Teaching students to find their strengths
Surrounded by Sources of Strength students on Friday, Texas Roadhouse managing partner John Morgan presents the check to Azure Wilson, the Sources of Strength coordinator at Woodland Middle School.
ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — Shayla Littlefield was in fifth grade when she first saw a presentation about Sources of Strength. She knew it was a group she should join.
“I just knew that I wanted to help others,” said the Canfield Middle School student.
At 14, she has been part of the student-led suicide prevention group for three years.
Littlefield joined about 30 others to receive a $5,000 donation from Texas Roadhouse.
The group teaches students how to navigate the world by recognizing the sources of strength that they have within their communities, schools, peers and themselves.
Saprina Schueller, an SOS leader at Canfield Middle School, said the program is built into the curriculum and explored every Monday during Pride Period. Each month, they focus on a different strength.
From SOS’s point of view, personal strengths are family support, positive friends, mentors, healthy activities, generosity, spirituality, physical health and mental health.
The program teaches students to tap into these resources and to help others do the same.
“When someone’s got something going on in their life, we refer them back to the strengths,” Schueller said.
The program is part of the curriculum at Lake City, Coeur d’Alene and Venture high schools, as well as Woodland, Canfield and Lakes middle schools, and this year is expanding into four elementary schools.
John Morgan, of Texas Roadhouse, said he was personally affected when an employee lost a spouse to suicide, and earlier this year, when the founder of the Texas Roadhouse committed suicide.
“People sometimes don’t want to talk about these feelings, but with everything going on in our world right now, we need to open up.” Morgan said.
Morgan has a daughter at Lake City High and one at Coeur d’Alene High, and his wife is a teacher at Fernan Elementary.
“This is a charity that doesn’t get a lot of recognition,” Morgan said. “Any awareness we can give helps me serve my purpose in life.”
Sources of Strength will host a color run Sept. 18 at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. The course will be 1.5 miles and the cost is $15.
Registration: cdaschools.org