KENNEBUNK – A flag designed by a student-led group at Kennebunk High School is receiving recognition from a national organization for its creative approach to public safety.
The club is called a Students Against Violence Everywhere Promise Club, or SAVE Club that fosters leadership in protecting their school communities from violence before it happens.
SAVE Promise Clubs are an offshoot of the Sandy Hook Promise organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. Formed following the Sandy Hook tragedy that took place Dec. 14, 2012, in which 20 first-grade students and six educators lost their lives during a mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The organization is led by family members of the victims, and focuses on preventing gun violence before it happens, mobilizing young people and adults to be able to identify, intervene and potentially help those at risk individuals.
According to the Sandy Hook Promise organization, every day, 314 people are shot and of those, 41 are younger than age 18. Of the estimated 20,308 people who die from suicide yearly in the United States, 640 are children younger than age 18.
The organization stressed that in four out of five school shootings, at least one other person knew about it, and that most took six months to a year to plan their attack. The facts and figures are used by the organization to further drive home their mission to protect children and prevent gun violence.
Regional School Unit 21, home of Kennebunk High School, became the first school district in Maine to implement a “Say Something” program, offered through the Sandy Hook Promise organization free of charge for schools that wish to participate.

According to information provided by the organization, most threats of violence or suicide are known by at least one person prior to the incident. The program, for students in grades 6 through 12, shows students how to look for warning signs and signals, including social media.
Kennebunk High School Wellness Club advisors Beth Keezer and Susan Donaher heard about the program and decided to embed the program within the Wellness Club.
“The club is meant to teach our students how to reach out and to promote and create leadership,” said Kennebunk High School Principal Susan Cressey. “It helps the students make sure that their fellow classmates are feeling included.”
A flag was designed by the SAVE Promise students, to further enforce their mission with fellow classmates; help can be found within the school system, and there are adults that you can trust within the school system.

The flag, emblazoned with the words, “You can trust me because …” was completed by members of the Kennebunk High School staff as a reminder of all the ways the adults at the school were present for the students.
Responses ranged from “Because I will always be here to listen,” “You deserve to be heard,” and “You are important to me.”

All the responses focused on a theme of trust, inclusion, and the staff’s openness to listen and be a resource to their students.
“The banner helps our students know that the adults in the school are there for them,” Cressey said.
The banner has caught the attention of the national Sandy Hook Promise organization, which was impressed by the public use of reassurance. According to Cressey, the organization plans to use the project as a best practice for other schools to implement.
The SAVE Promise Club next plans to create a “You can trust me because …” banner to be completed by the students, which will highlight the many ways that classmates can be there for each other as well.

Contact Staff Writer Abigail Worthing at news@kennebunkpost.com.