Alexia McCain
amccain@bcps.k12.md.us
Showing posts with label Ask Us About Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ask Us About Stories. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2011
Baltimore City
Alexia McCain
amccain@bcps.k12.md.us
Broward County, FL
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) has dedicated its time and energy through The Office of Prevention Programs to ensure that HIV/AIDS Education perceived as a mainstream topic to be discussed openly. BCPS educates teachers, parents and students on the positive impact of sharing this information. HIV/AIDS Education has moved beyond the classroom to raise awareness among community members and parents in hopes that the message will be embraced. The overarching goal is to create a culture with a common prevention language to combat this epidemic.
The Office of Prevention Programs utilizes technology infusion in creative ways to provide HIV prevention information to students. A recent, exciting example is the creation of a 15-minute television program called Reality Avenue addressing the Topic of HIV /AIDS. Reality Avenue was aired in every middle and high school classroom across Broward County. Every student was given the opportunity to view the program and engaged in a follow-up lesson. The program is also available to the greater community BECON every Tuesday at 7 p.m. and every Saturday at 5 p.m. The benefits of the HIV/AIDS program are as follow:
- Message will reach entire School District
- Reaches beyond the school to Increase HIV/AIDS knowledge across the community
- Schools will have on demand access to view program
- Normalize HIV/AIDS prevention education
- Create a uniform prevention language among parents, teachers, students, and others
Patrick Chalmers
Patrick.chalmers@browardschools.com
http://www.browardprevention.org/
Chicago
On December 1, 2010 – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), Walgreens, and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) hosted close to 1,500 seventh through 12th grade students for a World AIDS Day 2010 Youth Summit. The event aimedto educate students on the HIV and AIDS epidemic and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and arm them with the facts to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS and other STIs. The CPS youth summit is a platform to educate students on the realities HIV/AIDS and other STIs through a series of expert teaching sessions, informative skits and personal testimonials. In addition, the After School Matters acting ensemble performed a captivating vignette entitled “What Would You Do?”, following a performance by a local rap duo. Experts and advocates together used this summit as an open forum to discuss the epidemic with students through a question and answer panel discussion.
In addition to the teen summit, CPS partners with Walgreens and TrueStar Magazine annually to engage students in the HIV/AIDS discussion through the Expressions Against HIV/AIDS Awareness Art & Literacy Contest. The Expressions winners were announced prior to the conclusion of the summit. Expressions is an annual initiative focused on motivating teens 13 to 18 to creatively express their views on HIV/AIDS and other STIs.
Ira Rounsaville
irounsaville@cps.k12.il.us
cps.edu
Los Angeles
We have been awarded a supplemental grant on reaching our most at-risk population through new media. We have developed a cadre of partners to pull off this enormous task with less resources than expected. We are using a peer leadership model in our after-school programs as our catalyst to infuse an awareness campaign around HIV awareness and condom use. The goal of the awareness campaign is to drive our students to the two options that have been developed to increase HIV awareness and give access to condoms, while educating the students using creative strategies that involve peers. We have a text messaging prevention-education service and a new website portal.
Timothy Kordic
timothy.kordic@lausd.net
http://www.aidspreventionlausd.net/
Memphis
Memphis City Schools was approved for the Minority AIDS Initiative Project supplemental HIV grant funding, “Targeting Youth at Highest Risk for HIV, Other STD and Teen Pregnancy.” Our project contracted with a local theater company to produce a play that is youth-centered. It provided an opportunity for students completing the last of six training sessions as Peer Educators to utilize their newly acquired skills to provide content for the stage production. Eleven (11) of the 16 students trained participated in a focus group led by the theater company’s Executive/Artistic Director. Another focus group was convened consisting of 16 Latino high school students who were not participants in peer training. This resulted in the script for four five-minute vignettes targeting African-American and Latino students written and produced by the theater company. Four students, including three Peer Educators had the opportunity to contribute as actors in the play, along with professional actors.
The play is to be performed in settings outside of the classroom on three occasions to coincide with national observances of AIDS awareness. The first staging was for World AIDS Day 2010 at a high school consisting of predominately African-American students. One of the vignettes was performed during a city-wide observance of World AIDS Day at the school in collaboration with the county health department before an audience of 11th and 12th grade students, representatives of government agencies and community based organizations. A performance including all four vignettes was held later for the 9th Grade Academy at the school. It was followed by a Town Hall discussion led by Peer Educators, providing another opportunity to educate their peers. The next performances are to be staged in observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in February and National Latino AIDS Awareness Day in October 2011. High school students from several schools will attend those performances.
Susan Lee
adekpuitorsusan@mcsk12.net
http://www.mcsk12.net/
Miami Dade, FL
A three-year prevention effort to prevent substance abuse, HIV and Hepatitis as well as reducing the barriers to HIV/STD testing entitled Project Possible (Promoting Our Students' Success through Informed Behavior, Learning, and Self-Efficacy) took place from the 2007-2008 until the 2009-2010 academic year for a cohort of students from a high school located in a high prevalence HIV zone in Miami-Dade County. Project Possible emphasized intensive health instruction, HIV/AIDS peer group participation, testing and other informational activities.
On December 2010, a focus group activity with a subset of the original Project Possible student cohort, took place. Data gathered from the focus group activity yielded a student perspective on the impact, value and effectiveness of the Project Possible prevention as well as an opportunity to provide recommendations for improving the delivery of information for future classes of students. In an effort to obtain a more "global" student perspective of HIV/AIDS prevention education efforts in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), a student survey derived from the focus group questions for the Project Possible cohort, was developed and will be implemented in April 2011 across a random sample of M-DCPS middle and senior high schools. Data from both surveys will be analyzed to provide a metric that can guide the planning of future prevention/instruction on HIV/AIDS in M-DCPS.
Daniel R. Oré
dore@dadeschools.net
aidseducation.dadeschools.net
Newark
In a collaborative effort with our funded partner and various community partners, NPS held its’ first annual World AIDS Day Event. There were approximately 180 students, faculty and community members that participated in the event. The day of learning began with a Teen Prevention Education “PEP” Rally and ended with a HIV awareness film, followed by small group break out discussions.
Our funded partner, Answer, along with community members lead the discussion with students after the film. The students were broken down into groups by gender and placed respectively with a male/female group leader. This was done as an attempt to try to encourage honest discussions about sexual health. The goal of the event was to target at risk and vulnerable populations to include, minorities, females, LGBTQ youth and heterosexual males. The students received consistent HIV/AIDS prevention messages throughout the day and were encouraged take the role as peer educators seriously. At the end of the day, the audience had the pleasure of listening to a community member that has been affected and infected with HIV. Students were actively engaged and involved in the planning of the event. For instance, the highlight of the day was a skit/performance by students challenging their peers to learn the facts about HIV/AIDS. The theme for the event was “Value Life”. As a result of giving it to them straight, students requested to receive services from the school based Teen Clinic for continued family life information/pregnancy prevention and HIV education.
Elyse E. Carmichael-Henderson
ecarmichael@nps.k12.nj.us
nps.k12.nj.us
New York City
HIV/AIDS remains a serious New York City health problem as well as a worldwide epidemic. Although great medical progress has been made, we still do not have a cure or a vaccine. In 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available, there was a reported rise in infections in members of New York City’s adolescent population. An important step in preventing infection is to increase student’s understanding of HIV risks and to assist them to develop protective behaviors.
This blended (½ online and ½ in-person) HIV/AIDS 101 training prepares teachers to use the NYC DOE’s HIV/AIDS Curriculum to deliver accurate information to students, cultivate responsible attitudes, and develop communication and other skills essential for the prevention of HIV infection.
The online portion of our HIV/ course teaches many important and useful facts about HIV/AIDS and explores affective education. It is facilitated by an instructor who provides daily feedback and assists via email. The course provides an easy way to learn how to instruct students in the nature, transmission and prevention of HIV infection using the New York City Department of Education’s (NYC DOE) mandated HIV/AIDS curriculum. It also includes practical tips on presenting sensitive materials to students of all grades. Part 2 is a hands-on, ½-day, in-person training on the skills of answering students’ challenging questions. Participants can also request a technical assistance school visit. This alternative to classroom-only instruction has provided an alternative to teachers who are unable to attend our full-day HIV/AIDS trainings, or for teachers who prefer online learning.
Stephanie Caloir, MPH
scaloir@schools.nyc.gov
schools.nyc.gov
San Diego
Problem Overview
Over 50 years ago, California established medical emancipation statutes to ensure that minors could access medical care for specific conditions, usually involving sexual health or other sensitive issues. To comply with these statutes, the California Attorney General released an opinion (1983 and 2004) stating that students in grades 7-12 have a right to be released from school to seek sensitive medical treatment during the school day without parental consent, and that schools must keep such services confidential.
SDUSD had two policies in place that were not in accordance with state law or the Attorney General’s opinion. In 2003 the HIV Resource Teacher brought this issue to the attention of the legal department and asked that the policies be updated to comply with state law. Over the next seven years, the Sex Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) and partner agencies advocated for these changes. Due to high turnover in management, including four new superintendents, the policies were left unchanged for seven years.
In 2009 the HIV Resource Teacher met with the newly hired General Counsel for the District. When presented with seven years of documentation, he made a commitment to change the policies during the 2009- 2010 school year.
Program/Activity Description
The HIV Resource Teacher worked with Planned Parenthood, the National Center of Youth Law, SDUSD Nursing department and SDUSD Counseling department to draft a new policy. Nurses and counselors were identified as key personnel that would be involved in releasing students and ensuring confidentiality in accordance with their professional license/credentials. Prior to the board meeting, a representative from Planned Parenthood met with each school board member to explain the law and the new policies to ensure their support.
Program/Activity Outcomes
On March 30, 2010, the San Diego Unified School District unanimously adopted a change to board policies dealing with sensitive medical services and minor confidentiality. Staff from the nursing, counseling and HIV Prevention programs developed guidelines to help site staff interpret and follow the new policies. Students in SDUSD can now leave school grounds to seek confidential medical services and guaranteed privacy when discussing sexual health issues.
Marge Kleinsmith
mkleinsmith@sandi.net
www.sandi.net/204510915162157563/site/default.asp
San Francisco
For the past two years we have been providing an introductory HIV prevention education presentation to staff and community members titled HIV 101. This year the Power Point presentation was updated to include current Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) data. The HIV Power Point presentation has evolved into the interactive, education HIV 101 Kit. The HIV 101 Kit includes:
- The updated Power Point presentation
- Interactive activities taken from the Positive Prevention; SFUSD adopted research based curriculum. One activity builds empathy skills while the other reviews modes of transmission, and how to protect against HIV transmission.
- Amanda’s Story (supplemental DVD used for HIV prevention education)
- 3 girls I know: intimate stories about young women, teen sexuality, pregnancy and HIV/AIDS (supplemental DVD used for HIV prevention education)
- SFUSD/SHP HIV prevention posters highlighting how many district youth are not engaging in sexual activity and where students can go to receive more information regarding HIV prevention.
- “I plan to use the power point at our HIV/AIDS assembly on Dec. 3. Excellent and simple power pt. lessons 1,2,3,4 from Pos. Prevention”
- “I plan to use the resources I received today. I will pick various lessons from each”
- “[I intend to use] “HIV 101 for my classes”
Rosalia Lopez
Lopezr@sfusd.edu
http://www.healthiersf.org/
Seattle
Seattle Public Schools received collaborative funding to purchase library books with LGBT-related titles for distribution in all our schools. The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) provided funding for the purchase of four high school titles, three middle school titles and eight elementary level books for each of our school libraries. In addition, a complete set of books was purchased for each of the nine Educational Service District areas across our state to be made available for check out by individual librarians.
Over the course of about four months, book titles were gathered; the Seattle Schools LGBT Advisory committee and the district literacy specialist narrowed the selection of books, the titles were run by the school board and the books were then purchased. Once they arrived, a training was scheduled for librarians as to how to make use of the books, and how to talk to students, staff and families about their inclusion in the library collection.
We have had great feedback from librarians and are excited to see one more example of materials reflective of our students’ lives!
Lisa Love
LLove@seattleschools.org
http://www.seattleschools.org/
Washington, D.C.
The Office of the State Superintendent Wellness and Nutrition Services Department, Healthy Youth Development Team, in collaboration with District of Columbia Public School (DCPS), Office of Youth Engagement, convened a Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) in 2009. Currently in 2010, the YAC has a total of 16 members. Nine members are from District of Columbia Public Schools and seven members are from Public Charter Schools. YAC members currently represent every Ward in the District of Columbia except Ward 3.
Since August 2010, YAC members have completed their Reproductive Health Trainings, their first World AIDS Newsletter, and have been requested to organize Youth Pride Day in April. YAC members will receive additional trainings on other health topics in the spring and will also implement the skills learned in various community projects in the District. Below are trainings they have received thus far:
- HIV 101 – Trained by OSSE, HYDT
- STD 101 – Trained by DOH, HAHSTA
- Advocating for LGBTQ Youth – Trained by Sexuality Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL)
- Gender Roles and Relationships – Trained by Men Can Stop Rape, Inc.
- Pregnancy 101/Reproductive Health – Trained by Planned Parenthood of Washington DC
- Signs of Suicide Program- Trained by the Department of Mental Health
Kafui Doe, MPH
kafui.doe@dc.gov
http://www.seattleschools.org/
osse.dc.gov
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