Lee’s Summit North will host community-wide program on suicide prevention

Lee’s Summit North High School will host a community-wide information night on suicide prevention Jan. 16, the school district recently announced.

The event will feature speakers from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which has chapters in Fulton and St. Louis.

The high school is holding the program nearly four months after it lost a student of its own to suicide. Last September, Gemesha Thomas, a 17-year-old student at North, died after authorities said she shot herself inside the school.

The informational night is scheduled 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 16 at Lee’s Summit North High School, 901 N.E. Douglas St., and is open to the public — including parents, community members, and young adults.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will hold two programs that night.

“More than Sad” is a program that will teach students, parents, and teachers how to recognize signs of depression, how to talk about depression and other mental health problems, and how to get help.

Another program, “Talk Saves Lives,” is described as a community-based presentation that will cover “the general scope of suicide, research on prevention, and what individuals can do to fight suicide.” The presentation also includes warning signs of suicide and how the community can work together to prevent suicide.

The event will start at 6 p.m. in the Lee’s Summit North High School’s Elliott Lecture Hall with an brief introduction.

Pizza will be served. Attendees are asked to enter through the north doors on the Tudor Road side of the high school.

The school district also noted in the release announcing the event that anyone in crisis should call the National Suicide Crisis Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text ‘GO’ to 741-741.

This story was originally published January 10, 2018 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit North will host community-wide program on suicide prevention."