Green Bandana Project is a suicide prevention program in its 4th year at Marion High School its 2nd year at Vernon Middle School. Participating students are trained by local crisis prevention experts to support peers who have mental health struggles. Once students pass the training they are provided with a green bandana to wear on their backpack so students in crisis know who they can trust to connect with for help.
Staff at Marion High School are also trained to help and display a green bandana in their room to identify themselves as a program participant. These staff also serve as a support person for students in crisis who have connected with a Green Bandana student.
In September of 2021, MHS juniors Aubrey Backous and Leah Fruehling worked with Marion School Foundation staff to write a funded grant to HOPEWalk to offer this program at both Vernon Middle School and Marion High School. The students did a wonderful job expressing their dedication to supporting students who are going through a tough time.
The Green Bandana Project currently has 26 participating students at Vernon Middle School and 86 students at Marion High School. This year in April, the MHS Green Bandana hosted a showing of the documentary film “My Ascension”. They also designed shirts and mentored Green Bandana students at Vernon Middle School.
VMS students created classroom presentations and designed posters featuring coping strategies for stress and anxiety as a way to destigmatize these emotional responses and encourage communication about them.
This article is part of the Summer 2022 Edition of the Marion Independent School Foundation and Alumni Association Newsletter. If you are interested in staying in touch with the latest Marion School Foundation news, please update your information for our records here: https://marion-foundation.org/alumni/.