The Kansas State University College of Education is hosting a suicide prevention conference next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The 2016 Counselors Can conference will feature the Kansas Commissioner of Education, Randy Watson; whom will be presenting “A New Vision for Kansas – New and Critical Roles for School Counselors”.

John Hughey, Kansas Sate University professor of Special Education, counseling and student affairs and 2016 Kansas Counselor of the Year, said this year’s conference is exceeding all expectations with a “30 percent increase in attendees”.

One of the “especially meaningful” portions of the conference according to Hughey is because of Clark Flatt’s presentation and this year’s passage of the Jason Flatt Act by the Kansas Legislature.

The law goes into effect on January 1, 2017 and requires local school boards in each school district to offer free, online suicide awareness and prevention training and notify parents or guardians that training materials are available.

According to Hughey, one person dies by suicide every 20 hours and suicide is the 0th leading cause of death in the state of Kansas.  For Kansans aged 10 to 34, suicide is the second largest cause of death.

The “counselor camp” will be Tuesday, May 31st and Wednesday, June 1st at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan.