Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10- to 24-year-olds in Oregon. Ranked 11th in 2018, suicide rates were significantly higher than the national average for over 10 years, according to Oregon Suicide Prevention. In 2021, 95 teens in Deschutes County lost their lives to suicide, as stated by KTVZ.

Although the 2018 rates are high, the 2021 statistics show  a 26% decrease, dropping Oregon’s ranking to 22nd nationally — an improvement largely attributed to new resources and procedures provided for teens throughout Deschutes County. 

Many students know about First Step, an app pre-installed on every Bend-La Pine School District iPad filled with helplines for struggling teens. YouthLine, a similar app,  provides support through volunteer students who want to help their peers with texts or phone calls. Despite these resources, many teens are unaware of who makes these tools available or what others are out there. 

Paul Kansky, the deputy police chief of Bend, is a board member of the Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance, also known as COSPA, an organization created to combat suicide across all age groups. COSPA’s methods are to implement and develop effective methods and programs that are customized to Deschutes County’s residents. 

“We get a lot of information from cases, and we can contribute that to help further prevention: Gun safety, the communication around suicide, locking guns and relinquishing firearms to police,” Kansky said. 

“We’ve experienced this issue throughout our careers,” he said. Law enforcement takes a huge role in COSPA in order to develop safe and effective protocols in the field. 

“Most people are in a dark place in those moments – the choice they make is so final, but individuals make it in seconds or minutes. They can be interviewed, spoken to and listened to by the community and officers.” 

Jim Boen, a former Bend-La Pine school administrator for 14 years, now works for the High Desert Education Service District, an organization that funnels government funding into school districts throughout Oregon. The High Desert Education Service District gives some of its funding toward a program called the Forward Project, to combat suicide.

“In essence, the Forward Project is about activities and initiatives at schools to either start or enhance the community in hopes less students harm themselves, end up in the emergency room, and ultimately don’t commit suicide — that’s the goal around it,” said Boen. 

Funds are allocated based on school district population – so Bend-La Pine got the most money, whereas Sisters received the least.

“This project started last year and was given over $1 million by the Central Oregon Health Council,” said Boen. “Some districts are putting a lot of funding toward after school programs like clubs. Data shows that kids that are connected to something or someone are less likely to harm themselves. Their belief is that if these kids are connected to something outside of school, whether it’s sports or music or drama, that’s fantastic. Most districts are buying new curriculum and paying for training to update their materials.” 

COSPA also has created a Hope, Health and Heal event for the Central Oregon community, a virtual information session with the goal of teaching students and parents more about youth mental health and suicide prevention, hopefully leading to supportive conversations. 

One of the faces behind the project is Bethany Kuschel, the suicide prevention project coordinator for Deschutes County Health Services. 

“I became involved in suicide prevention because of both my personal and educational background. I have experienced the impact that suicide can have on individuals, families and communities and am honored to be able to work in the first state that has legislation around suicide prevention,” said Kuchel.

This legislation, known as Adi’s Act or Senate Bill 52, mandates all Oregon public school districts and universities to have a comprehensive suicide prevention, intervention and postvention plans — such as identifying trainings for staff, suicide prevention and mental health promotion curriculum for students, and responding to a suicide death while promoting healing. Part of COSPA’s job, and Kuschel’s, is to make sure Deschutes County follows regulations.

Another contributor to the Hope, Health and Heal event is Caroline Suiter, mental health promotion strategist for Deschutes County Health Services. 

“I used to work with youth who were on probation or parole and their families. I also have years of coordinating, developing, implementing and managing programs from a population health perspective as well as on an individual level,” said Suiter. “Suicide was an issue all throughout this work, and it resulted in my interest to work more upstream before issues really present themselves in people and systems.” 

Although it isn’t seen by the eye, many resources surrounding suicide prevention are available to students throughout Central Oregon. Even when it isn’t a Zoom meeting or an app to find links, community members and state government workers are creating and implementing procedures dedicated to helping teens everyday, and will continue to do so. 

The post The Faces Behind Suicide Prevention appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

2020

• Murder hornets!!
• Start of Black Lives Matter Movement 
• Beirut Explosion 
• Australia Bushfires 
• Kanye West runs for President 
• Chadwick Boseman’s Death
• Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Death 
• Biden and Kamala Harris become President and Vice President Elect
• Trump tests positive for COVID-19
• Vaccine rollout starts 

2021

• January 6. Capitol Riots
• Trump impeached (for the second time), then acquitted
• Bernie Sanders and the mittens 
• Elon Musk becomes richest man alive 
• Jeff Bezos steps down from Amazon
• Kim and Kanye announce their divorce 
• Suez Canal Blockage
• NASA lands rover on Mars
• 2020 Olympics are finally held
• Tiger King 2 came out 

2022

• Omicron variant makes up 95% of all Covid cases
• Spotify boycott because of Joe Rogan
• Taliban takes away high school women’s ability to get an education
• Twitter announces sale to Elon Musk for 44 billion
• Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas
• Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court 
• Queen Elizabeth II Dies 
• Iran protests begin, women’s rights
• Putin sends 1.2 million soldiers into Ukraine
• World Cup takes place in Qatar 

2023 (so far)

• Jeremy Renner’s snowplow Accident 
• It took 15 votes to elect Speaker of the House 
• A 6-year-old in Virginia shot his teacher with his mother’s gun
• King Charles II had his coronation

The post Three Years Later, COVID-19 is Finally Over appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

After pleading not guilty, Trump flew to his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida to speak at a press conference where he emphasized his innocence as well as set himself up for future campaigns by referring to himself as president and blaming his current situation on President Joe Biden. The news of the indictment has caused polarizing opinions, with conservatives believing the case is unjust and democrats claiming it is deserved.

The post Former President Trump Indicted, Will Face Grand Jury in Trial appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

Oil company ConocoPhillips has been working on this project for decades, as they own multiple smaller pumps in the state. In 2020, the Willow Project was approved by the Donald Trump Administration, allowing the corporation to build five new pumps on the National Petroleum Reserve, which is owned by the federal government. 

Although many blame President Joe Biden for this recent approval, the issue is more complicated. Because Trump already approved this during his term, a $5 billion federal dollars lawsuit to stop this project would ensue, according to the New York Times. In his efforts to uphold his campaign promise of ceasing new oil drills from being built, Biden limited the project to three drills, as opposed to the original five, and has declared to designate around 2.8 million acres of land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska as off-limits to future oil company endeavors. Even with this reduction, the project is estimated to produce 180,000 barrels of oil in a single day—which would be supplied to U.S. citizens, helping make fuel more accessible, lower prices and limit dependency for oil on foreign countries.

This issue is not just about the environment, as the area is home to many Alaska natives and other wildlife. The native village of Nuiqsut lives closest to the proposed drill sites and, according to NPR and NDN Collective, wrote a letter to the Department of Interior expressing concern.

“It seems that despite its nod to traditional ecological knowledge, BLM (Bureau of Land Management)  does not consider relevant the extensive knowledge and expertise we have gained over millennia, living in a way that is so deeply connected to our environment,” the letter states. 

Although this issue is very much out of our hands, the newest generation seems to have the strongest opinions, as it will affect us more than anyone else.

Hashtags including #willowproject, #stopwillow and #stopthewillowproject created a larger online movement and began promoting change on TikTok, an immensely popular video sharing site fueled by teens. These videos have amassed over 88 million U.S. views, according to NPR. 

London Nicol, a senior at Bend High, commented on the effects of simple hashtags, as well as her own experience and relationship with the climate change coalition.

“I recently became a vegetarian, it’s made me feel closer with the environment and how my actions impact the world on a small level,” said London Nicol, a senior at Bend High. 

“The biggest concern for me is that our generation had a huge impact after hearing about this. One million letters were sent to the White House and three million individuals signed a petition, but this project still got approved,” said Nicol. “There’s a clear disrespect coming from authorities, it’s not right or fair that this issue barely gained government attention for how many voices came forward.” 

When Paige Leonardo heard about the Willow Project, she wanted to understand new perspectives as well as the impacts on other communities. Leonardo cares deeply about the environment and lives a sustainable life to the best of her abilities.

“I show my passion through my daily activities. I’m a pescetarian, I don’t eat red meat, and I try to shop sustainably. I thrift all my clothes just so it reduces the waste of water. I sign petitions often as well,” said Leonardo, a self-proclaimed environmentalist and senior at Summit High School.

“Here’s the sad part about the Willow Project—it disproportionately impacts indigenous peoples of Alaska more than it will impact people in the continental U.S.,” said Leonardo. “I think we’ll feel the impact further down the road through possible climate disasters, but it’s directly impacting individuals that are already discriminated against in the U.S.”

Loudyn Hudson, a senior at Summit, takes care of his own compost as well as his neighbors’ and is the co-president of his high school’s environmental club.

“Because drills in this area have always been there and we have grown up with that, our generation has not been able to do much. Now that it’s expanding, we’re trying to draw the line,” said Hudson.

“In the next 30 years, the project will emit 239 million tons of CO2,” said Hudson. “No one else is doing anything. Our generation is the last line of defense.”

The post Student Voices: The Willow Project appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

The Timberwolves is an all girls rugby team that began in 2017, becoming the first and only rugby option for high school girls in Central Oregon. After Covid, the team was put on hold, which resulted in a decreased availability for women to play the sport. Now that Oregon is moving away from the pandemic, the team put together a touch season, or non-tackling season, for their athletes in spring of 2021. 

Even though the women’s team seemed to struggle after seniors graduated, coaches quit, and other unforeseen circumstances, the Summit men’s team has thrived — even having an official 2021 season, unlike the women.

“Not much has changed from pre Covid to post Covid, except for the amount of people that joined in. I think every year it just keeps growing,” said Carter Nelson, a Summit High School senior who picked up rugby during the football off-season.

This is almost the exact opposite of what occurred regarding women’s rugby. 

“As with so many things, rugby participation took a big hit during Covid and programs at all age levels along the West Coast are rebuilding,” said women’s rugby coach Lindsey Gadspy, who got into rugby after meeting her husband, the Summit men’s rugby coach, and falling in love with the sport. “This year for the girls, a Summit player came forward [to form a team] and pretty quickly the coaches and other players followed.”

Summit sophomore Hazel McRobie is this ambitious athlete, although she hasn’t gotten an opportunity to play in her high school career. 

“I’ve done touch and practice tackling with my brother but there hasn’t been a team for me to play on, so I haven’t really started,” said McRobie. “I’m super excited to have a solid group of girls, rugby is such a fun sport and super community oriented even as a physical sport.”

McRobie described something called “the third quarter,” a tradition in rugby where the home team makes dinner for their competition and families after the game, promoting a sense of community and a friendly aspect the sport seems to thrive upon.

“The expectation at all levels of rugby is that everyone involved — players, coaches, refs and fans — respect each other. It’s called the rugby ethos. There are rivalries in rugby, but you play as hard as you can until the final whistle blows, then you celebrate the game together,” said Coach Gadspy. 

Gadspy works with Bend High coach Ava Lemmon and Mountain View coach Steve Lopez to recruit girls throughout Bend La-Pine Schools.

Preseason begins this month with the actual season starting in March of 2023. The team will compete against many Portland-area teams on Saturdays, as Bend-La Pine Schools doesn’t have other girl’s rugby teams.

Although the sport might seem intimidating, the Summit rugby team welcomes all skill levels and encourages new players to come out and try this unique game. As of now, the team is mainly built from Summit athletes, however, women’s rugby hopes to expand as the season continues. For the women’s team in particular, the coaches and players want to rebuild the rugby community in hopes for it to grow and thrive in the coming years.

“The dream is to have a team at each school, but we will get the ball rolling from where we are today and expand as needed,” said Gadspy. “Rugby is an exceptionally empowering sport for women, and I am excited to watch the players find their own reasons to love it.”

The post Women’s High School Rugby Returns appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

According to the Bend-La Pine School District, 1,280 students representing six different high schools graduated last year. Although it took 12 years to earn their diplomas, many graduates only have one thing on their minds—what they’ll be doing the following year. This coming June, more students will do the same. 

There are many options for the class of 2023. While some include trade school, apprenticeships or a gap year, many Bend-La Pine graduates chose to continue their education at a college or university. According to Stephen Duval, the Bend-La Pine Schools’ Director of College and Career Readiness, 64% of Bend-La Pine graduates enrolled in a college or university. In 2020, 60% were enrolled.

“Our goal is to make sure students are prepared for whatever path they choose to take,” said Duval.

Because of different application deadlines, types, financial complications as well as the sheer amount of options, the process is daunting for many. Numerous students, or their parents, chose to seek private counseling, an option with plenty of benefits but one that’s not attainable for every college hopeful.

According to an off-the-record source, private counseling is beneficial to all, however, it can be especially helpful for those wanting to go to extremely selective colleges or international students, who have a unique application process. Additionally, this counseling provides one-on-one attention to students, keeping them accountable and on top of deadlines—which is particularly helpful for those who deal with procrastination or management trouble. The service is tailored specifically to student and family needs, as well their unique goals. These counselors help create college lists, perfect personal essays, navigate financial aid and so much more.

“A college counselor made it easier for me to narrow down my options and help with my organization on meeting deadlines for college. I got some very useful information on schools and support on my essays,” said Sam Beidschied, a senior at Bend High School. “The only times I think someone would really need a counselor would be if they’re hoping to get into very selective schools or don’t know what type of school they want to apply to.”

Although these resources are extremely helpful, it comes at a price—often a steep one. At select places within the community, college counseling packages range from $6,000 to $11,000 based on student needs for an entire admission season. For many families, this cost is not attainable or doesn’t make sense financially. 

Because of super pricey rates and often those attending, a stigma has formed throughout the high school community. Those who often participate in this resource are the ones in Patagonia jackets, driving Teslas around town, although this isnt on always the case. Ivy league hopefuls are another reason private counseling has obtained a bad reputation. 

“If you apply to 10 colleges, that’s like $700 itself because of application fees,” Elliana Bowers, a student at Summit High School, said. “I think it’s so prestigious, at Summit especially, to have a college counselor. Most kids are paying $3,000, even $10,000, for a college counselor to get them into Yale.”

“I think there is a reasonable stigma that college counseling is sort of decadent. It’s unfortunate that the education system does incentivize for-profit advising on college applications and that some people feel forced into participating,” said Beidschied. 

Alternatively, there are other options available that are often significantly less expensive than private counseling or completely free. 

The Future Center is a service offered throughout the Bend-La Pine School District, available at high schools like Caldera, Mountain View, Bend High, Summit and others. This center provides opportunities for all career paths, and is not solely limited to college applications. It is a completely free program, funded by the district to support students regardless of economic background or career interests.

“I went to Jeff [Rankin] a decent amount, especially last year as a junior. This year, I visited him a couple times to look over my essay and my activities list,” said Bowers.

Jeff Rankin is the School to Career Program Manager at Summit High School’s Future Center and has been there for two years, helping students discover their future career path. 

“[The Future Center] provides ways to pay for college and pursue college on a community college level as well as a university level, it also provides career internships, apprenticeship information, career rotations, otherwise known as job shadows, for students in both healthcare and engineering, and we are branching out into career and entrepreneur lectures of mostly parents of students in unique positions they can share with students,” said Rankin. “We are multifaceted.”

Career options, not including college, have not been as accessible in former years. Across the Bend-La Pine District, more and more students are opting for a “non-traditional” path.

“The narrative has always been, you go to high school then you go to college, but I think we’re finally starting to see that narrative change—which is a good thing. There are a lot of viable options and paths out there,” said Duval.

“Summit has been traditionally more college oriented where the visits to the future center are concerned. I think the essay is the most important part of the college application process. It has so much to do with how a college views that student. It’s why we have so many essay seminars and essay specialists. You have to come across as yourself, not a textbook or an intellectual,” said Rankin.

Other college resources can be found in hallways throughout the district, including in every counseling department. 

“Students are used to seeing us for schedule changes or emotional support, but we are available for college support,” said Jess Calbreath, Bend-La Pine Schools’ District Lead Counselor and counselor at Caldera High School.

“The district offers really good resources to students within the building, but there are students that want the hand holding or extra support of private counseling. When you have a caseload of 400 students you can’t always provide that,” said Calbreath.

The Office Group is a nonprofit organization that helps students start and finish their path to college, all for free. Founded in 2014, The Office Group takes student applications for participants, evaluating them not only on their academic abilities, but also on students’ financial status. 

“I build relationships with school counselors, coaches and teachers so they can nominate specific students that fit our mission,” said Corben Hyatt, the Executive Director of The Office Group and one of Summit’s football coaches. “We want to identify kids that are hardworking, whether through academics or sports, and we’re gonna support students who can’t normally afford college resources.”

This counseling option is competitive and limited, as students must have a nomination from a school administrator, maintain a 3.0 GPA minimum and get accepted by the program. It’s a safe alternative for students—and is also free. Additionally, the program continues helping students once they are moved onto campus, providing virtual tutoring and discovering internships for former members.

College alone can be overwhelming, and figuring out how to apply is even more difficult. Although there are many options, the best fit is different for everyone. Regardless of how you apply, with help or alone, every individual figures out their path eventually.

The post The Next Step… appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

Spotify Wrapped

Spotify Wrapped has become the inspiration behind all modern social media recaps. Since its beginning in 2016, other platforms have been yearning for the virality Spotify has attained each year. For example, two weeks after Spotify’s launch, personalized recap videos flooded other platforms like TikTok and Instagram as individuals wished to share their data. Through colorful graphics and unique animations, this creative launch allows consumers to view their personalized statistics after a year of listening, including top artists, albums, songs, playlists and much more. Listeners can also discover their “music personality,” which Spotify used these statistics to create.   

“Spotify Wrapped season is my favorite time of year! I love seeing peers post their favorite music they’ve listened to throughout the year. I’ve made some of my closest friends by posting my Spotify Wrapped, it’s such a cool way to connect,” Summit junior Lindsey Pease said. 

According to the New York Times, the Spotify Wrapped Creative Team takes 6 months to write the funny quips and creative, colorful designs for their waiting audience on Nov. 30 each year. Over their 8 years of experience, Spotify has made the event even more user-friendly, giving artists stats on listeners and creating a top list designed for podcast lovers. This effort is easily recognized through high quality results. 

“I think Spotify has gained so much traction because of how interactive it has become,” Pease said.

Apple Replay

Although Apple Replay has considerably improved from past years, it’s still miles behind Spotify Wrapped. They provide similar statistics with no creative flare, just a simple font and a monotone color scheme—and all this is coming from an Apple Music user. Additionally, the program can only be viewed online, creating a more difficult experience for users.

According to The Globe, a high school newspaper based out of Mamaroneck, New York, teen users preferred Spotify 67% to Apple Music at 33%. Almost the entire teen demographic favors Spotify to Apple, and in many instances, it’s clear why. 

VSCO Captured

This year VSCO, a photo editing and posting form, launched its first ever yearly recap. Although no one asked for it, the statistics were interesting, as many hadn’t thought about them before. These included the amount of photos posted, the most common filters and the day a user ended up posting the most.

Creatively, VSCO also collected data from all consumers, creating a list for the entire platform. Even though VSCO seems to be a dying app (after a huge internet trend made fun of its users), we can now all know that a majority of them post on Sunday, based on unimportant statistics.

“It was cool seeing what filters and tools I used the most. It was also surprising because I genuinely didn’t think that I used my “most-used” filter that much and  that my most active day was Sunday,” Redmond Proficiency Academy junior Dakota Saldaña said.

Locket Recap

Although a newer, more unknown platform, Locket also hopped on the 2022 recap trend. Locket is an app that allows friends and family to send photos to one another which are then displayed as a widget on one’s home screen. This unique app, which originated on TikTok, shows how many photos users sent out as well as how many photos each of their friends sent back.

BeReal Recap

BeReal sends out a notification once a day at a random time, prompting users to take a photo within a few minutes and, in turn, “BeReal” on social media. Although this app’s audience became increasingly large, its staff did not. According to Vogue, the platform is single-handedly run by two former GoPro employees, Alexis Barreyat and Kevin Perreau. This might explain the shortcomings of this year’s recap.

The recap was a video montage, quickly flashing through all the photos from 2022. However, no music was put in the background, possibly due to copyright issues. Another snag was that many users had to wait in line to access their BeReal recaps, resulting in frustration and difficult navigation. Similarly to Spotify Wrapped, many teenage users reposted this edit on their stories.

Youtube Music Recap

Traditionally, Youtube collaborates with popular creators to create a large scale production and revisit the year’s trends in a short video. However, after plenty of backlash, in the form of 20 million dislikes in 2018, the platform decided to take a different route.

Youtube Music Recap is almost identical to Spotify Wrapped, with personalized playlists, top artists, albums, songs and music personalities. Its graphics greatly surpass Apple Replay’s. Youtube Music even partners with Google Photos to further customize playlists with memories from the year. Even though it isn’t a typical platform for music, its replay outshines those that are.

The post A 2023 Recap of 2022 Recaps appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.