Wasilla counselor joins suicide task force

Frontiersman staff

A Wasilla High School counselor will be among 15 Alaskans to serve on a newly created Suicide Prevention Council.

Gov. Tony Knowles appointed Jeanine Sparks of Wasilla High to the council, along with Native, religious and community leaders, state officials, suicide prevention specialists and a young suicide survivor.

Sparks works as a guidance counselor at the school and has an extensive background in crisis counseling and working with adolescents at risk for suicide. She has participated in more than a thousand interventions and worked on the State Task Force for the Prevention of Adolescent Suicide.

"Suicide has a devastating impact on Alaska families and communities," Knowles said in a press release. "The dedicated and thoughtful people I am naming to this council will help the state set a course of action to help prevent suicide and its impacts, and in doing so, improve the health of all Alaskans."

The council will advise the governor and the Legislature on ways to prevent suicide and develop a statewide plan to strengthen existing and new partnerships between public and private entities. The council will present its findings and recommendations annually to the governor and legislative leaders.

The board will also serve to increase public awareness of suicide and its risk factors, enhance suicide prevention services throughout the state and work to develop healthy communities.

Sen. Rick Halford, R-Chugiak, will be among the four legislative representatives on the council.