Youth Suicide Prevention Training for Educators

“Suicide is one of the top three causes of death in youth” (Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, Para 1). As a pre-service teacher candidate, it is critical that you gain awareness in recognizing the warning signs and risk factors of youth suicide as well as appropriate action steps you should take. Students enrolled in an NAU teacher preparation program should complete the “Making Educators Partners in Youth Suicide Prevention: ACT on FACTS”, an Arizona Department of Education approved training (see the following section for instructions to access this online course). Suicide prevention training is a requirement passed by the Arizona legislature requiring teacher training programs to provide suicide awareness and prevention instruction to all teacher candidates (see Statue 15-1656. Suicide prevention training). As a soon to be new teacher working with youth, the awareness you gain through this suicide prevention training is important preparation for assisting your future students.

Instructions for Accessing the Online Training

Step 1. Go to Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide’s (SPTS) website, and create an account by selecting “Register here” and entering the requested registration information.

Step2. Once registered, scroll down to the heading “Making Educators Partners in Youth Suicide Prevention.” The course is titled “Making Educators Partners in Youth Suicide Prevention: ACT on FACTS (60 min) National Version.” Hover over the blue box and select “Start” to begin the course. Plan on scheduling an hour to complete the course in its entirety as the entire course must be completed in one sitting.

Step 3. Once you have completed the course and post-test, select the “Completion” button at the bottom right of the screen. Save and exit. You will be taken back to the SPTS Welcome page listing all of the courses. In the top right of the screen, select the gray bars then “Certificate” to access and print a PDF of your completion certificate. Save a copy of this certificate for your records to provide to future school employers and submit a copy of your certificate PDF file to NAU Professional Education Programs through the online submission form.