Article by Stephanie Hobby

Photos courtesy of John Amundson 

 Billings routinely tops a list that no one wants to be on. The community regularly leads the nation in suicide deaths, and its students are not immune to the dangers of depression, anxiety, and self-harm. 

In response, Billings Public Schools launched local branches of Hope Squad last fall, a Utah-based, nationwide program aimed at strengthening positive peer relationships and helping students identify at-risk classmates. The program uses an evidence-based curriculum to teach students how to recognize warning signs, while building a culture where they look out for one another as a kind of safety net. 

Hope Squads are made up of students nominated by classmates and mentored by school advisors and teachers, working together to build leadership and improve the school environment. Advocates of the program say the students are not expected to be counselors, but to be aware of the signs that someone is struggling and connect them with trusted adults such as teachers and counselors. 

A few years ago, Billings Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Erwin Garcia noticed a troubling national trend: schools were pouring resources into early childhood learning and high school, while middle schoolers, in the midst of dramatic brain development, were getting overlooked. 

"Somehow, for some reason, middle school became the place where people pull money from. It's like, 'Let's focus on the little kids, and let's focus on the big kids, and the kids in the middle get left alone in a way.' And I felt that was a mistake," he said. 

With few funding mechanisms to draw from, he said they got creative and applied for and received grants to fund Hope Squad and another awareness campaign, Rachel's Challenge. The program aligns with the Billings Public Schools Graduate Profile, a set of core principles for every Billings student that include critical thinking, academic readiness, character development, engaged and productive citizenship, and, notably, social and emotional well-being. 

While all six of the district's middle schools have a Hope Squad class, each school puts its own spin on it. At Will James Middle School, John Amundson, who teaches English and the Leadership/Hope Squad classes, says their emphasis is on learning how to be good leaders who can foster a healthy community, while also helping their peers navigate this stage of life. "We want to develop leaders just in terms of self care and in having your character show through in the hallways, in class, outside of school, anywhere," he said, adding that while their program uses Hope Squad materials, that is not the whole focus of the class, and his program evolved into Character Strong. 

Over the course of the year, the eighth-grade class wanted to make a community impact and hosted Hoops for Hunger, a boys-versus-girls basketball game that raised close to $900, split between the school's food pantry and its scholarship fund. 

  Each school's program also volunteered at an elementary school or an assisted living facility, and Will James students, who are within walking distance of Holiday Aspen View retirement community, spent their time with residents there, helping to garden, paint rocks, and play games. "It was really powerful to see because this generation of kids gets a pretty bad rap, as always being on their phones, but they were so great. The kids were with the residents and you could just see the smiles across a couple different generations," Amundson said, adding that his students asked to keep going back. 

In February, the district's Hope Squad classes came together for a conference at the Lincoln Center, where students heard from experts on topics such as trauma, safety, leadership, personal growth, community service, and wellness. The event left a strong impression on students, many of whom said they felt empowered to lead and advocate for others back at their home schools. 

Amundson said the program has only been in place for one school year, and he expects it to keep evolving, but said even the pilot year was meaningful, and he's looking forward to seeing where it goes. 

Originally printed in the September 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

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