It was a Monday night when Rosetta Treece, the director of curriculum and instruction in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, got a knock on her front door from Air Force personnel from Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst in south central New Jersey.
Her son, Ronald, who Treece refers to as Ronnie, was in the Air Force and stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Kansas City, Mo., but Treece never suspected she would get a knock on her door regarding her youngest son. Her stepson, Alex Jr., was overseas with the Army at the time.
“That’s where my mind immediately went,” she said. “It took some time for me to really hear they were saying my youngest son’s name. I immediately started crying and screaming, thinking it was Alex Jr. It took a while to get through that it was Ronnie.”
Ronald Jenkins Treece, Airman First Class, took his own life on Feb. 20, 2017 at the age of 21. While serving, he received a “red cap,” which gave him the job of instructing other Air Force personnel how to use firearms safely. He had been with the Air Force for just over a year before his passing. The young man was buried at Washington Crossing Cemetery, Newtown, Pa.
Almost a year later, Treece was driving down the street, listening to the radio, when she heard about Out of the Darkness, an overnight walk to prevent suicide, through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The walk took place in Philadelphia on June 16 with more than 2,000 walkers present.
According to the organization’s website, “there are 3.6 male suicides for every female suicide, but twice as many females as males attempt suicide” and 123 Americans take their own life every day.
“With young men, specifically, the shame of needing to ask for help about something that’s in your head, which you should be able to ‘get over,’ is very tough,” Treece said.
As an educator, Treece wanted to get involved with the walk to honor her son and raise awareness in the community.
“Good kids, good people, suffer from mental health [issues] and this is an epidemic in our country we need to address,” she said. “We don’t address it by being secretive about it or having shame about it, demonizing it or criminalizing it.”
In January, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas A. Smith addressed the issue by organizing a “call to action” alongside several superintendents from Mercer County public schools.
The event, which took place at Rider University, Lawrenceville, featured Dr. George Scott from the New Jersey Traumatic Loss Coalition. There, he spoke about possible warning signs and things parents should look out for that are beyond common adolescent behavior.
“I was present, and that was one of the first steps because, as a mother who has already lost her baby, these warning signs aren’t going to help you, they are going to make you think about what you missed,” Treece said.
With more than 500 people in attendance at the first call to action — the second call to action took place in May at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, — the event “dedicated a critical need” for mental health awareness, Smith said.
“There is definitely a need for supports and services for school-aged kids,” he added. “It was helpful for parents to identify the warning signs, for other kids to see what the warning signs are and what parents can do in the short- and long-term.”
Treece described sitting through the event as “tough,” but said it gave her to motivation to continue with the Out of the Darkness walk.
Treece walked for five hours in Philadelphia and was involved in the bead honoring ceremony prior to the walk. The ceremony featured participants representing each category of colored beads — white for the loss of a child, orange for a sibling, red for a loved one, teal if the participant is suffering with their own mental health, and silver for a first-responder or military members.
Treece described her son as someone who would often “inject” himself into a situation if someone needed help.
“I knew that was who he was, but I didn’t know the impact his voice had on other children until he was gone,” she said.
At his funeral at the Wilson Apple Funeral Home on March 2, 2017, about 400 people attended, sharing how Ronald impacted their lives. Some time after the funeral, Treece received a letter from a parent that especially touched her.
“It said, ‘You don’t know me, but Ronnie saved my son’s life,’ ” she said. “In middle school, because her son was so lonely and bullied, Ronnie said, ‘You’re going to come over here and sit at my lunch table.’ He took him under his wing and she sent me a picture of Ronnie and her son, a picture I’ve never seen.”
While her son had a good heart, Treece said, he struggled with his mental health. He was taken to psychiatrists when he was younger and medication seemed to work. However, Ronald stopped taking the medication once he started to “stabilize,” Treece said.
“That was one of the reasons I feel like we need to be transparent with talking about mental health,” she said. “Talking about, when you lose someone to suicide, how they lost their life. You don’t need to be cryptic about [mental illness] or hide it because of shame.”
Treece’s experience at the Out of the Darkness walk was a powerful one, she said. With the support of the school district, she has raised $9,495 through an online fundraiser.
To help combat the stigma against mental health and suicide, the school district is implementing changes in its curriculum, starting at Hopewell Valley Central High School.
Scott is scheduled to speak with parents at back to school night on Sept. 13, and to speak with students and work with staff members to create safe classroom environments in October.
“This is the most dangerous time for adolescents, when they graduate high school, and that time when they leave their home, that’s the danger zone,” Treece said.
By talking with students, Scott will promote self-care in a positive way, while ensuring they are aware of their resources once they graduate, whether they go to college, enlist in the military or join the workforce.
“We know [Scott] will help open up the dialogue with our parents and students about mental health, and that will help with future conversations moving forward,” Principal Tana Smith said.
The district is also looking to adopt a social and emotional curriculum that will go beyond high school and apply to kindergarten pupils through 12th graders.
“Our focus is on academics, but we know a vital component of that is social and emotional, not only health, but development for our students,” said Smith, the superintendent. “It goes back to not wanting anyone to suffer alone.”
Treece expressed her gratitude to the superintendent for being a “champion” of this cause, and to Tana Smith, the principal, for “collaborating to provide parents with resources to promote mental health in their children.”
For the superintendent, the issues surrounding mental health “can’t get better until you recognize there’s a problem.”
“We are not bowing our head in shame, this is an issue that is facing most school districts across the country,” he said. “We want to do what we can to support our students and provide them areas to grow in.”
For resources and a mental health tip line, visit the school district’s Hope and Help webpage.
