Advocacy Alert! Holyoke Residents call your School Committee Representative!

At the last meeting of the curriculum sub-committee, which addressed the need for a comprehensive science based sex education curriculum in Holyoke High School, school committee members expressed concern that comprehensive sex education was not something that voters wanted.  This is your chance to tell them different!

The next curriculum sub-committee meeting is this coming Monday, 5 April 2010 at Dean Technical High School (1045 Main Street, Holyoke, MA 01040).  The sub-committee meeting begins at 6pm.  We need your support to get the school committee to approve adoption of a comprehensive science based sexual health curriculum.

What you can do: 

• Today:  Call your school committee member! 

1. School committee members are elected by ward.  First determine which ward you live in.  Go to the Elections Division Website for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
2. On this website, you will enter your street number, street name, city and zip code. 
3. Click on "Find my election information"
4. On the next screen, in the gray box under the red words "Where do I vote," your ward number will be listed. 
5. Now that you know your ward number, you can find your school committee member's name and phone number by visiting the Holyoke Public Schools Website  
6. School committee members that are undecided on the issue of comprehensive science based sex education include: Yvonne Garcia (ward 2), * and William Collamore (ward 6).  They NEED to hear your voice!  If you live in Ward 2, 5, or 6 we especially encourage you to call your school committee representative to express your views!
7. Please, ALL HOLYOKE RESIDENTS, call your school committee representative and tell them that they should vote to support comprehensive science based sex education in the Holyoke schools.
• Sample script:  Hello, I am a Holyoke Resident of Ward X.  I am calling to express my support for a comprehensive science based sex education curriculum in the Holyoke Schools.   Holyoke has the highest teen birth rate in Massachusetts and very high rates of sexually transmitted infections: something needs to be done to educate our children so that we can combat these issues.  The science based curriculum will give our children the tools they need to protect themselves, to live a healthy life, and to make smart decisions regarding sex.

• Monday, April 5th 2010: Come to the school committee meeting!

1. The curriculum sub-committee meeting starts at 6pm.  Come at 6pm! If the sub-committee votes to approve sex education, they will pass it on to the full school committee meeting, which begins at 7pm. 
2. Let the committee members know that you, as a voter, support comprehensive science based sex education  Speak out: for the health of Holyoke, for the economic prosperity of Holyoke, and for a brighter future for Holyoke's children! 
3. All are welcome - parents, teens, young adults: the voices of ALL Holyoke residents count!
    

We need YOUR help to ensure passage of the sex education curriculum.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We are happy to help you find your school committee representative, or to talk to you more about this issue.  

Thank you!  

*CORRECTION (April 9, 2010) We mistakenly included school committee member Davin Sheehan's name as undecided on the issue of implementing comprehensive science based sex ed.  Mr. Sheehan had decided to support CSE before the school committee meeting, indeed helped to educate other school committee members about the issue,  and was one of the members who helped to pass this effort.  Our apologies to Mr. Sheehan and to any reader's for this misinformation. 

Holyoke Youth Rising!

~Nothing About Us, Without Us~  

Today the YEAH Network Adolescent Advisory Board (AAB) and Ambassadors from Girls Inc. met with Mayor Elaine Pluta in the City Council Chambers.  They discussed their concerns about teen sexual health, presented the most recent data and shared what they felt contributed most to the high rates of teen birth and sexually transmitted diseases in the community. 

Key Issues identified by the teens:

• The poor self image of some young girls in Holyoke due to the perception that Holyoke girls "just get pregnant."
• Incomplete or poorly taught sex education in the public schools
• The need for sex education at the middle school level in order to prevent unhealthy sexual  health behaviors
  

The teens made recommendations that included: 

• Better sex education 
• Involving teens in the process of implementing changes 
•  A “big one:" getting parents to talk to teens about sexual health issues 
• Increased access to work opportunities for teens in order to keep teens engaged in positive work 
• Working on these issues at a faster pace, especially since the high rates of teen birth and sexually transmitted infection has been a chronic problem in the community.

The teens specifically asked Mayor Pluta how they can help implement the recommendations of the Redevelopment Committee of the City Council that focus on reducing the high rates of teen birth and sexually transmitted infections in Holyoke.

It was amazing to see the leadership and confidence of these young women and men!  The meeting ended with a discussion about specific steps that the teens can take in the next few weeks to be part of Holyoke’s plan to improve the sexual health of teens. 

 

Next steps:
 
1. The YEAH Network Adolescent Advisory Board, under the direction of Teresa Vazquez, will be hosting a table at the Holyoke Health Center on Friday afternoon to collect signatures from Holyoke residents supporting comprehensive science based sexual health education.

2.  Members of the Adolescent Advisory Board will attend the School Committee meeting on Monday, March 15^th to support  the approval of the sex ed curriculum.

Girls Inc. Ambassadors with Mayor Pluta

 AAB members with Mayor Pluta

 

Strong work, teens!

Advocacy Update!

Since the last meeting of the Holyoke Latino Leadershop Roundtable, Mayor Elaine Pluta held a meeting taking a first step towards forming a citywide taskforce to address the high rates of sexually transmitted infections and pregnancies among youth in Holyoke.   At the meeting YEAH Network staff and partner organizations emphasized the recommendations that came from the Holyoke Roundtable on March 22.  We also advocated for: 

• The task force to include parent and teen representation 
• The task force to encourage the Holyoke Public School Curriculum Subcommittee to move forward with approval of the chosen science based sex education curriculum (After the meeting, the YEAH Network was informed that the curriculum will be presented to the committee on Monday, March 15^th.) 
• The task force to move forward with implementation of the recommendations from the Redevelopment Committee of Holyoke City Council regarding the high teen birth rates in the city.