COLONIE — iCare presented a $5,000 check to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“We are absolutely blown away by the support of the community over this year for this important cause,” said Colonie Central High School senior Treva Warzocha. “Suicide prevention is so important to our South Colonie school community and we are proud to be able contribute financially to AFSP’s educational programming.”
In addition to hosting various fundraising events throughout the year such as Halloween High, the Chili Cook-off, and Raiderfest, students at CCHS participated in mental health and suicide prevention programming in partnership with AFSP.
Each year, the iCARE students choose an issue or an organization as beneficiaries. Since its inception, iCare has raised nearly $90,000 in support of local charities.
“Challenging topics like mental health or suicide prevention typically carry a stigma inhibiting conversation from students to faculty. This year the iCare efforts provided an opportunity for our students to talk freely about mental health awareness and learn to be advocates for each other,” said CCHS Executive Principal Kachadurian. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with AFSP long after this year.”
Colonie Central High School iCARE began as an initiative where both faculty and students could have a common forum to express and affect change for the better of the school community.
iCARE is a character-building program that uses five core values to shape decision making. The ultimate goal is that students and adults in the Colonie community understand and enact the ideologies of Integrity, Community, Accountability, Respect, and Empathy as defined through the many interactive teachings of iCARE character and community workshops.
“Annually, students participating in the CCHS iCare program select a charity or cause at the beginning of the year to support,” said CCHS Associate Principal Brian Scalzo. “With a continued focus around the increased mental health needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, our students decided to focus this entire school year on supporting suicide prevention.”
