Thirty students at North Miami Senior High School spent the 2025-26 school year creating and delivering suicide awareness presentations to their classmates with guidance from psychologists and researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The effort is part of the School Health Initiative's Student Champions Program, led by Elizabeth Pulgaron, director of mental health services for the initiative and a professor of pediatrics at the Miller School. Organizers are seeking funding to expand the program to additional Miami-Dade County Public Schools campuses, though no timeline or target schools have been announced.
"What the students bring to the program is a unique perspective on how to frame information," Pulgaron told the Miller School's news outlet on Wednesday, July 16. "Students know that better than anyone."
Students design presentations for their peers
Student Champions receive suicide awareness training from Miller School clinicians before developing their own classroom presentations.
One student-created lesson replaced traditional lists of coping strategies with interactive games designed to encourage participation rather than passive listening. Researchers collect data before, during and after each presentation to measure changes in students' mental health knowledge and comfort discussing the topic.
The program grew out of outreach efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pulgaron's team secured National Institutes of Health-supported RADx funding to help school communities navigate testing and vaccination. Students later identified mental health as a priority, prompting the program to shift its focus to suicide awareness.
Mental health remains a priority across Miami-Dade schools
Miami-Dade County Public Schools received $20.1 million through Florida's Mental Health Assistance Allocation for fiscal year 2025-26, the largest allocation awarded to any school district in the state, according to the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
A 2023 Florida-Specific Youth Survey found that 22% of students statewide reported almost always experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety or depression.
The School Health Initiative serves about 35,000 students at 36 Miami-Dade County public schools each year. In January, The Children's Trust increased its annual investment in school-based health services to $25.8 million, a 29% increase supporting programs at 283 schools through six provider agencies, including UHealth.
Chloe Cristian, a psychologist with the initiative, said anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress related to immigration experiences are the most common concerns bringing students to the program.
Program expansion is under review
The Student Champions Program is not currently offered at MAST Academy, Key Biscayne K-8 Center or George Washington Carver Middle School. Funding applications to expand the program to additional communities, including Spanish-language programming, are under review.
The 2026-27 Miami-Dade County Public Schools school year begins Thursday, Aug. 13. Families seeking mental health support can contact the district's Parent Assistance Line at 305-995-7100, available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
