title:  How One Teacher Responded After Nearly Losing A Student To Suicide (VIDEO)
text: Brittni Darras teaches English at Rampart High School, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The suicide rate in the state of Colorado reached an all-time high last year. As of 2015, Colorado had the seventh-highest suicide rate in the country. As a high school teacher, Darras has not been untouched by these statistics.According to a post Darras published to Facebook on May 24, the teacher recently learned that she d come  way too close to losing another student to suicide. Two months ago was the first time I cried during parent/teacher conferences. A mom of a student who I have taught for two years showed up at my table with a list of her daughter s teachers. Each one had  yes  or  no  written next to it. As the teacher explained during an interview with KOAA, the student s mother had asked her daughter to identify which of her teachers were  safe to tell,  by writing yes or no by their names.Darras  post continues: My name had a  yes  next to it, so she proceeded to explain to me the reason for her daughter s extended absence. Her daughter- a friendly, intelligent, beautiful, driven, young woman- not only planned to commit suicide, but was in the act of doing so when the police got a Safe 2 Tell report, broke in, and stopped her. She had deleted her social media accounts and left goodbye letters; she was ready to leave the world. Darras wrote that she and the student s mother  had tears streaming down our faces. The teacher asked what she could do that might make a difference in the life of the student she d nearly lost to suicide.She wrote: Feeling helpless, I asked if I could write my student a letter to be delivered to her at the hospital; she said her daughter would love that. My student got the letter; her mom said that her daughter cried, turned to her mom and said,  How could somebody say such nice things about me? I didn t think anybody would miss me if I was gone.' She didn t stop there, though. Darras spent the next two months writing personal letters to every one of the 130 students that she teaches. She took the time to tell each student what is special and unique about them. One student who received one of the teacher s handwritten letters described it as  just incredible. During an interview with KOAA the student said: I was just first of all surprised by how much she wrote. Usually when people write letters, it s like one or two sentences, like either  Happy Birthday,  or  Merry Christmas,  or  I hope you re doing fine.' But Darras letters to her students show that she cares deeply for each and every one of them.In her Facebook post, which has now been shared 164,000 times, the teacher wrote: Suicide is growing to be more and more common, and I can t help but to think that it s a direct result of the pressure we put on these kids- to be successful, to fit in, to be the best in their class/sport/etc. We need to remember that each human being is unique, and that is what makes them special. Instead of trying to change it, we need to embrace it, because together, we can make a difference, and we can save lives! By taking the time to show each of her students that they are valued, this teacher is undoubtedly making a difference in their lives.Here s more on this story from KOAA:KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and PuebloFeatured image via video screen capture via KOAA