2022 has been a tragedy for EagleCrest High School. Jackson Langford, Jayden Alvarado, Ryan Nowlan, and Shenieca Harper are students from EagleCrest who have sadly passed away due to car incidents or suicide. 

Julia Wiering on the Mental Health staff at Smoky Hill High School said, “I think students are getting better at talking about their mental health than they used to. I have a lot of students talk to their peers and we’re working on getting them to talk to adults as well. I do see a lot of students reaching out for support when they need it to other people.”

According to Aurora Mental Health, 1 in 10 students have reported feeling suicidal thoughts since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Ruth Fisshea (11) attending Eaglecrest believes, “The school should really just address what has been happening, and just like letting everyone know that there’s actually somebody they can talk too, not just making it vague.”

Yordanos Negash (12) said, “I feel like the district is trying to keep peace about the whole situation. But I feel like we’re not having enough conversations about it to actually help the situation but at the same time, I feel like a domino effect could also happen if we talk too much about these incidents.” When asked why she stated, “I think that’s what the district is trying to do and find a balance between the two however, I don’t know if that’s necessarily working.”

Wiering said, “I think we do a pretty good job of at least advertising, all the ways that students can get help in the building, as well as using outside of your resources, like the 988 number safe to tell and other crisis lines.” She also said, “We also have daily groups that are run by our mental health teams for students that are anyone’s welcome during lunches Monday through Thursday.”

There has not been new immediate mental health practices put in place besides Advisory in the Cherry Creek Schools District.