In years past, members of Hawk Wings, the Natural Peer Helpers Club at Woodland, have attended various training seminars to help them become better equipped at helping their peers. The club has sponsored speakers to come and give presentations during the school day along with attending training workshops  for Natural Peer Helper Clubs from around the state

This year club advisers Bethany Didato and Janine Murdy decided that they were going to put together their own training for the members of Peer Helpers.

“We decided to do the training in-house because that way we could really focus on the skills that we want our members to have,” said Didato. “This way everyone will be on the same page and have the ability to help students in need.”

So on Wednesday, October 23, the club members gathered in the Media Center for a day focused on learning how to help others.

After a brief icebreaker, Murdy and Didato played a video for the students set on motivating them to want to make a difference in the lives of others.

“The video was great,” said Hawk Wings Secretary, Katie Porter. “It focused a lot on how even just one person can make a difference in the world.”

The club officers then led the group in going over what it means to be a Natural Peer Helper and what the goals of the Hawk Wings Organization are. According to the club mission statement, Hawk Wings is eager to create a positive atmosphere in the school and community as well as be a resource for other students when they just need some help from someone their age.

Murdy and Didato then led the students through activities to help them improve their listening and communicating skills.

Kristine Burns, the Social Worker at Woodland, then came in and spoke to the group about how to be aware of the possible danger signs of a student who is contemplating suicide.

According to Burns,  suicide is one of the leading causes of death in people under the age of 24 in Connecticut making it an epidemic among teenagers. Therefore, it was crucial for the Hawk Wings to be equipped to know the warning signs.

Ryan Morgan, from the Governor’s Partnership Prevention, came to give a presentation called WreckED. Morgan did activities with the Hawk Wings that intended to make them more aware of how to help their peers who are faced with difficult choices regarding the use of drugs or alcohol.

Towards the end of the training, the club members had a chance to come up with ideas about what events or campaigns they want to hold throughout the rest of the school year.

“I think the training was really helpful,” said Porter. “We all learned better ways to help our peers and we grew closer as a club. I think the training was also a great way to motivate us to become more involved in assisting Woodland students.”