PRIEST RIVER — On Oct. 4, 105 West Bonner County School District employees became “gatekeepers” by training to recognize mental health crises and prevent suicide. According to Priest River community member Elizabeth Glazier, the training was only phase one — the first of several stages in a grassroots movement aiming to bring a dark issue to light. 

“This is far from over,” Glazier said of the initiative. “This is just a little step in the right direction.” 

Glazier played a key role in organizing the Oct. 4 training, where WBCSD faculty and staff became certified for QPR: a technique designed to empower someone to question, persuade and refer to prevent suicide in their community. 

“The person doesn't have to be a licensed clinician. They don't have to be a first responder,” said Valerie Leal, suicide prevention and youth education specialist at Panhandle Health District. “It's for any person to learn to recognize and how to respond to warning signs of a suicide crisis.” 

Suicide has been a longtime problem for Idaho; Idaho’s 2022 rate of 22.64 suicides per 100,000 residents significantly outpaced the national rate of 14.91 per 100,000. Idaho’s Public Health District 1 — which comprises Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties — mirrored the state rate at 22.30 per 100,000.

Hayden-based Panhandle Health District has offered free mental health and suicide prevention resources for years. Several months ago, Bonner County commissioner Asia Williams made an effort to raise awareness about suicide in North Idaho and proposed connecting Panhandle Health with WBCSD. 

West Bonner’s director of special services Kristina Kenny and Glazier, who heads Kaniksu Sunrise Rotary Club, then teamed up with Leal to organize a training event and recruit local QPR trainers Jay Watson and Marie Gray. 

To maximize the opportunity, the Rotary club sponsored the training by providing a stipend to non-classified WBCSD employees — who usually have Fridays off — attending the event. 

“We wanted not only their teachers, but their bus drivers, their lunch ladies, their janitors, their coaches, their school nurse and everybody around them to feel like they had a basic knowledge and awareness of signs to look for,” Grazier said. “This is a way to flood Priest River with the awareness and knowledge of how to treat people in crisis.” 

With staff members equipped with knowledge, the next step of the project will educate community members to help provide support to students at home and in the workplace. 

Panhandle Health has announced six free public QPR training sessions Nov. 13, 16 and 23 at the Priest River Library. The events are open to adults, and registration is available through the Kaniksu Sunrise Rotary Club Facebook page. 

The third step, educating students themselves, is the final piece of the project. 

“Our goal is to provide some sort of training to our students before they leave for Christmas break, because we see an increase in depression and mental health issues over long breaks,” Kenny said. 

QPR is designed for ages 16 and up, and only suits high school juniors and seniors. Other programs exist for younger populations, and the district is interested in educating a variety of students across grade levels. 

“We want to specifically target those middle school and high school grades,” said Kenny. 

In all, Glazier viewed the three-step approach as a pilot program for what she hopes will become an integral part of district curriculum. 

“We see this as kind of like a seed for a big tree someday,” Glazier said. “I think this will just become the new norm, and kids won't ever remember a time when we didn't have mental health education."

The initiative for mental health support and suicide prevention has emerged during a turbulent time in WBCSD. In spite of persistent budget shortages, the district has found a way to not only maintain its support for students’ mental health, but also expand it. 

“If you've been following our district at all in the past one or two years, you understand the financial struggle that we are in just to provide the bare essentials to our students,” Kenny said. 

“It's really great to see the community come together for a common cause and a common mission.”

To register for one of the upcoming free QPR training events in Priest River, visit bit.ly/3NTSNQA.