What School Administrators Are Saying About ‘Talk About It®’
“We have prevented three suicides in Waco ISD. How can you value that? You don’t know the value of this program because you don’t see the number of suicides that I have experienced. All it takes is one, and then you’ll join the program, but why wait?”
“By this tool we have given them (students) the freedom to care enough and express their caring for their fellow students.”
“It reinforces what we value the most in our lives. We want to create a school that is warm and inviting and threat free.”
Dr. Mark Diaz
Manor Independent School District Superintendent
Manor, Texas
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"It's a very important and exciting program. If students hear someone talking about a problem in school, they can report it in confidence and appropriate action can be taken. We hope that this tool will encourage students to come forward if they've got something they need to address. The program is meant to give the kids some power over what is happening in their lives."
Ralph Langham
Board Member
New Fairfield Public School District
New Fairfield, Connecticut
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“AnComm has clearly established leadership in helping schools to deal constructively with issues that pose a threat to the health and safety of the school community.”
"I've talked to other school districts and they say the program has been a huge help. In a couple of situations, it helped children who were in depression, stress and threatening suicide."
John Boccuzzi
Assistant Superintendent
New Fairfield Public School District
New Fairfield, Connecticut
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“No one knows better about what is happening inside their own school than the students themselves. If we could build a bridge with anonymous communications, the likelihood of children turning to violent measures could be dramatically impacted.”
Michael Hogan
Principal
Petal Middle School
Petal, Mississippi
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“We selected AnComm because anonymous communications is at the core of our school safety strategy. With ‘Talk About It®,’ students feel newly empowered to come forward with their troubles via an intuitive web-based portal and let school counselors help them resolve problems before they turn to violence.”
Dr. Sharon Dodson
Superintendent
Henry County Schools
Collinsville, Virginia
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“We believe that the fastest way to improve the safety of our schools is to improve communication between faculty and students. Based on the results of our pilot, we will continue to put anonymous communications at the core of our security strategy and plans.”
“The benefit of having the AnComm service is that it allows even the most disconnected child to have a voice and thus be able to build a positive connection with an adult at the school. Building positive connections and weaving this web of support is most important to our school counselors and administrators.”
Dr. John G. Ladner
Superintendent
Pearl Public School District
Pearl, Mississippi
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“Thanks to AnComm for the assistance. The situation was a real issue that we were able to prevent. Today, AnComm possibly helped save a child.”
Mr. Carl Michael Day
Principal
Jones Middle School
Laurel, Mississippi
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“You and your team at AnComm have truly made a difference on our campus and have empowered our administration and faculty to help our students in a way that was not possible in the past. Please let your team know how much MSA appreciates your relentless work and let them know that they are making a difference in student’s lives.”
Jana Perry
Director of Admissions and Recruiting
Mississippi School of the Arts
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“Thank you for your incredible service and the extra care and concern your organization puts forth on behalf of our teens.”
Ms. Jen Locati, M.Ed., P.P.S.
School Counselor
Excelsior Middle School
Byron, California
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“The first priority for any institution of learning is to have a safe and nurturing environment,” Bounds said. “We evaluated this system and we feel this will be embraced by both students and school officials, and used to deal with serious issues that may otherwise go unresolved.”
Dr. Hank Bounds
State Superintendent of Education for Mississippi
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“Inform your office we are excited with the results...Thanks again.”
Mr. Kevin Britt
Assistant Principal
Petal Middle School
Petal, Mississippi
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“Most students prefer to remain anonymous when they send their first message. Usually, we reply back and forth a few times and get a dialogue going. At that point most students identify themselves. Some students who did not identify themselves in their e-mails have come up to me in the halls and said they were the ones who sent me a message about a certain topic. AnComm really is an ice breaker; it’s been great.”
“The counselors have done more individual counseling this year than they have done in years past. It does take time on the counselors’ part, but AnComm is another outlet by which kids can communicate. That makes it a positive.”
"We haven't had a lot of large problems, but we were able to stop a potential suicide when we found out about it through the system. You can't put a price tag on that."
“You might wonder why the students don’t come to us (school administrators) in the first place, because we’re here every day. But, some kids are shy or don’t want to be seen as a snitch. They need a way to start the process. AnComm provides that.”
Ray Morgigno
Principal
Pearl High
Pearl, Mississippi
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“The students know they can contact me anonymously. That opens the dialogue. Students write that ‘so and so is picking on me, please stop it.’ Because they know what they say is confidential, they go ahead and say who the bully is. It has helped stop our bullying problem.”
“It’s not time-consuming. I do check my computer for e-mails more often and I do get some from students during the day. I respond to them as soon as I get them.”
Karen Wilson
Principal
Pearl Jr. High School
Pearl School District
Pearl, Mississippi
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"The biggest thing for us is it will put us in contact with the people who know the most about what's going on in the schools in terms of the things we're trying to monitor. It gives them a vehicle to talk to us and protect themselves."
Glenn Swan
Superintendent
Lamar County Schools
Purvis, Mississippi
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"We're seeing that this generation feels very comfortable discussing things in that format [online messaging]… We're seeing an increase in students using counseling services."
Gina Morgigno
Counselor
Pearl High School
Pearl, Mississippi
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