Written by Autumn Johnson and Rachel Ford |
Photos by Rachel Ford, Natalie Buchetto, and Kim Inglis |
Two weeks ago, Chris Herren visited The Morgan School. He made a profound impact on many of the students and community members. During the assembly, he shared his story along with the stories he has gathered from his six years of public speaking.
Herren informed us that, “there wasn’t really a challenge” starting the project. He also expressed excitement when he realized how much support our school has from the community. His favorite part is that “it is student driven, and that the kids who are partaking in it are the ones who are driving it. It takes courage to stand out and do something.”
Many students questioned whether or not it was worth the money we spent, but this was answered when he spoke about what The Herren Project does. He explained, “Project purple is an initiative of the Herren Project, The Herren Project last year sent away I believe 500 people to treatment we worked with about 900 families that were affected by substance abuse who were at critical crossroads in their lives with their loved ones. We assist them in that project, so if you look into The Herren Project there is so much; we have online support groups for families who have lost siblings or children so we do a ton around this; it’s not just the kids.”
He talked about what the most important part of the project is, he said, “just the girl in the balcony that had the courage to say she wants to get over losing her dad and doesn’t know how. It’s moments like that that make it all worth it. That’s powerful stuff. For her to say that out loud, I don’t know how many of you in here knew that she lost her dad, but now you do, and that’s a breakthrough for a student, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Lastly, Chris hopes that “the message is sustainable, I hope kids continue to talk about it… You know the kids in elementary school and middle school are following what you do in high school. They are learning what high school is like from you. So hopefully that message continues.”