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Newark-Elyse E. Carmichael-Henderson, Adelaide Ruela and Pam Taylor HIV "Giving It To Them Straight" HIV Prevention Education World AIDS Day Event "Value Life"
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.
