Teen Pregnancy Prevention Charter School Case Study
Organization: University of Utah-Adolescent Services, Salt Lake City, UT
URL: http://healthcare.utah.edu/pediatrics/services/general/teen-health.php
Program Name: South Main Clinic – PREP class at Mental Health Center-Kairos Academy in Teen Health and Wellness course
Funding: PREP
Curricula used: Love Notes
Curricula benefits:
- Love Notes works well as a supplement to the required PREP materials.
- Activities allow for easy adaptations to engage youth.
- Student journals provide opportunities for goal setting writing.
- PPT graphics and pictures are easily modified to tailor for the audience.
- Love Notes is flexible when students become highly engaged in a specific topic.
Target Audience: The target audience 14-19 year old females.
Audience Demographics:
Gender: Pregnant and parenting teen girls
Primary Ethnicity: Mix of ethnicity with more Hispanic (because of area) than Caucasian.
Class size: Ten to twelve students
Location of Instruction: Love Notes is offered the Charter High School, Kairos Academy, in the Teen Health and Wellness course.
Length of Instruction: Love Notes is offered in one-hour sessions, twice a week for eight weeks.
Instructors: South Main Clinic has one facilitator teaching at this time. She occasionally gets nursing students or volunteers to co- facilitate. They are given upcoming lesson to read and prepare.
At the charter school “the self tree activity” becomes a 3-D group project. Each student makes his/her own tree and then adds to a collaborative class tree. This is very powerful… they self-identify and identify with each other.
Love Notes is mandatory for teen moms to get high school credit for the Teen Health and Wellness Course.
Outcomes: Outcomes over the 3 years of using Love Notes were gathered from pre/post tests. These tests demonstrate an improvement in:
- communication and conflict resolution skills
- the ability to identify healthy and safe relationships
- implementing effective goal setting skills for education and relationships
- the ability to participate in sharing what they’ve learned
Challenges: Classroom management and keeping class participation is a challenge. By implementing incentives in the sessions, there is better participation.
Tips: Getting to know your community! The administration and staff of a facility is needed for success in program and support. They are an asset to you, the youth and the program. Make sure you have co-facilitator for better class management. Suggestions for co-facilitators include involving local colleges, community centers and interns.
Incentives are an effective method for participation in sessions and to encourage worksheets and journal exercises to be completed. Youth can earn monopoly money. This can be cashed in every couple of weeks for items like: candy, ramen noodles, makeup, and sticky notes. The incentives were paid for via the grant.