SANFORD — Students at Sanford High School are going to get a big welcome on Friday morning.
Organizers of the welcome — members of the high school’s Peer Helpers group and Strategies for a Stronger Sanford — decided it was time to come together and rally for students after learning the results of a survey that showed some disquieting information.
According to SHS freshman counselor Beth Letourneau and Nicole Ivey, a certified prevention specialist with Strategies for a Stronger Sanford, only 49 percent of Sanford youth aged 12 to 18 said they felt like they mattered to people in the community. They said the information, taken from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, also showed that Sanford youth in the same age bracket expressed suicidal ideas in the 30 days prior to taking the survey.
“We are hoping to have hundreds of people from our community come to SHS at 7:10 a.m. on Friday to welcome our students to school, and show them that they matter to us,” said Letourneau.
People are invited to line the walkway to the school before students arrive, and are encouraged to bring posters, balloons and bubbles to heighten the welcome factor — though both women stress the public’s presence is what matters most.
“Join us on Friday at Sanford High School to give our kids a warm welcome and to let them know that they do matter,” Ivey said.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford), 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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