As a parent and an educator, it is frightening to read about teen suicides that have occurred in neighboring communities so similar to our own. Committed to taking preventative action, Wayland Middle School and Wayland High School are joining to implement a new program this year in the tenth and seventh grade Wellness curriculum called S.O.S. (Signs of Suicide). We will be sharing this curriculum with the entire faculty as well, to help them detect any warning signs in the classroom. We aim to equip students and staff with the tools to recognize signs of depression and actively care for one another.

Please join us on October 23, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. in the WHS Theater to hear Dr. Mark Kline discuss what we can do as a community to prevent teen suicide.

Mark Kline Psy.D. is Clinical Director of The Human Relations Service, Inc., where he has served for 26 years.  HRS is a non-profit community mental health clinic serving Wellesley, Weston, and Wayland.  Dr. Kline also serves as Vice Chair of Take This.org, which, founded in the aftermath of a suicide by a colleague, is a non-profit aimed toward educating those in the creative/technology world about mental health.  Additionally, Dr. Kline has consulted to schools in many west suburban towns including Wayland for many years.  He is also the parent of three teenagers.

We hope you will join us on October 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the WHS Theater for this important conversation.