This story contains a mention of a suicide and may be upsetting to some readers.
English Language Arts teacher Alana Washington starts every Save a Life Mentorship program meeting with a simple question: “How are you today?” Some students shoot their hands up quickly, with others there is delay. Eventually every student shares how their day was.
Through the program, Washington hopes to give students a place to feel at home, where they can express themselves and their spirituality. Washington is many things — a daughter, a teacher, a friend. But she associates most with her role as a follower of Christ.
Two years ago, Washington’s eldest brother died by suicide. Antonio Davis Jr.’s death shattered her family. Washington says she felt stuck.
“We felt like what … what … could I have done? Why couldn't — why wasn't I there? But at that moment, I knew it was nothing I could have done,” Washington says. “That was his journey. That was his story.”
Washington didn’t want to get out of bed, much less pull herself together long enough to stand in front of the room and teach. So, she called her prayer partner.
“She told me, ‘You have a purpose,’” Washington says. “‘Your purpose is so great. When you go to school, the way you help those kids, that can't stop. You need to use this as a testimony.’ And that’s when Save a Life came to fruition.”
Save a Life also helps Washington deal with her loss. “I was like, OK, not only am I healing kids, but this is healing me.”
It is not uncommon for her students to share personal and traumatic information with her. Ewing Marion Kauffman is a free public charter school that has admission preference for students living in six ZIP codes that all lag behind Kansas City’s median income average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“And the majority of children that are in that community are African American. And I think it's even more important because, in our households, expression of feelings is not encouraged,” she says.
Mental health and suicide awareness have historically been taboo topics in some Black communities. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “Black youth have the fastest growing suicide rate compared to their peers of other racial and ethnic groups — between 2007 and 2020, the suicide rate among Black youth ages 10-17 increased by 144%.”
Washington attests to the fact that many of her students deal with mental health issues as well as thoughts of suicide. She always refers them to onsite social workers, but she may be one of the first stops to hear their struggles. She is a bridge for her students to get to the resources they need.
At a recent Save a Life meeting, the class got on a FaceTime call with a student who was healing after a tragic car accident. The student has been with the program since the very beginning and has become a leader in the group. Over speakerphone, the student led her peers in prayer, with Washington holding the phone up for all to hear.
The nature of the charter school gives Washington the freedom to host her religious extracurricular. Two years ago she started a poetry club, a place where students could come after school, write and speak openly about their lives and issues they might be having. After her brother’s suicide, Washington felt called to include religion in the mission and renamed it Save a Life.
“The mission of Save a Life is to promote suicide awareness, as well as social and emotional learning and a relationship with God. We hold each other, we encourage each other, and then we point it back to, ‘OK, let's focus on the good,’” Washington says.
Although the program is based in Christianity, Washington explains that it is entirely voluntary, and she meets students where they are. The group welcomes students with any belief system.
“I want to change their life, save their life physically,” Washington says. “We go on walks, we talk about health and diet. I just want them to understand that their life is precious and there's ways to cater to yourself to where you can live a better life and be happy and joyous.”
As for the future of Save a Life, Washington wants the program to go beyond the classroom, into the community, as its own nonprofit.
“There is a need for community everywhere. Even outside of the children, their parents, adults, people in the school need a place where they can come express how they feel and feel supported,” Washington says.
She hopes to build a space where both kids and adults can share their beliefs and their lives how they want to, without being told how to. She believes that spreading love, light, and truth is home.
“Even people older than me still don't know how to process trauma, still don't know how to talk to people, still don't know how to be vulnerable,” Washington says. “If I could create that space for people even outside of these walls, I think that would be the only thing that truly, like, brings me joy.”'
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline any time by calling 1-800-273-8255 or texting “HOME” to 741741.
This story was originally created as part of the NPR Next Generation Radio project.
