Two Fox Chapel Area High School seniors took first place in this year’s Prevent Suicide PA PSA contest for Youth Suicide Prevention in the 60-second video category.
Zoe Broyles, 17, and Cali Johnson, 18, are friends who decided to work together to create a public service announcement promoting the new 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
The video shows Johnson speaking about the hotline and encouraging people to add the number to their phone contacts. In the background, other Fox Chapel students can be seen writing positive messages on a white board.
The video can be found on the Prevent Suicide PA website at psa.preventsuicidepa.org. Winners were chosen based on voting by an advisory board, their schools and the public.
“I thought this was the perfect video to make just to bring awareness and I thought it was a great idea and a great cause,” said Johnson, an Aspinwall resident.
Ryan Devlin teaches an advanced video class called Digital Media Production, which both students take. He said they chose the topic.
“The one the girls settled on was creating a PSA to prevent suicide,” he said.
Broyles was pulled into the project because she was in the right place at the right time.
“I have study hall at the same time that Cali was in Mr. Devlin’s Advanced Digital Media class and since we were already friends, I would just come down with her,” she said.
“When Mr. Devlin presented her with this idea, mental health is really important to me, so it would be fun to work with Cali. I decided to jump on.”
Johnson is also a member of the school’s Stand Together program, a group of students who meet regularly to learn about destigmatizing mental health and drug dependency.
“Last April we had a full week that the program worked throughout the school for mental health stigma and awareness,” she said.
When they graduate in the fall, both students are planning to pursue some type of communication degree.
Johnson wants to concentrate on either broadcast journalism or film and television instruction. Broyles is interested in digital media production,
Their teacher said the two students combined their talents to come up with an effective public service announcement.
“It was a really great combination because Cali is really comfortable with the camera and Zoe had this really great producing idea,” said Devlin. “Had one student done it on their own, it wouldn’t have turned out as well as it did.”
The 988 campaign was a large one this year because the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline just changed from a longer number to the three-digit number, making it easier to remember.
First Published: April 13, 2023, 9:30 a.m.