In Memory of Austin Graf ’24
In Loving Memory
AUSTIN CHANDLER GRAF
With Gratitude
Brophy is grateful to the Graf Family who, at a time of unfathomable loss, made the decision to channel their grief, and that of the Brophy community, into a fund that would offer hope and healing to many.
Support the Brophy Wellness and Mental Health Fund
Thanks to the Brophy Wellness and Mental Health Fund, we are able to offer increased suicide-awareness programming, an enhanced Community of Concern program that will now include a focus on mental health, a peer-to-peer counseling program, an intern program that will bring additional therapists to campus, the Sown-to-Grow program for freshmen and sophomores, and the new Sophomore Examen Interviews. More information is below.
| Community of Concern |
| During the fall of each school year, we gather the sophomore class (and at least one parent/guardian for each student) for our Community of Concern, an evening session of programming related to teenage wellness. Traditionally, the program has targeted teenage substance use; however, we’ve made a shift to frame the program under the auspices of teenage wellness, primarily focusing on mental health and including presentations and table conversations about substance use, social media use, healthy friendships and spiritual well-being. Sophomore families will receive information on session registration early in the school year; attendance of each student with at least one parent/guardian is mandatory. This program is offered in conjunction with the Sophomore Examen. |
| Peer-to-Peer: Hope Squad |
| In 2023-24, the student-led Active Minds Club ushered in a new era of student mental health advocacy by partnering with Hope Squad, a national organization that trains and supports students in becoming engaged community members who can identify concerning student behavior and report this to appropriate school personnel. Launched in the 2024-25 school year, Brophy’s Hope Squad members complete extensive training in suicide awareness and prevention, and then serve as publicly identifiable community members who can help connect students to support from school personnel. As part of our Hope Squad partnership, adult moderators complete a QPR Certificate training program which provides workshops on teenage suicidality and certifies them as suicide prevention practitioners who can subsequently train other faculty, staff and students. |
| Sown-to-Grow |
| Sown to Grow is a platform that offers weekly emotional check-ins with all freshmen and sophomore students and facilitates social-emotional learning modules to help students build resilience, understand their emotions, resolve conflict, respond to failure, and improve their mental and spiritual wellness. Brophy introduced Sown to Grow to the class of 2027 during the 2023-24 school year and will continue to do so with each subsequent freshman class. Sophomores continue their engagement with Sown to Grow in preparation for their Sophomore Examen. During Community Periods, students complete weekly check-ins, providing an emotional rating and responding to reflection questions that coincide with larger Ignatian formation programming. In doing so, we are able to collect real-time data on how our students, individually and collectively, are doing emotionally. Any student reporting difficulty receives immediate follow-up, and freshman advisors and college counselors track their students' data weekly to ensure support is offered at the first sign of distress. Consistent student engagement with Sown to Grow also allows us to compare data with other schools and at Brophy across the years. We will track student wellness throughout the year, and year-to-year, to identify trends and proactively respond to evolving student needs. |
| Sophomore Examen Interviews |
| All sophomore students engage in an annual Sophomore Examen. The student, who will be joined by his family and one faculty/staff member, reflects on his Brophy experience thus far and discerns goals for the remainder of his time at Brophy (and beyond). Students review Sown to Grow data and faculty feedback in preparation for this conversation. Although parents/guardians participate, the conversation is student-led and faculty/staff facilitated. Emphasis is placed on the student’s wellness, his connection to the community and community members, and goal-setting. |
| Suicide Awareness Programming |
| Faculty/Staff Brophy has established a partnership with Teen Lifeline, a leading crisis response organization in the Valley, to provide proactive training for faculty/staff, students and parents/guardians on teenage mental health and suicidality. All faculty/staff experienced an 80-minute professional development workshop in January 2024 which focused on the recognition and prevention of teenage suicide. Teen Lifeline will be invited back on a recurring basis for ongoing training for faculty/staff. Students All freshmen will begin the required freshman health class with an 80-minute workshop from Teen Lifeline staff, again focusing on teenage suicidality. The aim is to prioritize mental wellness at the outset of a Brophy student’s journey here, and proactively discuss with students the realities of teenage suicidality. Subsequent training and reflection will take place through Sown to Grow so that all students are consistently talking about, monitoring and working toward improving their mental health. |
| Counseling/Therapist Intern Program |
| Brophy currently serves as a supervisory site to doctoral-level counseling interns from both NAU and Midwestern. With three interns each working part-time on campus throughout the school year, we have effectively doubled our capacity to provide on-campus professional mental health support to our students. Besides this immediate benefit, we believe the intern program will continue to bolster a bigger-picture effort that produces effective, empathetic and talented therapists for a world ever more in need of their services. |
| Increase in Freshman Advisors and College Counselors |
| Freshman Advisors Brophy added five freshman advisors in 2024-25. This addition has improved the student-advisor ratio, allowing enhanced connections between students and advisors, quicker follow-up when there are student concerns, and better oversight of individual and collective student wellness. College Counselor Addition Brophy also hired a sixth college counselor in 2024-25. This again allowed for the same improvements noted above for our sophomores, juniors and seniors. |
| Large-Scale Student Programming |
| Quarterly, Brophy hosts large-scale student programming focused on mental health and suicide prevention. For example, in fall 2023, Charley Jauss, the mental skills coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, spoke to the student body about his role in facilitating mental wellness at the professional sports level, as well as strategies for regulating emotions and minimizing performance anxiety. Brophy’s Hope Squad takes ownership of the planning and execution of this programming, and all students have access to this programming through our Community Period. |