Way to Go! Student raises awareness for suicide prevention
Harold Teller, an eighth-grader at Commack Middle School, hosted a fundraiser to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Awareness. Credit: Daria Teller
A Commack Middle School student recently used basketball as a way to raise awareness about suicide prevention.
Harold Teller, an eighth-grader, coordinated a three-on-three basketball tournament, called Hoops for Hope, to raise funds for and awareness about the topic of adolescent suicide. The event, which attracted about 100 participants from schools across Long Island, raised more than $8,000 last month for the American Foundation for Suicide Awareness.
Teller, 13, coordinated the tournament with the help of Mike Rossetti, who owns a Holbrook-based basketball training program called Rossetti Basketball. Teller has participated in Rossetti’s program for the past two years.
“I was confident that everyone was going to have fun, but I didn’t think the event would fully sell out,” Teller said. About his motivation for raising funds and awareness for suicide prevention, he said: “It was important to me because I know that it is a huge problem around Long Island and the country in general.”
The idea for the fundraiser came after Teller wrote an essay last year about the importance of suicide prevention as part of an application for his school’s National Junior Honor Society, of which he is now a member. He ultimately raised $3,500 through participation fees for each basketball team, with the remaining funds coming from donations, he said.
Teller is also a member of his school’s cross country track team.
A Commack Middle School student recently used basketball as a way to raise awareness about suicide prevention.
Harold Teller, an eighth-grader, coordinated a three-on-three basketball tournament, called Hoops for Hope, to raise funds for and awareness about the topic of adolescent suicide. The event, which attracted about 100 participants from schools across Long Island, raised more than $8,000 last month for the American Foundation for Suicide Awareness.
Teller, 13, coordinated the tournament with the help of Mike Rossetti, who owns a Holbrook-based basketball training program called Rossetti Basketball. Teller has participated in Rossetti’s program for the past two years.
“I was confident that everyone was going to have fun, but I didn’t think the event would fully sell out,” Teller said. About his motivation for raising funds and awareness for suicide prevention, he said: “It was important to me because I know that it is a huge problem around Long Island and the country in general.”
The idea for the fundraiser came after Teller wrote an essay last year about the importance of suicide prevention as part of an application for his school’s National Junior Honor Society, of which he is now a member. He ultimately raised $3,500 through participation fees for each basketball team, with the remaining funds coming from donations, he said.
Teller is also a member of his school’s cross country track team.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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