Hope Squad’s First Culture of Hope

Diversity and Hope// Setting up their table, the club, Everlasting Youth, makes a tic-tac-toe board as they prepare to tell people about their Christ-centered club on campus. Along with Everlasting Youth, many clubs and people came together to celebrate at Hope Squad’s Culture of Hope event. (Photo courtesy of Caleigh Burns)

On October 15th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Hope Squad hosted its very first Culture of Hope event at our school library. There, a variety of people and clubs gathered from all over campus to not only learn more about what Hope Squad is all about but also to learn more about people and groups from a variety of backgrounds. One club that showed up at the event was Everlasting Youth.

“My favorite part of Culture of Hope was definitely the community,”Everlasting Youth President, Sophomore Natalie Bayraman said. “It was beautiful to see all different types of people just come together and celebrate a very big aspect in their lives in addition to enjoying the food.”

For those who don’t know, Hope Squad is a suicide-prevention club here on campus. At various times in the school year, whether through events like these or their Hope lunches, they seek to promote hope and cultivate a friendly campus environment as part of their club’s mission. By building this event around representing diversity, they were able to connect people and create a healthy place to discuss diversity but also build friendships for those who attended.

“Hope Squad is important because they bring wonderful awareness to mental health to our school,” Bayraman explained. “I myself have felt inspired to want to do what they do, and I feel like I learned from some of the members on the board, and in the group itself.”

The event was free of charge, and people who attended got to eat lots of food from a diverse array of backgrounds, experience live music played by the students themselves, and play a myriad of games designed by each of the tables themselves. There was also the opportunity to buy a graduation cord at the cost of $11.

“I represented EverlastingYTH, which more specifically is the Christian culture,” Bayraman added. “For our club’s activity, Mrs. Chura really helped me arrange a game of tic-tac-toe, which we played with rocks that I had members of EverlastingYTH paint. I wanted them to be a part of the event as much as possible since I know most of them weren’t able to attend.”

Like Bayraman, many of the people that showed up to the event with their clubs here on campus such as NAMI or Filipino Club. They were able to have their own table and use the event to make their club more known while also representing the vast amount of diversity in each of their members. Hope Squad showed that each person, and each club on campus, brings something unique and special about them and their culture to the table.

“I learned how to play the game that the Filipino club brought,” Bayraman said. “I was able to learn through both observing and playing the game, as well as more about the culture their club was representing.”

Learning about people and socializing is how relationships are built, and not just at the surface level.  It is events like these that bring people together and allow them to express who they are and also enable them to learn more about who other people are. The combination of these things is one key to true and lasting relationships, and Hope Squad cultivated an environment to promote that. 

“I feel like what made this event so much more successful than CHS could’ve imagined was the fact that so many cultures and communities and people were willing to share a piece of them with the outside world,” Bayraman explained. “And that’s what culture should be about. We should be sharing it, especially because if you are a minority, then you should go ahead and take that step to make others from your culture, like you, feel more included.”

Undoubtedly, this event was nothing short of a success. Through it, Hope Squad allowed people to share their diverse backgrounds through the activities like games and music. The planning Hope Squad put into this event, as well as their turnout, is what helps keep their mission alive. With this strong start to the year, there is no doubt that Hope Squad will continue to make a difference in the lives of students on campus by building these events and the lasting memories that come from them.