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Countries/States Served:
CA
People Utilized or Employed:
Types of Students Allowed:
Premedical Students, Predental Students, Prenursing Students, Prepharmacy Students, Preveterinary Students, Preoptometry Students |
Program Length:
Short Term (Less than 1 month) and Long Term (Greater than 1 month)
Language Skills:
Religious Affiliations:
University Affiliations:
UCLA |
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Mission Statement: (See Web Site For Updated Information)
Women and Youth Supporting Each Other is a comprehensive sexuality education program designed to help middle school girls break out of the cycle of poverty created by teenage pregnancy. Aside from spending a quarter on issues such as anatomy, birth control, STDS, sexuality, sexual decision making, and dating violence, WYSE also seeks to give these young women access to information and resources that would otherwise be unavailable to them through a typical middle school curriculum. WYSE helps these "at risk" youth by speaking with them about personal identity, stereotypes, sexism, heterosexism, gang violence, drugs, depression, and future career options. Last spring quarter, WYSE directors interviewed parents, teachers, counselors, and an educator from the Santa.Monica Rape.Treatment Center that works closely with Mark Twain to. learn what issues are most relevant in these girls lives, and thus added another session on teenage pregnancy by bringing in pregnant teenage mothers to speak with the mentees, and an ex- gang member to speak about gang violence and personal identity. The girls are paired up with a mentor that they stay with for the entire academic year, and they are also assigned small groups in which they can participate in and facilitate discussion that would not otherwise be realistic in a larger group setting. In these weekly meetings, the mentors and mentees discuss one of the issues in the WYSE curriculum, starting with a clear and understandable purpose and message to ensure that everyone understands the topic of the day. The group of about 10 people then moves on to a kinesthetic activity that combine physical activity with learning (such as a skit)? the most effective method of teaching for the middle school aged groups. The group then discusses the topic, and creates some sort of community action about the topic so that they can both empower themselves and spread their knowledge to others. This includes letting the girls plan their own sessions to teach the mentors about the issues that they face in their everyday lives, writing letters to battered women's shelters, and being peer educators themselves. To supplement these 23 weekly sessions at Mark Twain middle school, the mentors take the girls out to several field trips throughout the year to emphasize the topics from session, including a trip to the Planned Parenthood in Santa Monica, trips to UCLA to instill a desire for higher education, and a trip to prepare lunch in a homeless shelter. Mentors also keep a weekly journal with their mentees to facilitate further discussion about whatever topics these girls may face. Weekly phone calls serve to remind the girls to come to session, as well as to create a close mentee- mentor bond to ensure a close relationship between the two. The culmination of the WYSE year is the banquet, which the families of the mentees are invited to. Here, the girls can present what they learned throughout the year to their loved ones in a way in which the small group decided on, which ranged last year from posters describing their favorite sessions of the year, to fashion shows in which the girls designed t-shirts that illustrated their personal identities. We meet Wednesdays 2:15PM-6:30PM @ Lot 6.
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