Darby, MT. – Teen Suicide is an important and urgent issue in Montana. So when Brian Cherry, Coordinator of the Ravalli County Youth Suicide Prevention Alliance wanted to create a message to address the issue, he came to MAPS. “We wanted a video created and produced by teens and MAPS history of employing talented, young communicators made them the perfect choice”, says Brian.

But there was one practical challenge: MAPS: Media Arts in the Public Schools was on hiatus and preparing for the transition to the MAPS Media Institute. Thus, their traditional pool of filmmakers weren’t available. “When Brian approached us with the assignment, we couldn’t say ‘no”, says MAPS President, Peter Rosten. “The subject matter is too important.”

Fortunately, MAPS has had a longstanding relationship with Hamilton’s “Kids First” program and Rosten contacted Executive Director, Ari Santamaria, to collaborate on the project. “The project was a great idea and we presented it to our Leadership High youth who tackled the project with great enthusiasm.“

Next it was time to assign one student as the video’s producer/editor. And this is where 17 year old Brandon Dewey, comes in. A recent graduate of Stevensville High School, Brandon took on the assignment. Says Brandon: “It was definitely an incredibly satisfying challenge generating a video that would be life affirming and had the potential to change someone’s life.”

For more information about the Ravalli County Youth Suicide Prevention Alliance: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or (406) 360-2708.