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ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, December 14, 2012
www.issaquahreporter.com
Chapin honored Sammamish hosts street-naming ceremony for long-time officer BY KEVIN ENDEJAN ISSASQUAH/SAMMAMISH REPORTER
Alaina Blythe and Andrew Hansen are outreach volunteers for Teen Link in Issaquah and Sammamish.
LINDA BALL, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
A LINK FOR LIFE
Issaquah, Sammamish Teen Link volunteers help fellow students in need of support BY LINDA BALL LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
S
ometimes you want to talk to someone who understands — in the case of teenagers, another teenager, because what other peer group could possibly relate better?
There’s no denying the adolescent/teen years are a confusing time of life. Today there are more challenges and stressors on teens than ever before. Stress to succeed, pressure from peers, bullying, sexual identity issues and substance abuse are all stressors which can lead a teen into depression or worse. Teen Link, established in 1996 in Seattle, was born after 16-year-old Audra Letnes died at the hands of her boyfriend who had abused her for over a year. She didn’t tell her mother and was estranged from her friends. She had no resource to turn to. Today, Alaina Blythe, 16, and Andrew Hansen, 17, are outreach volunteers for Teen Link in Issaquah/Sammamish. Blythe is a junior at Skyline High School and Hansen is a senior
SUICIDE WARNING SIGNS According to the Washington State Department of Health, two to three youth ages 1524 commit suicide every week in Washington state. Here are five common warning signs:
• Changes in eating and sleeping patterns • Dropping hints or talking about suicide; making a plan • Giving away prized possessions • Being very obsessive and perfectionistic • Engaging in risky behaviors (driving recklessly, increased drug and alcohol abuse) at Issaquah High School. Both are in the Running Start program where classes count for fulfillment of high school and college credit. Hansen’s classes are all at Bellevue College and Blythe is at Seattle Central. They look like your average teens, but they are anything but. They are dedicated volunteers, reaching out to help teens in need. “There’s no one face for Teen Link,” Blythe said. Teen volunteers are the backbone of Teen Link. Blythe is the chair of the peer advisory board. She and Hansen addressed the Issaquah City Council during the budget hearing Dec. 3, and as a result of their testimony, Teen Link
will receive $3,000 from Issaquah in 2013, a 20 percent increase from this year. Teen Link is under the umbrella of Crisis Clinic, which was established in 1964. Carrie McBride, the development and community relations manager for Crisis Clinic just received news that Teen Link has become the first teen help line to be accredited by Contact USA, the organization which accredits crisis lines across the U.S. and has a network of crisis intervention centers across the nation. Blythe said Teen Link is one of very few organizations in the U.S. specifically for teens. SEE TEEN LINK, 8
The City of Sammamish will honor one of its heroes Dec. 18 when it renames a section of 233rd Ave. N.E. after Stan Chapin, long-time school resource officer at Stan Chapin Eastlake High School and Inglewood Junior High. In an effort to include as much of the community as possible, the city and other organizers have rescheduled the ribbon cutting for Stan Chapin Way for 3:15 p.m., near the new entrance to Eatslake at the intersection of Northeast Eighth Street and 233rd Ave. N.E. Chapin, a member of the Sammamish Police Department, passed away unexpectedly of natural causes Jan. 30, 2012 at the age of 61. His death sent ripples through a stunned community. “Not a lot of teenagers respect authority, but all of us respected him regardless of him being a police officer,” said Marlena Masterleo, who helped organize a memorial ceremony outside Eastlake last year. In addition to a ribbon cutting, the event also will feature brief remarks, an unveiling of the new street sign and some light refreshments. The ceremony will take place just south of the new roundabout on Northeast Eighth Street. “I think naming a street after him is going to be very meaningful to the people who knew him, cared about him and benefited from his work,” City Manager Ben Yazici said. “He is sorely missed.”