Editor’s note: This story references issues with mental health, suicide and suicide prevention.

When Callie Boisvert and Abbey Shumway were freshmen at ConVal High School, they held their first Break the Silence 5K to support suicide prevention and open a discussion about mental health within the community. 

Boisvert and Shumway both struggled with mental health in middle school, and after a suicide in the school district, the then-14-year-olds decided to try something. They organized and put on a 5K, and the money they raised was donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 

“We had no clue if anyone would come at all,” said Boisvert.

Shumway said they had received discouraging messages from people at school saying that they didn’t believe the event could be successful or helpful. 

“Fourteen-year-olds aren’t taken seriously,” said Shumway, but she emphasized, “We are capable of changing things,” and she thinks they’ve proven themselves by now.

More than 100 people came, and over the three years they’ve held the event they’ve raised $27,000. They have also connected with a community of people who have been affected by mental health or suicide and have opened up a space to talk about openly about mental health.

Now Boisvert and Shumway are at the end of their senior year, and May 28 will mark the fourth annual Break the Silence 5K at ConVal High School. This year’s event will include a bake sale, speeches and beaded nametags that people can choose to wear that represent mental health struggles. People can walk or run the course, and all proceeds from the event will be donated to Avenue A Teen Center for mental health-related programs, which will benefit teenagers in the community. 

Registration is from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., the speeches and opening ceremony run from 8:30 to 9 a.m. and the race starts at 9 a.m. 

‘Opening up that door to kids’

Boisvert’s and Shumway’s work has been noticed. This year, they received the Peter Marsh Foundation’s Silent Servant Scholarship Award given to public high school students “engaging in selfless, voluntary service to their communities” and the colleges they will attend next year – St. Michael’s College for Boisvert and American University for Shumway -- formally recognized their work with Break the Silence. 

“It started out as a run but it’s so much more than that,” said Shumway.

ConVal Student Support Counselor Todd Bennett said people who come to Break the Silence are always impressed.

“Working with young people for most of my life, these two individuals are really exceptional,” he said, adding that Boisvert and Shumway dealt with sponsors, T-shirts and water. “[They] had this idea and did it. They did it all by themselves. All those little details – a lot of work goes into it.”

Running doesn’t stop suicide, Boisvert said, but bringing the community together to talk about suicide and mental health might.

“I’m opening up that door to kids,” she said. “If they’re struggling, they’re not alone. There are resources and there are kids who went through what they’re going through. Our approach has always been to educate people.”

Shumway said her experience struggling in middle school felt isolating.

“I think it’s also confusing when you don’t know about it,” she said. “You think you’re the only one.”

Boisvert has a brother in middle school, and said she has actively engaged him in conversations about mental health.

“At that age, no one talks about it,” she said. “I taught him that you don’t know when someone is struggling.”

Boisvert and Shumway are going to college next year, and they plan to keep advocating for better mental health education, more community conversations and support for those struggling. And they plan to keep Break the Silence active.

“We know it’s capable of growing now,” said Boisvert.

For information on Break the Silence, find @breakthesilence.nh on Instagram or send email to abbeyirene0@gmail.com or calliejboisvert@gmail.com.

]]>