Suicide Prevention: Getting Your Students the Care They Need

September 30th, 2021  |  12pm CT

Suicide Prevention: Getting Your Students the Care They Need

September 30th, 2021 | 12pm CT

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Lightspeed Safety Specialists

"Keeping your students safe is our only job." - Jason Veselka, Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Who Are Lightspeed Safety Specialists?

Our global team of Lightspeed Safety Specialists work seamlessly with our patented AI to detect early warning signs of sentiment and intent of violence, self-harm, and suicide. This human review team are in-house, on premise, and available 24/7/365 to ensure the safety of your students and staff.

With backgrounds in education, law enforcement, investigation, Secret Service training, and mental health, our safety specialists are fully vetted and receive further training by both threat assessment and suicide prevention experts. 

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Listen to an example call from a Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Safety Specialist Team Stories

Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Jason Veselka

  • Grew up in Austin and currently located in Dallas, Texas
  • 25 years of experience in law enforcement: Detective, Special Deputy U.S. Marshals, FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force officer
  • Certified trainer for suicide prevention through American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
  • CSAM-trained through Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
  • “I know that our work impacts not only the lives of students, but also the families and the communities that they live in. I believe we are saving and changing lives.”
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Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Ariana Marks

  • Born and raised in Austin, Texas
  • Former teacher with a degree in Psychology and Mental Health
  • Suicide prevention-trained through American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
  • CSAM-trained through Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
  • “I feel like I’m making a big impact on kids’ lives. What if that school didn’t have Alert or Safety Specialists? It’s scary to think about the worst-case scenario.”

Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Jacob Troost

  • Grew up in New York and currently located in Austin, Texas
  • Former teacher with experience in Social Emotional Learning and Risk Management
  • Suicide prevention-trained through American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
  • CSAM-trained through Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
  • “As Safety Specialists, we’re trained to pick up on certain behaviors and trends in order to take profound and quick action. It’s a humbling experience.”
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Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Michael Graham

  • Grew up in Bakersfield, CA and currently located in Northern California
  • 21 years of experience in law enforcement: D.A.R.E. program leader, detective sergeant, and crisis negotiator
  • Suicide prevention-trained through American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
  • CSAM-trained through Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
  • “[Lightspeed] Alert is an incredible safety tool. I wish this software was around years ago when I was in law enforcement.”

Lightspeed Safety Specialist

Rick Salter

  • Currently lives in Basildon — a town in Essex located in the UK 
  • Experience with high security, sensitive information and protecting personal and business data 
  • Suicide prevention-trained through American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) 
  • “Personally, I believe every school in the world should have Alert. It really is a beneficial product for student safety and decreases self-harm, suicides, cyberbullying and violent behavior.” 
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Lightspeed Safety Specialists

Meet the Team

Prevent Suicide and School Violence

Unlike our competitors’ online safety solutions, Lightspeed Alert™ is designed to detect early warning signs of threats by combining comprehensive AI technology and human review monitoring to prevent suicide, cyberbullying, self-harm, and on-campus violence.

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Let us know about your district’s requirements and we’ll be happy to build a custom quote.

Reimagine the inspired and interactive classroom for remote, hybrid, and in-person learning. Lightspeed Classroom Management™ gives teachers real-time visibility and control of their students’ digital workspaces and online activity.

  • Ensure all students interact with only the right online curriculum — precisely when they’re supposed to use it.
  • Push out vetted curriculum links to all students at the same time.
  • Block inappropriate or distracting web sites and apps.

Ensure scalable & efficient learning device management. The Lightspeed Mobile Device Management™ system ensures safe and secure management of student learning resources with real-time visibility and reporting essential for effective distance learning.

  • A centralized, cloud-based solution for infinitely scalable device, application, and policy controls
  • Self-Service App Library, where teachers and students
    can access and install approved curriculum and learning tools
  • Remotely deploy, change, and revoke hundreds of policies and educational applications, while reducing typical downtime and costs

Prevent suicides, cyberbullying, and schoolviolence. Lightspeed Alert™ supports district administrators and selected personnel with advanced AI to detect and report potential threats before it’s too late.

  • Human review
  • Real-time alerts that flag signs of a potential threat
  • Intervene quickly before an incident occurs.
  • Activity logs provide visibility into online activity before and after a flagged event

Protect students from harmful online content. Lightspeed Filter™ is the best-in-class solution that acts as a solid barrier to inappropriate or illicit online content to ensure students’ online safety 24/7.

  • Powered by the most comprehensive database in the industry built through 20 years of web indexing and machine learning.
  • Ensure CIPA compliance
  • Block millions of inappropriate, harmful, and unknown sites, images, and video including YouTube
  • Keep parents informed with the Lightspeed Parent Portal™

Gain complete visibility into students’ online learning. Lightspeed Analytics™ gives districts robust data on the effectiveness of any tools they implement so they can take a strategic approach to their technology stack and streamline reporting.

  • Track education technology adoption and usage trends, eliminate redundancy, and drive ROI
  • Monitor app and content consumption to facilitate early adoption and effective utilization
  • Assess risk with visibility into student data privacy and security compliance