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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Educators play an important role in identifying those early warning signs of a mental health condition.
Pearland ISD is just one of several school districts working to make sure its students are emotionally and mentally safe at school.
Twelve year old Christina Lopez and Kathy Lovoi share a special bond.
"It's exciting because i get to have a new friend and somebody to talk to," says Christina Lopez.
The two met during a tough time in Christina’s life.
She was shy, didn’t have many friends. Kathy, a retired teacher wanted to be a mentor.
"You would never know by looking at a child that something is going on in their life and so this has given us some time to talk," says Kathy Lovoi.
They sit down once a week, at Sablatura Middle school for 30 minutes, playing games, drawing or simply talking about life.
"Being a teacher i knew the things kids experience but had no idea the pressure they were under and the burdens that they sometimes carry that we don't know about," says Kathy Lovoi.
The rise mentoring program was born out of tragedy. In 2015, Pearland ISD was faced with a crisis.
"When we had a few suicides in just a span of months it was a major wake up call that we needed to do more," says Kim Hocott.
Kim Hocott, Executive Director of PISD Communications says in its first year, the district’s RISE program, matched 175 volunteer mentors to 200 students.
Now there are mentors on every campus, each undergoing a background check and training to help students of all ages.
" I've had kids as young as five years old saying they want to kill themselves. They might not mean they want to die, but that's their coping skill," says Dawn Coryathon, Student Support Counselor.
Coryathon says they're dealing with mental health issues at every grade level and says the number one thing students talk about is relationships.
"Whether they're friendships or romantic relationships or family relationships it affects them because at the minimum kids want to be loved and if they feel like they're not being loved that affects them, says Coryathon.
But the district is making great strides towards addressing mental health issues.
In addition to rise, there’s also a community wide suicide prevention event called #iwillask that’s held every year.
Then, there’s a student led campus suicide prevention task force at all four of its high school campuses, that conducts activities about mental wellness.
"For a while there was this thought of if I talk to the counselor im considered crazy and now kids are advocating for themselves and for their friends," says Coryathon.
The district is working to give students like Christina, the tools and techniques to not only help themselves, but their peers as well.
" I want to help people who have been through the same thing i did and i want to know that they're somebody out there who will help you get through whatever you're going through and you're not alone," says Christina.
While there were students who contemplated taking their lives, Hocott says there were *no suicides last year.
and they hope to keep it that way.
"The well being of kids is the most important thing. We want them to be happy and healthy and safe and we want them to love coming to school. We want them to love life and so whatever we can do to help with that we're going to do that, says Hocott.
Pearland ISD plans for all two thousand of its staff to receive mental health first aid training, including bus drivers