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Given out of a sense of compassion and concern for the families and children of Newtown in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy of Dec. 14, 2012, these funds will help support the Newtown public schools' SOS Program.
The SOS Program, geared especially for seventh through 12th-grade students, is school-based and attempts to increase knowledge about depression, prevent suicide attempts, develop more appropriate attitudes toward mental health illnesses and treatment, increase self-help-seeking behaviors, increase help seeking behaviors on behalf of others, reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems and provide opportunities for early intervention when needed.
According to a national survey, about 11 percent of adolescents experience a depressive disorder by age 18. Left untreated, depression may increase substance abuse as well as suicidal thoughts and attempts.
Teachers and other staff will be trained in the SOS Program. In addition, parents will be invited to participate in a forum to help them recognize depression, which, among middle and high school students, continues to increase.
The funds for this donation came from three sources. “The majority is from Central Texas Master Singers (Master Singers Inc.) who staged a performance especially to benefit in some meaningful way the families of the child victims of the Newtown tragedy; The Situs Charitable Contributions Committee, of which Weston Kiwanis Club member Keith Johnson is CEO; and Weston Kiwanis Club members.” according to Dallas Kersey, president of the Kiwanis Club of Weston Foundation.
For more information, please visit www.westonkiwanis.org.
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