269410 WISE Up: Working to Sustain and Institutionalize Sex Ed in Schools

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM

April Pace, JD , Cardea Services, Seattle, WA
As more and more organizations find it challenging to support schools through direct services; such as classroom presentations, afterschool programs and teacher trainings, it is crucial that we work with schools to develop systems to institutionalize a sustainable sex education program. The Working to Institutionalize Sex Education (WISE) Initiative is focused on building the capacity of schools and their community partners to provide quality, evidence based sex education, which can only be achieved by understanding the politics and organizational structures that schools and school districts work within. The WISE initiative is a national level program in eight different states sharing lessons, challenges and best practices with the goal of increasing student access to comprehensive sexuality education. This workshop will share the lessons learned and provide solid strategies to understanding and working within the education system.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control

Learning Objectives:
1)Describe school and school district challenges to implementing comprehensive sexuality education. 2)Identify best practices and effective strategies in the implementation of sex education. 3)Describe the importance of building school/district capacity, even when providing direct services, to ensure the sustainability and eventual institutionalization of sex education programs.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: April Pace is the Vice President for Cardea which provides training, capacity building, research and evaluation services to health and human service organizations. Ms. Pace has more than 20 years of management and advocacy experience in reproductive health and teen pregnancy prevention. She has worked nearly 20 years in organizational development with local agencies, including schools, health departments, youth-serving CBOs, and health clinics to build their capacity for implementing a wide range of programs.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.