T R U S T E D C O N V E R S AT I O N S N E W S L E T T E R
Winter 2015 – volume 6
The Trust The Trust represents families working together to ensure access to reproductive health care and education through their support of Planned Parenthood. Parents are their children’s first teachers. When it comes to philanthropy, research shows that most children don’t know if their parents give, to whom, or why. By uniting community service and philanthropy, The Trust offers parents the opportunity to engage their children in an act that benefits their community and their personal development.
To give: visit bit.ly/thetruststl or send a check to: Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri Attn: Office of Development 4251 Forest Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 63108 Make checks payable to “Planned Parenthood” and please write “Trust Membership” in the memo line.
Youth Organizing and Policy Institute August 22-24, 2014 Four students that participated in Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region’s Teen Advocates for Sexual Health (TASH) program were invited to the first Youth Organizing and Policy Institute (YOPI) designed by Planned Parenthood Action Fund for high school students. The students, and our Teen Project Coordinator, Judy Lipsitz, traveled to Michigan for a three day training. In addition to learning strategies and tactics related to grassroots organizing, the students had the opportunity to Judy Lipsitz and TASH Kids at the YOPI for Planned Parenthood practice storytelling, identifying root causes of issues, and registering voters. The conference focused on (1) building power (2) using power (3) moving to action Students returned ready to teach the skills they learned to other members of TASH. “To say the conference was an empowering, educational and inspirational opportunity is an understatement and TASH feels privileged to have been selected.” – Judy Lipsitz, Teen Project Coordinator.
Birds, Bees and Books– Thank you! In the previous Trust newsletter, our Education Department asked for your help in updating the materials of Sunnen Family Library. We received an outpouring of support through the Amazon donation campaign and would like to thank you for helping to keep our library current and available to the public as a resource. We had about 40 items donated, including books and DVDs for youth, adults, and parents. “Thank you for your generous donations to the Education and Diversity Library. Your donation ensures that our youth, parent, and educator patrons have access to the latest information and resources for comprehensive sexuality education,” – Cicely Paine, Education and Diversity Program Coordinator There are still plenty of items left to purchase on the list. If you wish to view the Education and Diversity wish list and contribute, visit bit.ly/PPwishlist
T R U S T E D C O N V E R S A T I O N S N E W S L E T T E R
Winter 2015
2014-2015: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY Education and Diversity has planned a great year of vital sexuality education programming and services for St. Louis area youth and families. We received three iPads, which will allow us to incorporate the use of apps in our lesson plans. Apps will be used to enhance curriculum and make the learning environment more interactive. These Apps will allow for innovation for students and facilitators within the classroom to create audio and visual stories and use sexuality education tools that can be accessed inside and outside the classroom. See an example of the SexPositive app here: bit.ly/sexposapp which can be used with teens and adults to enhance safer sex education lessons.
Teen Advocates for Sexual Health Political Retreat The TASH retreat achieved multiple objectives, namely educating our TASH students about civic engagement and energizing them to participate in the policymaking process. In addition to important relationship building activities, the day included a Q & A with current legislators which served as an opportunity to learn about public service, an educational presentation about reproductive rights activism since the Roe v. Wade decision, and a lobby day training to prepare our students to advocate for comprehensive sex education during the TASH lobby day in January.
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T R U S T E D C O N V E R S A T I O N S N E W S L E T T E R
Winter 2015
Featured Educator We’re excited to feature Elyse Vesser, Sexuality Educator for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. Elyse has been with us since June 2014 and works with all age groups, but focuses primarily on high school sex education. Where did you grow up and how many siblings do you have? I grew up in St. Louis with an older brother, Ben. Where did you go to school and what did you study? I went to Mizzou, where I majored in Communications, and minored in Women’s and Gender Studies. How did you become interested in a career in sexuality education? In college I worked at the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center on campus, working with and educating people around campus about issues such as rape culture, sexual violence, and consent. I loved being an educator, but hated that so many of my peers hadn’t been taught about consent or healthy relationships from a young age. I started to learn more about comprehensive sex education, and started to understand the role that it plays in informing our relationships throughout adolescence and into adulthood. What’s your favorite thing about working with young people? That’s a tough one! I think it is the way that they can make you laugh and smile, though. The humor especially comes out when you are in classroom situations that kids perceive as “awkward” such as talking about puberty, periods, sex, and relationships. Who did you want to be like when you were a little kid? Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Celine Dion…I was really fascinated by strong females, especially performers! If you could tell a younger version of yourself one thing, what would it be? I would tell myself not to care too much about what other people think.
UPCOMING EVENTS Internship Opportunities: If you know someone who would be interested in a public policy internship, please have them contact Jillian at Jillian.Adams@ppslr.org Volunteer Dates for Open Enrollment events Did you know that Planned Parenthood is helping people get enrolled for health insurance? We have Certified Application Counselors working in the Health Centers 6 days a week helping our patients who do not currently have health insurance get insured under the Affordable Care Act. If you know of someone who is currently uninsured, contact our offices to schedule an appointment, or volunteer at one of the following Open Enrollment events to help spread the word. Assistance is especially needed toward the end of the month as we will be in the final stages of open enrollment.
Elyse Vesser, Planned Parenthood Sex Educator
Favorite color? mustard yellow Favorite food? Guacamole! Or any Mexican food, really. Favorite place to go on vacation? Anywhere where there are mountains—east Tennessee, where my dad grew up, is really beautiful. Favorite Smell? Anything Fall; apples, cinnamon, pumpkin. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? I really hate cars, planes, and buses, but I love to travel. So it would be perfect to be able to teleport places!
Thursday, January 8th 5:00-7:00 PM West County Health Center
Monday, January 12th 5:00-7:00 PM Central West End
Monday, January 19th Enrollment Phonebank 5:30-7:30 PM Administrative Offices
Saturday, January 10th 1:00-3:00 PM North County Health Center
Tuesday, January 13th 5:00-7:00 PM Saint Peters Health Center
Wednesday, January 28th Enrollment Phonebank 5:30-7:30 PM Administrative Offices
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T R U S T E D C O N V E R S A T I O N S N E W S L E T T E R
Winter 2015
SHOUT OUTS “Thank you for helping me to learn new things, because I needed to learn the things you and Mr. Finn taught us. Everything you taught us is what I needed. There were some things on my body I did not know and you guys taught it to the people who came. So I just wanted to thank you so much.” – Taylor, 1st grade “The facilitator was great! Very informative and high energy!” – Planned Parenthood MSW practicum student “Sergio was a very great sex-ed teacher. He made the lessons fun just by the way he talked and I like that about him.” – Anonymous, 8th grade “I like that our facilitator takes time out to explain body parts, protection, birth control, etc. He also brought things to my knowledge that I really didn’t know about.” – Anonymous, 8th grade “[What] I like best about Cicely is how she explained everything, and she knew all the answers to something when we asked her.” – Anonymous, 8th grade
Our Education and Community Partners Adams Elementary - Avant Elementary School - Beaumont High School - Big Picture Kochmeyer - Big Picture Northwest High - Big Picture Northwest Middle Big Picture Turner Middle - Bishop Middle School - Blumeyer Village Tenant Association - Boonce Academy - Bridges for Success: Bridgeway Behavioral Health Call for Help Transitional Living Center - Central Middle School - Central Visual & Performing Arts - Children’s Advocacy Services - Children’s Home and Youth Services - Children’s Hope - Children's Advocacy Services - CHIPS - Clinton Peabody Housing - Clyde C. Miller Career Academy High School - College Bound - Compton Drew Middle School - Confluence Academy - Confluence Old North - Covenant House Crossroads Preparatory - Delta Sigma Theta - Delta Sigma Theta Sorority - Des Peres Middle School - Diversity Awareness - Diversity Awareness Partnership - Doorways - Edgewood Children’s Center - Emerson Academy - Epworth - Family Court of St. Louis County Every Child’s Hope - Fanning Middle School - Father’s Resource Center - Frances Howell High School - Gateway High School - Girls Inc. Growing American Youth - Hancock High School - Harris Stowe - Haven of Grace - Help at Home - Herbert Hoover - Highland Middle School; Highland, IL - Hopewell Center - Independence Center Innovative Concepts Academy - International Institute - IMPACT - Jefferson Regional Health Foundation - Jennings High School - Job Corps - John Burroughs High School Kids Hope - KIPP - Hudelson Central Baptist Family Services Lakeside Center - Langston Middle School - LaSalle Baptist Church - LBGT Center of Metro St. Louis - Lebanon High School - Lift for Life Academy - Lindenwood University - Lutheran School of Nursing - Lydia’s House - L’Ouverture Middle School - Madison Junior High - Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition - McKinley Classical Academy - Mers Goodwill - Murphy Blair Apartments - Nance Elementary - New City School New DayDay Academy - Northside Community Center - Parenting for Success - Parkway Central High School - Peabody Elementary - Peabody Middle School Peter & Paul Community Services - Pilgrim - Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity - Preferred Family Health Care - Project ARK Diva Program - Ritenour High School Safe Connections - S.A.F.E. Alternatives - Sexual Assault Center YWCA - Sexual Health Education Network - Shearwater School - Sisterto-Sister - Sister Keeper Empowerment Center - Soldan High School - Southern Illinois East St. Louis Charter Collinsville High School - Southern Missionary M.B Church - St. Clair High School - St. Louis Empowerment Center - St. Louis Gateway Classic Foundation - St. Louis Homeschool Network - St. Louis Language Immersion Schools - St. Louis University Medical School - St. Louis University School of Nursing - Stevens Alternative School - St. Louis Community College - St. Louis Community College, Wildwood - Stonewall Democrats - Sumner High School - Teen Partnership for Pregnancy Prevention (TPPP) - The Brown School - The SPOT - Urban Strategies - Vashon High School - Vatterott - Wallbridge Elementary - Westview Middle School - Winsor Middle School - Yeatman Middle School - Youth In Need - Youth & Family Center Zeta Phi Beta Sorority - XPlore Your Options - 6th Ward St. Louis - 17th Ward St. Louis
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