Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. They wanted everyone to feel great about going to prom and cut costs in the process.

On this episode of the Supercast, hear from an inspiring group of students who belong to an organization at West Jordan High School called “Sources of Strength”. Find out how their incredible Self-Care Event made prom picture perfect and affordable for students, creating feel good moments and memories to last a lifetime.

We are here at West Jordan High School with Robyn Briggs, the advisor for “Sources of Strength” and you're putting on a Self-Care Event tonight. The media is out, all kinds of students are out. Tell us about what's going on.

Robyn Briggs:
We're super excited that you're here. We're doing a “Sources of Strength” event and this event is all about bringing mental health awareness to the kids and helping them realize that their thoughts and opinions about themselves is important for their mental health. And so to give a little self-care to yourself goes a long way.

We've collaborated with a ton of volunteers from our community and they're all coming out to do manicures. We're making corsages and boutonnieres for these kids' prom dates, we have permanent jewelry, we have eyelash extensions.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Robyn Briggs:
We've got haircutting. We've got so many things. Brow waxing. These kids are literally coming out of here a whole new person.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Robyn Briggs:
I'm serious.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's the total makeover. So is prom tomorrow night?

Robyn Briggs:
Prom is tomorrow night and all the kids signed up for appointments for this event. We've had over 45 volunteers come to perform services.

Anthony Godfrey:
45 volunteers and how many students signed up?

Robyn Briggs:
We're serving over 100 students today.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's fantastic. And tell me a little bit about “Sources of Strength”, the group that organized this.

Robyn Briggs:
So “Sources of Strength” is a suicide prevention program at our school. It's actually a class and I'm the advisor for that class. The students in the class are called our peer leaders. They're nominated by their peers as people that they can trust and go to when they're struggling. And so Sources of Strength is an upstream approach to suicide prevention.

We focus on the good rather than the negative. So focusing on stories of strength rather than stories of trauma. We help students draw to their, like go to their strengths when they're going through a hard time rather than focusing on the trauma that they're going through. So looking around them and being like, "Oh wow, I have so many strengths around them. I have my family's support. I have my mental health. That's a really strong strength of mine. I have my physical health. I have all these things. I have mentors." All of those things are their strengths and we help them recognize their strengths so when they are going through a hard time they can turn to those strengths.

Anthony Godfrey:
And by organizing this event, these students are now being a source of strength for the broader West Jordan High School community.

Robyn Briggs:
Exactly. And not only that, but they're getting to know the peer leaders that are