A Journey of Hope and Resilience: The Birth of the Flyers Care Project
Aug 25, 2023
Superintendent Mark Kopp
Have you ever wondered how a simple idea can transform into a powerful movement? Olivia Atkins, Caroline Blackburn, and Griffin McElmuray, a trio of remarkable students from Franklin County High School, are here to share their journey of creating the Flyers Care Project - an initiative that began with creating t-shirts and evolved into a life-affirming message delivered through banners in the high school and cards delivered to every student. These cards, a symbol of hope and resilience, remind every student that they matter and have the strength to seek help.
Discover the story behind the Flyers Care Project, as our guests recount the beginnings and the ongoing impact of their mission. This is an episode about courage, empathy, and the power of community. We explore not just the project but also delve into the personal interests of our guests, bringing to you a blend of enriching conversation and inspiring stories. Additionally, we throw light on two pivotal district-wide programs, the Stop Tip Line and the Safe Schools Helpline, that serve as complementary forces to the Flyers Care Project. Through this episode, we honor and celebrate the commendable efforts of Olivia, Caroline, and Griffin in fostering a safer and more caring school environment.
Have you ever wondered how a simple idea can transform into a powerful movement? Olivia Atkins, Caroline Blackburn, and Griffin McElmuray, a trio of remarkable students from Franklin County High School, are here to share their journey of creating the Flyers Care Project - an initiative that began with creating t-shirts and evolved into a life-affirming message delivered through banners in the high school and cards delivered to every student. These cards, a symbol of hope and resilience, remind every student that they matter and have the strength to seek help.
Discover the story behind the Flyers Care Project, as our guests recount the beginnings and the ongoing impact of their mission. This is an episode about courage, empathy, and the power of community. We explore not just the project but also delve into the personal interests of our guests, bringing to you a blend of enriching conversation and inspiring stories. Additionally, we throw light on two pivotal district-wide programs, the Stop Tip Line and the Safe Schools Helpline, that serve as complementary forces to the Flyers Care Project. Through this episode, we honor and celebrate the commendable efforts of Olivia, Caroline, and Griffin in fostering a safer and more caring school environment.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to FCS Unscripted. A new podcast for one team, fcs, where we look at the stories behind every one in Franklin County schools. Welcome to FCS Unscripted. It's a superintendent, mark Kopp, and I am so proud and pleased to be here with you today, because today we have a student spotlight section and this segment is going to feature three of our wonderful Franklin County high school students. We have with us today Olivia Atkins, caroline Blackburn and Griffin McElmury, and they are going to talk to us about something that they have put together at Franklin County High School that I think is just fantastic, and that is what's called the Flyers Care Project. So we're going to spend a little bit of time talking to them and we're very thrilled to have you with us today.
Speaker 2:
Welcome, how are you all? We're good, good.
Speaker 1:
Well, really appreciate having you here. So let's kind of talk about what the Flyers Care Project is all about. Olivia, why don't you start us off?
Speaker 2:
So I'm going to go ahead and start off on kind of how this all started. I last year I was talking to some of the officers that we had and just some people at the school, and it was after we had a few, it was kind of there were a bunch of suicides that happened all at once. We had had suicides in the past, but it was just like this past year and then, especially those past few months there was kind of like a pile up of them and it was. It was very sad. None of them really affected me that much, but they affected people around me and that was kind of hard for me. So I was talking to them and I was like I feel like we can do something.
Speaker 2:
So I went to my mom and I was kind of venting to her. Honestly, it was like nothing of trying to be like, oh, I think we should do something, yet it was just like venting. And she went to work the next day and saw somebody wearing a shirt that was the Happiness Project shirt, which is a suicide prevention organization that does shirts and they raise money and do stuff for their local places and stuff like that. So she brought that idea to me and she was like, hey, we could do t-shirts, that's something you could get started at county, or like t-shirts and something like that. And so I started thinking about it.
Speaker 2:
At first I was like that's going to be a lot of work and then I thought about it more and I'm like you know what? This is worth it, because we don't take what happened lightly and it affected somebody in some way at county. Each of these did it really affected a lot of people and that's really, really important to me that we did something. The seniors especially because we're about to leave. I could leave a mark on this school and potentially carry on in the future. So I brought an idea of doing just. It started with just t-shirts, I brought it to Mr Johnson and my fellow officers and it just took off from there.
Speaker 1:
So that's the history. So one suicide is too many.
Speaker 2:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
I agree, in any community, in any school Last year we had, I believe, two of our current students and then two of our former students as well. Yes, and it does. It does, Whether it you know it personally, is someone that's in your family or a friend, but it could be a friend of a friend. Suicide is just. It's so devastating, and so that's I'm really thrilled about. So what you're doing here so the Flyers Care Project is a suicide prevention program. Kind of talk about what? Some of those, some of the ways in which, what are the things that you're doing to help prevent suicide?
Speaker 3:
Right. So what we have is we started with a the t-shirts was the original idea and then we draft. We went to JRS printing Mr Johnson and then have a very close relationship, so they worked out getting some cards for us to hand around to all the students. So we got a bunch of cards which you have the picture of right. Got that right there.
Speaker 1:
There's the, there's the one side of it. Now there's no way you're going to be able to see this on the camera over there, but yeah, and and so let's kind of go through that real quick, if we can. On this side that is small on the card I blew it up. Here we are the FCHS, and then you have Flyers written down the sides. So let's talk about what those letters are all about, right?
Speaker 3:
So so we have the Flyers and we'll start with the F.
Speaker 3:
It's feel free to ask for help.
Speaker 3:
The main thing was we want to Make sure that all the students of our school feel welcome in the fact that they can talk to anybody, whether that's teachers, any officers or just someone that's sitting next to them in their classes. So that was a big point that we wanted to get across everybody and let someone help. You know, a lot of times it might be hard for people to think they can reach out to people in that they care, but we got to reinforce the message that everyone wants to help you, whether they may not show it, and then you all matter to us for the why, you know, just got to keep reinforcing these values, that you know you're not alone and everything. And then we have everyone in the flyer family matters, remember that we care about your feelings. And then, for the S, say something if you see something, which is really important, because a lot of times people may feel like they don't want to, you know, get in the middle of that, but you know it's very important that people step in if they see something.
Speaker 1:
So we have two district wide programs that that supplement what you guys are doing with this program. One is the stop tip line that is in every school in the Commonwealth. As a district, we also resubscribed last year after these events, to something called the safe schools helpline, and we have we have those posters and cards and all of our schools that does exactly what you're talking about, griffin, and that is, you know, if you, if you see something, say something, right, that is a totally anonymous hotline that you can call, text, you can email and beyond just you know, reporting, it's also a counseling tool. So anyone who wants to call that number can receive one on one counseling for free, 24 7365 days a year. So this is why I love what you're doing. This localizes that specifically at Franklin County High School and it's something I'm very proud of you all for doing, and I'd love to see it expand to the other schools as well. For sure, for sure. So let's talk about this. Nine, eight, eight. Don't hesitate to call Right.
Speaker 3:
Right. So that is a number that anyone can text and it gets you in touch with a person a live person to talk to. If you're feeling any type of feelings of suicide or just need somebody to talk to in general, you can go ahead and text that number or call the number. Text the number and you'll be able to get in touch with somebody to talk to about any type of way you're feeling. Is that great?
Speaker 1:
Uh, caroline, uh, let's hear from you now. Uh, talk to me just overall about the program. Anything else you want to add?
Speaker 4:
So another thing about these cards is the message that's on them. We also have banners throughout the school. We have two right now, um standing banners, and they started in the front four year and back four year, but they're going to be circulating around just so they're fresh um and everyone's view and that way, too, like other visitors to the school that maybe aren't students or faculty can also see that message. Um, another thing we're going to do is next week we're going to hand out the ribbons like you're wearing right now.
Speaker 2:
Right there, yes, sir, you can see that, yeah.
Speaker 4:
All of us have those on our backpacks and we really want to make sure everyone in the school has one um just to place somewhere visible and um, and that way others who maybe don't know about the project or are unfamiliar with the ribbon can ask and that's a way to spread it um, without just bringing it up like straight forward sometimes, cause that's hard to do for a lot of people.
Speaker 2:
Sure.
Speaker 4:
Um, and another thing we are going to plan to do um to extend this into the future, cause we don't want it to be just something now and then it dies out by the end of the school year. We want to keep this going all year and know that it's a safe place. Um, so suicide prevention week is September 10th through the 15th, and every day we plan to go on the morning announcements, read off the letters on that card Great Um and talk a little bit more about those. And we're also planning to um have a guest speaker to come in and talk to everyone.
Speaker 1:
Well, it's wonderful. I want to make sure that this gets to all of the other schools, um, as well. This is just a wonderful program. The greatest thing about it is the fact that it's student initiated and student led, uh, and it really shows how much you all care about each other at Franklin County High School. I always tell folks when you walk in Franklin County High School it's, it's a very unique feeling. It's it's a feeling of family and tradition and, uh, just caring about each other and there's an awful lot of pride in Franklin.
Speaker 3:
County High.
Speaker 1:
School. So anything else you'd all like to add about the program.
Speaker 2:
Um, I want to add one more thing. I know that we talked about shirts originally, but I just kind of want to circle back to that.
Speaker 2:
So, um, we went through CLS to get shirts and Mr Johnson's still working on all of the finals on those kind of things. But in a few weeks we're going to roll out ticket orders and we're going to try to make this so that anybody in the district can get them, because I meet a lot of people want to participate in this project. Um, we're going to roll those shirts out. They look just like the cards. So the front of the card is what's going to be on the front of the shirt. It's going to be like a pocket square, where that would be, and then the back of the card is going to be just like the back of that card. Great, um, they're going to be at a low, low cost, but it's still going to be like around 10 to 15, maybe we're still trying to figure that out because we're going to put part of the profits towards a local suicide prevention organization that we have figured out with.
Speaker 1:
What a great idea, and I highly encourage everyone to purchase one and let's put the, let's put the resources towards that right. Guarantee you that I'll be purchasing one, and I'd like to encourage everyone in the district and all of our listeners today, uh, to do the same. What we'll do as part of the of this broadcast is we'll make sure that we put that information up when we edit the, the recording later, and we'll make sure that everyone has access to that. Anything else that you want to say about the project? Yeah.
Speaker 4:
I think another thing that's really important to note is that it does say we are the FCHS fliers, and that's not to limit it to it. We do want to see this spread out. It's just to let people know that that is a safe place that they can come to If they need someone to talk to. There's always someone there, Um, and we want to just want to make that feel like a safe space in home, Like like you said well, olivia is a uh, student board member representing frankly County High School this year.
Speaker 1:
Uh, I'd like you to share this information at the next board meeting with our board members. That's definitely, and uh, this is something I'd love for you and uh and Josh, who is the student board member, from uh Western Hills, uh to speak about and do something uh together. Okay yeah, at the end of the day, you Be proud of being Franklin County High School, but we're all one team.
Speaker 2:
That's right.
Speaker 1:
And I want to make sure that all of our students have access to this wonderful information and I can't let you go without making sure we have some fun facts. All right? All right, so fun facts, quick questions and answer session. Okay, and we'll go around the room. Are we ready? Yes, sir, what is your favorite food?
Speaker 3:
Griffin, mm-hmm, I'm going to have to go with chicken fettuccine Alfredo.
Speaker 1:
Oh man, oh yeah, see, that's solid. I figured I'd hear a lot of pizza and chicken fingers, but all right, all right.
Speaker 4:
I'm going to have to say the same thing, but add broccoli. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:
Olivia, are you going to be? Is it a three for three for chicken? Alfredo? Yeah, it's going to have to be this.
Speaker 2:
I love pasta.
Speaker 1:
I didn't think that was going to happen. All right, Okay. Favorite sport Olivia.
Speaker 2:
Swimming Dance.
Speaker 3:
I'm going to have to go with basketball football Basket football Wow, I never heard of that word.
Speaker 2:
That's my favorite sport. That would be great.
Speaker 1:
That would be great. What is your favorite movie, Griffin?
Speaker 3:
Mm-hmm, this is a tough one. I'm going to have to go with Interstellar oh yeah, that's or Oppenheimer.
Speaker 1:
That was a good movie. I need to see that. I've heard it's great, caroline.
Speaker 4:
I don't have one favorite, but I love the Marvel franchise.
Speaker 1:
Okay, super.
Speaker 4:
The Hunger Games.
Speaker 1:
Okay, great. Last question what is your favorite style of music or favorite performer? We'll start with Caroline on this one.
Speaker 4:
Taylor Swift.
Speaker 1:
Swiftie.
Speaker 4:
And Abba.
Speaker 1:
I'm also a big Abba fan, that's see, now you're getting back into my day, right, take a chance on me and all that good stuff.
Speaker 3:
I would have to say I like to listen to rap, of course, but I also I dabble in some 80s music.
Speaker 1:
Okay, good, nothing wrong with the 80s.
Speaker 2:
I love Taylor Swift. I'm gonna be honest, she's like my top artist, but I do love listening to like Tyler Childers, chris Stapleton and Zach Bryan. Those are kind of my staples lately.
Speaker 1:
Solid. That is great. Well, olivia, caroline and Griffin, I sure appreciate y'all being with us today. This was wonderful. We will get this out later today and thanks for sharing and I hope everyone who's watching this can participate in this project, support this project, because these kids are doing amazing things. Thank you all so much, Appreciate you, thank you Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Well, that wraps it up for this week's episode of FCS Unscripted. Thank you for listening in and I encourage you to subscribe and follow this weekly podcast where we will share updates, information and interviews with hashtag everyone the wonderful students and staff who make up one team FCS. Have a great week, everybody.