Can HIV be spread through sharing toothbrushes? Mosquito bites? Toilet seats? Participants in the STATS program visit local middle school and high school health classes to answer these questions for young inquiring minds. In teaching classes, groups of 2-3 students can either work off a standard presentation template or be free to design complete lesson plans (with the exception of a few required components). Visits to schools occur at the end of each semester, and STATS members can expect to teach roughly 3-4 classes throughout the year. In addition to being a lot of fun, the STATS program is very rewarding, and we always look forward to having new members!
Past events this year
Training session in December
The event was billed as a mock STATS session -- a chance to see what a run-through of the STATS presentation might look like in a high school classroom. The chairs went through the powerpoint, some activities (stand by the HIV/AIDS fact that most speaks to you; brainstorming lists of infectious/non-infectious bodily fluids) and trid to answer questions from the audience as if they were in front of a class at one of the local high schools. However, as the session went on, folks had lots of ideas, feedback and constructive criticism about the powerpoint/presentation ... and as a as a make-pretend class of high schoolers, med students are lot tougher than the real thing :) Thus, the training session morphed into more of a how-can-we-make- the-powerpoint-better brainstorming effort.
School visits
STATS extended its impact on the community by having its first visit to a special needs high school, in addition to the schools STATS has become regular visitors to.