April 28 at Newark High School marked the start of Sources of Strength Week, a celebration of mental health awareness.
Mental Health Monday brought students dressed in Adam Sandler themed attire. On Positive Friends Tuesday they dressed as a friend, or a minion. Blue filled the halls on Hopeful Wednesday, followed by Trusted Adults Thursday, where students either dressed as a trusted adult or wore green. The week wrapped up on Friday with sportsware, just in time for the faculty-student basketball game.
The week is Newark High School’s Sources of Strength’s biggest campaign of the year.
“They can see that we’re trying to make an impact on their lives too. It’s fun because you can see the amount of people involved in that campaign,” sophomore peer leader Kate Shaw said.
Sources of Strength is a national evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health awareness program. The program, which can be implemented in elementary, middle and high schools across the United States and Canada, aims to amplify a positive school culture and increase conversations about mental health.
Scott Koebel, school counselor at Newark High School had his eye on the program for several years. Then four years ago, the school received additional grant funding, and he knew it was time to bring Sources of Strength to Newark High School.
They started out with 35 peer leaders and a few adult advisors. Today, they have grown to nearly 60 peer leaders and eight adult advisors.
The peer leaders, Newark High School students, work to spread the messaging around campus. They do anything from lunchroom contests, to artwork around campus, to podcast episodes focused on mental health.
“We recognize there are going to be bad days, but if you can build up your strengths, that can help you move through those tough days and still maintain a sense of hope,” Koebel said.
When Shaw walks down the hallways at Newark High School, she spreads positivity with smiles and waves to her peers.
“Everyone I’ve talked to says that the people in sources are influential in our community here at Newark High School,” Shaw said. “I feel like if you have a positive mindset about everything, then that makes your life better no matter what deep trenches you’re in currently.”
Koebel explained that Sources of Strength is different from traditional suicide prevention programs because it is not primarily adult-led. The program is made up of peer leaders like Shaw, who are usually nominated by staff, or sometimes other students.
“We tend to be able to be more influential than adults, I think because we know the struggles going on in kids our age’s lives,” Shaw said.
The main reason the program has succeeded is the peer leaders, Koebel said.
The adults help guide the students and collaborate with them on certain projects. Yet, the students have a platform to develop ideas to spread the messaging around the school.
“We look for a diverse group of students across different social networks, grades, different activities and different social groups,” Koebel said.
Shaw was nominated to be a part of Sources of Strength in the fall of her freshman year by one of her ROTC instructors, Master Sgt. Barnette. She has been involved ever since.
The goal of the program is not to teach the students that everything is positive. Instead they focus on building individual strengths while breaking the mental health stigma.
“Unfortunately, there still tends to be a stigma that if you talk about your struggles, that you’re somehow weak. We really try to put forth the message that talking about your struggles and seeking out help is a sign of strength, not weakness,” Koebel said.
In 2023, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, 40% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and 20% seriously considered attempting suicide.
In Ohio specifically, every 9.6 out of 100,000 adolescents aged 15-19 died due to intentional self-harm according to America’s Health Rankings using data from 2020-2022.
“If we’re talking about those things and having open conversations, then the students who theoretically need some extra help, we can get them connected to people that can help,” Koebel said.
Shaw was an advocate for mental health before she joined Sources of Strength.
Shaw is Catholic, and since second grade she always admired St. Dymphna, the patron saint of mental health. During her confirmation, she chose St. Dymphna as her confirmation name. She was inspired by her story. She wanted to be more like St. Dymphna and help others through their mental health struggles.
“I’ve seen a lot of people in my family and those around me go into very dark holes of mental health. Being able to understand it and help others through that has been a really big part of it,” Shaw said.
Koebel and Shaw both reported that they have seen success with the program in their school environment.
“I think I’ve also noticed it just with our culture and overall environment. The more that we have done with getting the messages out and things in the hallways, in videos and podcasts, I do feel like that has had an impact on the overall culture in Newark High School,” Koebel said.
Sources of Strength is evidence-based. Its success can be backed by research. A 2025 study from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that new suicide attempts were reduced by 29% in high schools that have implemented a Sources of Strength program.
Aside from Sources of Strength Week, the peer leaders usually do three campaigns a year. The campaigns tend to focus on different topics, usually derived from the sources of strength wheel. The eight-color wheel on the poster in the back of Koebel’s office details the main focuses of the program. Words such as “mental health” and “positive friends” are written in bold in each slice of the color wheel.
“When we work with the peer leaders, we talk about these different strengths and how each of us can rely on those strengths, but also practice the strengths so that we can build them up. And so our messaging to the overall student body tends to revolve around the SOS wheel,” Koebel said.
The green slice of the color wheel reads “mentors.” Right now, they are finishing up their trusted adults campaign.
“The research shows that with adolescent mental health, connections with caring adults are the number one factor in positive adolescent mental health,” Koebel said. “We place a really big emphasis on connections with trusted adults, not only with our peer leaders, but with other students as well.”
In the past four years, Koebel has seen change. He sees staff members embrace the opportunity to make connections with students.
Some of the peer leaders have also been allowed new opportunities through participating in the program.
Early in April, some of the peer leaders staffed a guest panel at the American Association of Suicidology Conference in Columbus. Shaw was one of them.
The conference brought an audience of about 75 people from all over the United States.
“We got to spread not only our personal views of sources, but the entirety of our community at Newark High School. It was just a way for other communities to see how they could incorporate Sources of Strength into their lives, at their work or at their home, or even at their own school,” Shaw said.
At Newark High School, the positive messaging is spread throughout the halls. A poster regarding the trusted adults campaign hangs atop the staircase, Sources of Strength Week flyers decorate the walls. The peer leaders’ voices shine on the intercom in the morning.
“We do not reach every student with every thing that we do, but we hope with doing many different things and using different mediums, whether it’s, we do a lot with social media too, our Instagram account, whether it’s videos, announcements, social media, artwork, displays, podcasts, we’re hoping with all of those different things that we’re reaching all students,” Koebel said.
One student, senior Julia Fitterer, even painted a mural. She gave up her time, after school and on the weekend to complete it.
The mural now decorates the previously white wall in the hallway, reminding students that they are not alone.
Ella Diehl writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.