Three students in Casper have committed suicide since October 2003, and now school officials and counselors are looking at new ways to stem the tide through teaching suicide prevention.

A new suicide-prevention program, "A Promise for Tomorrow," is under consideration for local schools. Developed by the Tennessee-based suicide-prevention group the Jason Foundation, the program was started in 1997 by Clark Flatt after his 16-year-old son, Jason, committed suicide.

Tomorrow isn't soon enough for the program to be used here, says Kelly Walsh ninth-grader Lanie Oakland, a member of the Youth Empowerment Council who attended training in the program's approach.

Oakland knows how suicide threatens Wyoming kids - she experienced the suicide of one of her older brother's friends when she was a fourth-grader, and one of her own friends committed suicide while she was a seventh-grader at Dean Morgan Junior High.

"We had math class together. I couldn't even be in the same class after that, it was so hard," she said.

She said she likes the new curriculum for its focus on identifying signs of someone who might be considering suicide.

"It's awesome, and I really think it'll work. I hope it does," she said.

Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank brought the program to a coalition meeting of child welfare workers two months ago, according to Wayne Beatty, the administrator of the Natrona County School District's Safe Schools program.

"A Promise for Tomorrow" will be more user-friendly than previous curriculum, according to Linda Nelson, the chairwoman of the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force. It consists of a video, hands-on materials with helpful information, and a curriculum guide.

"(It's) so easily replicable," Nelson said. "You could hand it to a teacher who had been in the classroom for one or two weeks, rather than having to depend on a more experienced teacher. They will not feel that they are put in a threatening situation."

The Jason Foundation program is presented from a third-person viewpoint - for example, it explains how to help a friend if he or she is having suicidal thoughts.

"Eighty percent of people who commit suicide will tell someone prior to attempting it," Nelson said. "We need to tell (the kids) what to say, what to do, who to turn to."

The program also focuses heavily on the signs of suicidal behavior, and it can be implemented soon, Nelson said - one teacher plans to use it tomorrow.

But Oakland says she wants to do more. She recently joined the Youth Empowerment Council and has been brainstorming ideas to reach at-risk youth, she said.

One possibility is a program through which trained teens partner with at-risk youth, meeting them at a gym and becoming "workout" buddies with them as a way of raising self-esteem and endorphins.

The mentors could also serve as a support network.

YEC members also want to create a documentary about suicide featuring Casper residents. She said she wants to get started working on the projects as soon as possible.

"It needs to start. We've already lost someone this year; that's already one too many," Oakland said.

Education reporter Andrea Falkenhagen can be reached at (307) 266-0633 or Andrea.Falkenhagen@casperstartribune.net.