NPD Event One: Let's Go!

Welcome to the National Professional Development event blog  "Refining Our Aim in Miami." We will post announcements, additional speaker highlights and cover stories at this NPD event as they unfold. You may even be contributing! Keep in touch. We are looking forward to a successful event and will see you soon.

Alex Vila: It's All About the Kids

“Most of you came to this job because you care about kids,” said Alex Vila, the morning’s keynote speaker. “When you refine your vision go back to that one kid and make it very visually centered, drive the planning for your vision around that one kid.” Alex gave an uplifting talk using real-life examples of both program success stories and also how she grew into her role as a youth mentor. She shared the story of Mario, a youth in the prison system. “I talked to him for 45 minutes about changing,” said the Colombian-born and raised Vila. At the end of the conversation he said to her, “Do not ask me to change, unless you can show me who to become.” The result of this epiphany led her to offer programs based around youth, their vision, and their goals. “It’s not about you but about the youth.”

Later, she used the exercise “How to fold a towel?” as a metaphor for program implementation. She brought up three people to demonstrate the right way to fold a towel. Of course, there is no right way. She then asked the volunteers to fold the towel into the bag, which fit just right. Later, she asked them to fold the same towel into a very small box. Of course only 15-20 percent of the towel fit. Her main point is to remain flexible with the program’s grant and implementation and to focus on the parts that impact youth. “Get out of your cubicle—check the temperature in your schools, walk your district,” said Alex, “get out and listen to young people.”

Orange County, FL: Community Classroom Presenters in Priority Schools

By using HIV/AIDS rates, zip codes and school zone maps, priority middle and high schools were identified. Community presenters for the topics of HIV, STD and pregnancy prevention were trained to implement grade-level lessons and PowerPoint presentations to at-risk students. Teachers at the priority schools are given the first opportunity to schedule these approved presenters who assist with implementing the curriculum.

Educational Theatre: Generation X to the Third Power

The “PAVAC Players” touring company of Northwestern Senior High School gave the NPD partners a powerful musical performance called “Generation X to the Third Power.” The educational theatre troupe from the Miami Dade Public Schools features 10 young women in white linen shirts and jumpers, and four young men in vests and ties singing and dancing to topics addressing incest, HIV/AIDS, prostitution and drugs.

The student’s journey to membership in the troupe is a personal one, as each member draws from personal, sensitive issues. One poignant, heart wrenching moment in the presentation showed a young girl telling the audience about her incestuous relationship with her father. “I used to be his princess, then one night he took away my virginity and then night after night made me his whore.”

The performance ended on an uplifting, high note as troupe members sang “We are the world,” raising the vibration in the room. The audience gave them a standing ovation.

LGBTQ Insight: Keeping Our Youth Safe

“The good news is that youth are using more condoms,” said Kevin Gogin “and are going to the doctors at a higher rate,” said Ilsa Bertolini. The hard news for LGBTQ youth is the sobering statistics: higher incidence of alcohol and marijuana use; elevated mental health indicators for depression and suicide; and an increase of threats at school. Together these two San Francisco Unified School District educators presented: “That’s So Gay! Combating Homophobia to Reduce LGBTQ Health Disparities.” As the morning’s hot topic, they offered insight on knowledge and skills to increase safety in schools.

The presentation began with an interactive exercise: Know your gay celebrities! Luminaries include: Ellen de Generes, Lily Tomlin, Mary Cheney, Cheryl Swoops, Clay Aiken, Jody Foster, Maurice Sendak, and Barney Frank. Ilsa and Kevin showed the groundbreaking LGBTQ website dedicated to “creating a safe place for all students.” Kevin told the story of the public reaction to the site’s presence, some negative and positive—and ways they mitigated the issues. Later in the presentation, they asked diverse vignette style questions of the audience including, “How would you manage this situation: a female who considers herself a male wants to use the bathroom, which one would they use?” Answers from the audience showed levels of LGBTQ awareness throughout the country by our NPD partners.

Wyoming: Social Marketing Campaign

Wyoming now has http://www.getthei.com/, a social marketing campaign designed to provide reliable information on STD, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and unintended pregnancies. The program is a collaboration of the Wyoming Department of Health, Wyoming Department of Education, and Wyoming Health Council.

Additional resources have been allocated in 2010-2011 to expand efforts from beyond the website to calls to action using Facebook, a local billboard campaign, and television. The call to action is to “Get Tested – Know Your Status.”

Dietary Patterns and Latino Youth

“I’m never going to be Hispanic. I can say Buenos Dias. We need to beef up the community that represents the Latino population,” said Dr. Carol Goodenow, Director of Coordinated School Health, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, opening up the second day as the morning’s keynote presenter: ”Identifying and Addressing Physical Activity and Nutrition Disparities—Dietary Patterns and Latino Youth.” Her goal: identify adolescent populations most at risk of poor nutrition and obesity; and use multiple strategies to help schools address those issues.

Dr. Goodenow said the achievement gap between Hispanic students and white/Anglo students is larger in Massachusetts than in the country as a whole. Massachusetts teachers took an online course called “Food, Culture and Community” where they learned about cultural differences in foods. “We asked the teachers to become ethnographers and ask students: ‘what food did your grandmother serve at Christmas? What are your celebration foods?’” She said one solution for nutritious and healthy items is to offer “homestyle” cultural foods like beans and rice. “They’re not expensive and without the lard, they’re good for you. Nutrition is so much more than the American diet. Don’t ask kids to check their culture at the door. The kids should say what they want. Ask them. Encourage students to get involved in the action.”