MCHS students who participated in Natural Helpers training stand with Counseling Technician Flora Savage, Audry Davis from the Alliance for Community Transformations (pictured, top left); Counselor Dr. Lori Ritter (center, glasses), and Tyson Wellcome, also from the Alliance, on the steps of the June Bug Cafe at last week's Natural Helpers training.

On Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1, seventeen Mariposa County High School students participated in Natural Helpers training provided by the Alliance for Community Transformations and MCHS counseling staff at the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort. The training was funded through the MCHS Academic Boosters Club with the help of a generous donation by an anonymous donor.

An additional eight students, most of who were involved last year, couldn’t attend the training but will be involved with the program again this year.

Natural Helpers is a national program based on the premise that when young people have problems, they most often turn to friends whom they trust for help, and that within every school an informal "helping network" exists.

The program trains students to have the skills they need to be better listeners and to help other students find resources based on what they hear.

Students went through a series of training modules that include active listening and how to handle serious disclosures. Students are not trained to be counselors, but rather they are gaining skills to help other students, whether they are approached by friends and acquaintances with problems, or they happen to overhear a conversation, or notice something happening on campus.

Alliance for Community Transformations representatives Audry Davis and Tyson Wellcome lead MCHS students in a conversation about healthy relationships, a big issue for high school students.

Students gave positive feedback at the end of the training and are enthusiastic about continuing. In fact, students are meeting again this Friday at lunch with Audry Davis and Tyson Wellcome from the Alliance, along with Dr. Lori Ritter and other MCHS counseling staff, to plan an event focused on relationship abuse awareness and promoting healthy relationships. 

In addition, students in the Natural Helpers program have monthly meetings at lunch.

This is the fifth year of the program at MCHS.

For more information about the program, contact Dr. Lori Ritter at MCHS: (209) 742-0260 ext. 2237.

Mariposa Academic Boosters Club, Inc. (ABC) is a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to supplement and enrich academic experiences and provide educational tools for Mariposa County High School students.

For more information, contact abc.mchs@gmail.com, “like” ABC on Facebook: MCHS Academic Boosters Club, or follow MCHS_ABC on Instagram or Twitter.