PROVO — Who knew struggling with mental health in middle school would cause Noah Canon to find his life passions? He never saw that happening.

The now 20-year-old from Rupert, Idaho, was suffering from anxiety and isolation and was feeling hopeless about his future when he entered his teen years. He did not have many in school to give him a kind word — he used to eat his lunch in the school bathroom so others would not know he had no one to eat with — and things were quickly going downhill. That is until his mother stepped in and chatted with her son about what was going on.

His mother's intervention was one step toward feeling better about life. Participating in the Hope Squad at his high school helped him realize how lucky he was to have someone to step in and keep him safe. Canon knows other people are not as lucky.

"When I struggled with my mental health in middle school ... I don't think that is uncommon," he said. "I just became so passionate about this. I am so passionate about this. I try to volunteer as much as I can. (Hope Squad) showed me that progress is possible, so I wanted to help other people."

Hope Squad is a group of students at a school who serve as a suicide-prevention team. They are nominated by the student body and answer a question regarding who they would talk to if they had a problem, or to help identify students who are friendly and trustworthy.

The nominated students form the Hope Squad and are trained about "signs of distress and reach out, connecting peers to help and hope," according to the official website. Other adults, called advisers, educate the squad about mental health concerns, how to set and maintain boundaries, as well as the importance of finding a trusted adult if a peer threatens to harm themselves.

Organizers stress that students are not trained to be therapists or social workers, but they are reminded to be kind, inclusive and aware of what help an adult can provide.

"What we found was that peer-to-peer work was very impactful with young people," said Cathy Bledsoe, the assistant director for Hope4Utah, who oversees Hope Squads in Utah. "We just wanted to help students and families. Now, we work with 380 schools in Utah. It just evolved."

The seeds of the squad were spread in 1999 when Bledsoe and others began collecting data regarding mental health and suicide in Provo and Utah County. What they found was there was at least one suicide each year. It was clear mental health struggles impacted life in the county and there was a need to try something new — something that would make the young people more involved.

With that, Hope Squad was started, and it has continued for 23 years. It has used its own, tried and tested curriculum and activities to address speaking to a classmate, teaching kids how not to be a bully and, for the elementary students, how to be a friend.

Along with students from elementary, junior high and high schools, Hope Squad also trains cafeteria workers, bus drivers and others who work with students. Bledsoe said 60,000 have been trained by the organization, providing more people to help children and teens get the help they need.

It is important that students in Hope Squad come from a diverse array of backgrounds, both Canon and Bledsoe inferred. Sometimes, students want to speak with someone they know or who is similar to them — athletes talking to athletes or drama club kids looking out for others in that group.

"The truth is, students often know what's going on with one another before an adult does, so it is important to train students on what to look for," Canon said. "We teach students to be a friend ... students really do care about the people around them."

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