant to inspire positivity and kindness and promote inclusivity within schools.

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Hope Squad members are chosen in a unique way. Unlike a popularity contest, students at schools creating Hope Squads are asked to name three of their peers who are trustworthy, understanding, and kind. These may be peers that other students already go to when they need to talk or have an issue. The students who are named the most often bubble to the top and create the school’s Hope Squad.

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“I was really excited to be nominated because I felt like it’s just really important,” Colmer Middle School 8th grader Millie told WLOX. “I don’t want to see anybody struggle because of that, especially to the point where it gets unbearable for them.”

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“I think that it’s amazing that my peers decided to trust me,” St. Martin Middle 8th grader Jocelyn told our reporter in the cafeteria during lunch. “When I first heard about Hope Squad, I was like, ‘This is amazing.’”

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This WLOX documentary highlights a group of students from schools across Jackson County during their first year of Hope Squad.

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What is it like to be selected as a Hope Squad member? Why is having a team of students who care important in today’s day and age? How have youth suicides affected your communities? Have you seen a difference in your school since implementing Hope Squad?

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These are the questions we consider as we tell the story of the first Hope Squads in Mississippi.

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“Right from the beginning, we felt so confident about the importance of Hope Squad, not just in Jackson County but... it could be all over the state,” Roberts told WLOX. “So we took it to the Capitol.”

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The documentary crew followed a group of Hope Squad members and advisors to the Mississippi State Capitol in February, where efforts are being made to provide statewide funding for peer-to-peer counseling groups, including Hope Squads. Senator Jeremy England, Representative Kevin Felsher, Representative Sam Creekmore, and others have been working to provide funding to give more schools this opportunity.

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St. Martin High School Senior and Hope Squad member Vicky Vo took to the podium and spoke to the Senate floor about her own experience with depression and anxiety, and the difference she feels Hope Squad has made in her school. A resolution was passed in the Senate recognizing the students, advisors, and community partners who are making the state’s first Hope Squads possible.

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“The change we hope Hope Squad brings to our schools and to our communities is a more deliberate, intentional behavior pattern that is welcoming and inclusive and kind and understanding… in the attention that we pay to each other,” Roberts told WLOX. “Our young people are struggling... The kids really need this.”

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“I hope that every Mississippi superintendent... I hope that every American superintendent sees this documentary or hears some type of word about it,” St. Martin High School junior Madalynn told the documentary crew during the school year’s last interview. “And I hope that we can spread the word and get a Hope Squad established in every single middle school and high school across this country.”

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Originally published online at https://www.wlox.com/2025/05/05/watch-hope-hallways-wlox-documentary/