EMILY WHANG / NEXTGENRADIO
What is the meaning of
home?
Rita Hanch speaks with Alana Washington, middle school teacher at Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter School in Kansas City, Missouri. Washington says her students can go through a lot of trauma on a daily basis, so she runs an afterschool mentorship called Save a Life to help them regulate and express their emotions. The goal of Washington’s program, which is dedicated to her brother who died by suicide, is to help students find a home within themselves.
Alana Washington creates a home for students, dedicated to a brother who died by suicide
This story contains a mention of a suicide and may be upsetting to some readers.
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Alana Washington:
Raise your hand if you want to introduce yourself and when you introduce yourself, like, don’t be trying to play shy. Remember, you’re supposed to be being yourself, so I want the most overdramatic, “I’m that girl” introduction ever.
My name is Alana Washington.
(Sound of students clapping)
I am a servant of God. I am a woman of God. I am the founder of Save a Life Mentorship.
My mission in life is to be a teacher and to teach people the word of God, to teach people how to be comfortable within themselves and have a home wherever they go.
I want them to build their own relationships. So whether that’s, like, I want to be a Christian, I’m Muslim, I am agnostic, meaning, I don’t believe something until I see it. I want them to figure out their relationship with God.
February 8th, that’s when my brother passed to suicide. And in that moment, honestly, like, my world was just shaking.
Um, and it wasn’t a shock, because my brother dealt with mental health and that wasn’t his first attempt either. But it was the one that went through. And at that point, it just — my family is so close knit. And that’s what, what was the hardest because we felt like what, what could I have done? But at that moment I knew it was nothing.
That was his story. And at that point, I didn’t really know how to process. I was just honestly stuck.
So then that’s when I called my prayer partner. And I was like, “I can’t get out of bed.” And she’s like, “You have to get out of bed. When you go to school, the way you help those kids, that can’t stop. You need to use this as a testimony.” And then that’s when I was like, “Save a Life.”
(Sounds of students in classroom)
So the mission of Save a Life, one, is to promote suicide awareness, um, as well as social and emotional learning and a relationship with God.
(Sounds of students in classroom)
Most of my children are African American because we pull from underprivileged areas. Like the Kauffman School literally pulls from 63rd and Paseo and on. It’s even more important because, in our households, expression of feelings is not encouraged.
Death, honestly, is so prevalent in their community because these communities don’t get the services that they need. They don’t have a place where they can come talk.
But you gotta go to school and get good grades. And it’s like, “OK, I gotta go to school and get good grades, but my brother just died.” “I have to go to school and get good grades, but I don’t have food to eat at home.” “I have to go to school and get good grades, but I don’t have a good relationship with my mom. I don’t have anybody to talk to.”
And it’s, like, why are we pushing the standard that you have to go to school and you have to get good grades and you have to manage your emotions, but you don’t have a place to learn how to manage your emotions?
We go on walks, we talk about health and diet. I just want them to understand that their life is precious and there’s ways to cater to yourself to where you can live a better life and be happy and joyous.
So I think that that’s what home is. What makes you feel good? What makes you feel grounded? Focus on that. And then, the more you water the positive, the more you water your home, whatever that looks like to you, you’ll be at peace.
Middle School teacher Alana Washington (left) embraces her student Akina Craven during snack time before their Save a Life Mentorship meeting begins on Monday, April 1, 2024. Washington runs the program weekly at Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter School in Kansas City, Mo.
RITA HANCH/NEXTGENRADIO
English Language Arts teacher Alana Washington starts every Save a Life Mentorship program meeting with a simple question: “How are you today?” Some students shoot their hands up quickly, with others there is delay. Eventually every student shares how their day was.
Through the program, Washington hopes to give students a place to feel at home, where they can express themselves and their spirituality. Washington is many things — a daughter, a teacher, a friend. But she associates most with her role as a follower of Christ.
Alana Washington poses in front of a large mural on the north side of Ewing Marion Kauffman Charter School. Washington recently got Save a Life Mentorship t-shirts for her student group.
RITA HANCH/NEXTGENRADIO
Two years ago, Washington’s eldest brother died by suicide. Antonio Davis Jr.’s death shattered her family. Washington says she felt stuck.
Washington didn’t want to get out of bed, much less pull herself together long enough to stand in front of the room and teach. So, she called her prayer partner.
“She told me, ‘You have a purpose,’” Washington says. “‘Your purpose is so great. When you go to school, the way you help those kids, that can’t stop. You need to use this as a testimony.’ And that’s when Save a Life came to fruition.”
Save a Life also helps Washington deal with her loss. “I was like, OK, not only am I healing kids, but this is healing me.”
It is not uncommon for her students to share personal and traumatic information with her. Ewing Marion Kauffman is a free public charter school that has admission preference for students living in six ZIP codes that all lag behind Kansas City’s median income average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“And the majority of children that are in that community are African American. And I think it’s even more important because, in our households, expression of feelings is not encouraged,” she says.
Mental health and suicide awareness have historically been taboo topics in some Black communities. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “Black youth have the fastest growing suicide rate compared to their peers of other racial and ethnic groups — between 2007 and 2020, the suicide rate among Black youth ages 10-17 increased by 144%.”
Washington attests to the fact that many of her students deal with mental health issues as well as thoughts of suicide. She always refers them to onsite social workers, but she may be one of the first stops to hear their struggles. She is a bridge for her students to get to the resources they need.
Alana Washington keeps a photo of her family on her desk. It shows her mother, herself, and her five brothers, including Antionio Davis Jr., or “Bud,” who died by suicide.
RITA HANCH / NEXTGENRADIO
I was like, OK, not only am I healing kids, but this is healing me.
At a recent Save a Life meeting, the class got on a FaceTime call with a student who was healing after a tragic car accident. The student has been with the program since the very beginning and has become a leader in the group. Over speakerphone, the student led her peers in prayer, with Washington holding the phone up for all to hear.
The nature of the charter school gives Washington the freedom to host her religious extracurricular. Two years ago she started a poetry club, a place where students could come after school, write and speak openly about their lives and issues they might be having. After her brother’s suicide, Washington felt called to include religion in the mission and renamed it Save a Life.
“The mission of Save a Life is to promote suicide awareness, as well as social and emotional learning and a relationship with God. We hold each other, we encourage each other, and then we point it back to, ‘OK, let’s focus on the good,’” Washington says.
Although the program is based in Christianity, Washington explains that it is entirely voluntary, and she meets students where they are. The group welcomes students with any belief system.
“I want to change their life, save their life physically,” Washington says. “We go on walks, we talk about health and diet. I just want them to understand that their life is precious and there’s ways to cater to yourself to where you can live a better life and be happy and joyous.”
As for the future of Save a Life, Washington wants the program to go beyond the classroom, into the community, as its own nonprofit.
“There is a need for community everywhere. Even outside of the children, their parents, adults, people in the school need a place where they can come express how they feel and feel supported,” Washington says.
She hopes to build a space where both kids and adults can share their beliefs and their lives how they want to, without being told how to. She believes that spreading love, light, and truth is home.
“Even people older than me still don’t know how to process trauma, still don’t know how to talk to people, still don’t know how to be vulnerable,” Washington says. “If I could create that space for people even outside of these walls, I think that would be the only thing that truly, like, brings me joy.”
GALLERY IMAGE 1: Alana Washington poses with her Save a Life students. Washington estimates 25 kids show up to their weekly meetings. | IMAGE 2: Ar’Destiney McGee (left) comforts Alana Washington after a Save a Life group FaceTime call with a hospitalized student member who survived a fatal car accident. | IMAGE 3: A Save a Life student organizes religious stickers at her desk. She gives these stickers to Washington to have for the program. | IMAGE 4: Alana Washington often begins Save a Life meetings with a prayer. She says kids can opt out of the activity if they don’t feel comfortable.
RITA HANCH/NEXTGENRADIO
There is a need for community everywhere. Even outside of the children, their parents, adults, people in the school need a place where they can come express how they feel and feel supported.