Preparation Saves Lives: Strengthening Your School's Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention Protocols

Posted on April 29, 2026

In recognition of May as Mental Health Awareness Month, a collaboration among Maine School Superintendents Association (MSSA), Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention (Maine CDC), Maine Department of Education (DOE), and NAMI Maine, invites superintendents, heads of schools, members of your Comprehensive Health and Safety Planning Teams (also referred to as Crisis Management Teams), and chairpersons leading that work, to join a webinar Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 9-10 AM.

The overall intent of the presentation is to provide leaders with the tools needed for summer reflection and planning surrounding suicide prevention and response. Mary Gagnon, Senior Director of Prevention and Workplace Well-Being for NAMI Maine, will share her experiences the past two years in supporting SAUs with both suicide prevention and response after a suicide loss. She will share resources and lessons learned to help schools prepare for experiences we know can be challenging. How can we all learn from each other to ensure our practices and procedures are solidly in place?

The following tools will be shared with all participants:

• Rubric for School Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention Protocols – Review your protocol against these criteria to ensure alignment with national best practices.
• Sample calendar – To assist with planning steps for SY ’26-’27
• Sample policy – Free to use or to compare with existing policies

Webinar participants are invited to wear green in support of Mental Health Awareness.

Please register HERE or by copying the following into your internet browser: https://namimaine-org.zoom.us/j/87367351288?pwd=EGUipoPYtZzyNnWHl2KDZKao6vs6zK.1.