A 2013 King’s Fork High School graduate who helped formulate a response to teen violence is a finalist for a national prize honoring the efforts of young “peacemakers.”

In 2011, Fletcher Stephens, now a member of the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Military Institute, led a group of students in launching the Be Fight Free campaign, which claimed to reduce violence in the community by 70 percent.

“The kids embraced it,” said Michael Debranski, chairman of Suffolk’s School Board.

“We had fewer serious incidents in this past year than we have had in the past number of years. That is a fact — there is no conjecture there.”

Its name playing off BFF — or “best friends forever” — Be Fight Free responded to a spate of murders among Suffolk teens a few years ago, including Lakeland High School students TyQuan Lewis and Michael Lee.

The campaign was proposed by the Community Action Coalition of Suffolk, and Stephens and other students worked to organize rallies, festivals and other events, all with a strong anti-violence theme.

School Board members voted in support of Be Fight Free in December 2010, and the school district designated the following January Violence Prevention Month to help kick off the campaign.

“Aimed first at the city’s 5,000 high school students, the Be Fight Free campaign is a collaborative initiative between the Community Action Coalition of Suffolk, the Suffolk School Board, and Suffolk Public Schools,” a news release from the time stated.

“The campaign’s main objectives are two­fold – to raise awareness and participation in existing youth programs here in Suffolk, and to educate students, school staff, parents and the public on effective ways to prevent and/or reduce youth violence.”

A committee of “leaders in youth development, education and social justice” will decide five winners for the national prize from 50 finalists, according to the Peace First Prize website.

Each will receive $50,000 over two years to “continue their peacemaking work.” In a video accompanying his entry, Stephens said prize money would be used to extend Be Fight Free to other places in America where it’s needed.

The aim, he said, is to “change the culture of youth violence” in communities such as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Oakland and Baltimore.

Debranski said he hopes others around the country can get the opportunity to “take it on and grow from it.”

“It’s a great attitude that (Suffolk) kids took to heart,” he said.