On October 4th, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) hosted its seventh annual “Out of the Darkness” walk at Old Westbury Gardens. The walk was used to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention. Garden City High School students from SADD, health class, and psychology class attended this year’s event. The walk provided a tremendous learning experience, which reinforced many of the ideas about suicide prevention that the students have explored in class.

“The walk for suicide prevention really got me to know that suicide is really prevalent with people. I always thought it never really happened. The walk got me to realize how serious suicide is,” commented Matthew Quesada, a 10th grade health student.

Sophomore Jack Fischer remarked, “The walk was a great and memorable experience for me. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. There were a lot of good people there and I will definitely be back next year.”

“The ‘Out of the Darkness’ walk was held in a beautiful setting, but it also was inspirational to learn more about suicide prevention,” commented Kaylin Maloney, a 10th grade health student, “The walk not only taught me about some important matters, but it really showed me how serious suicides are. I enjoyed being a part of such a good cause.”

Our thanks to high school health and physical education teacher Ms. Jennifer Pomponio for leading our high school students in such an important event.