What We Have Been Up To Lately

Youth Leadership Board Meeting: 

On November 12, the Growing Our Youth Program hosted its third Youth Leadership Board meeting. During the meeting, students helped stuff calendars that will be given to staff, clients, and contributors of The Gift of Life Foundation during the holiday season. Also, Jessica discussed upcoming events and the students looked over the t-shirt design they created for the 2012 Youth Leadership Board t-shirt.

Youth Leadership Service Project at M.A.N.E.:

Today students from the Youth Leadership Board went to volunteer at the Montgomery Area Nontraditional Equestrians center. Students watched a short video representing M.A.N.E.'s mission and then went right to work. Students helped paint the office of the M.A.N.E center, which was a lot of fun. The Youth Leadership Board members worked so hard and really made an effort to paint as much as they could. After painting, students were allowed to go into the stables and see all of the horses. They really enjoyed getting to pet the horses and see what M.A.N.E. is all about. Overall, it was a great morning at M.A.N.E.  The service project was a lot of fun and was definitely worth all the hard work. 

                                     

Youth Leadership Board Training

This weekend the Growing Our Own Youth program held its first Leadership Board Training. The training was held on October 20 at the American Red Cross and it was definitely a success. The goal was to educate board members on the dangers of risky behaviors and how to avoid those behaviors through maintaining healthy relationships. 

The morning started off with speakers, Kachina Kudroff and Ivy Singletary, who are SHAPE Peer Educators. They discussed sexual decision making, which included talking about STIs, communication in relationships, and they discussed pregnancy. They gave a SHAPE quiz to the students to see how much they actually knew about sex before giving their presentation and it was really interesting to see how confused some students were regarding certain myths about sexual behaviors. One of the questions stated: All STIs have symptoms. The answer was false, however many of the students thought that if someone got an STI they would definitely see symptoms from it. They quickly learned that isn’t always the case and most people never show signs of actually having an STI. The group learned so much from the SHAPE Peer Educators and they did a great job speaking about these tough issues. 

After a short break, the Youth Leadership Board welcomed Christina Clark, from the Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, to come speak. She presented a game where students had to create movie posters about the different STIs and present these posters to the group. Each poster included an STI and its symptoms, treatment, and how it was transmitted. The students really enjoyed this game! It was a great way to learn the different STIs. 

After lunch, the Youth Leadership Board had the pleasure of hearing Nic Carlisle from Aids Alabama speak. He discussed advocacy and how students need to pick something they are passionate about and advocate for it. His presentation was really great and led to interesting discussions among the students. I was so impressed with how passionate some students were about standing up for things they believe in and promoting these things in their schools. 

Overall, the Leadership Board Training went really well and each student that attended really took something away from the experience. The Growing Our Own Youth program is grateful to those students who participated in the conference. 

~ Frances 

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

“I light a candle in celebration for all I know you would have been. I look into the light, feel the brightness of your spirit and the spark touches my heart….” This quote represents the atmosphere of the Candlelight Memorial Service held in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  The River Region Community Action Team held the event at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts on Monday, October 15, 2012. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is observed in the United States and around the globe on October 15th with an International Wave of Light. Candles were lit at 7 p.m. to honor this tradition.

Jessica and I had the privilege of attending this event and it was so neat to see people come together in remembrance of those who have experienced pregnancy loss and infant death, which includes but is not limited to miscarriages, stillbirths, SIDS, SUDI, or the death of a newborn.  The event began at 6 p.m. and everyone who attended was able to reflect on whom they were there to support or remember. Also, a chaplain from a local hospital gave a brief speech on loss and remembrance. Everyone who attended was able to say whom they came to remember or support and it was interesting to hear the different time spans in which people had experienced a loss. Some families were at the memorial service in remembrance of a recent loss and others were there in remembrance of a loss that happened many years ago. One family was at the memorial service representing a loss from the 60’s. It was awesome to see that even though many years had past they still made an effort to come support their loved one that had passed.  

Over all, the experience was truly touching and I am glad to see people who have had the unfortunate experience of pregnancy and infant loss unite together and form a community who can support and lean on each other through the trials they have experienced.

 

~Frances

River Region Health, Wellness, & Resource Fair for Youth

This past Saturday I had the privilege of working at the River Region Health, Wellness, & Resource Fair for Youth. The event was designed to educate parents and youth about issues revolving around health, safety, and well-being. I worked with Christina Clark from the Alabama Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and we had a blast! The event was held downtown at Union Station Train Shed, which was an awesome venue. The weather was amazing and it made working outside really pleasurable! There was a really great turn out as well.

 

 

The hosts of the event, Empowering Generations of Wellness, K.E.E.P. Productions Mentoring & Modeling Program, and the City of Montgomery Faith-In-Youth Alliance, did a fantastic job of bringing in fun events to draw people to the health fair. There was music, free food, a fashion show, drumline performances, and informational booths. Christina and I were able to get a table right in the middle of all the excitement and we had a great crowd come visit our booth!

 

 

We made a lot of connections with people who want our team to come speak to their community groups or churches and we had several people sign up to volunteer with our organizations. Christina and I had so many parents come visit our booth and express that they had teens, which lead us to give them brochures that could help guide them when they decide to talk to their teens about risky situations. We also had high school and middle school students come by and pick up brochures on how to say ‘no’ and how to maintain healthy relationships with the opposite sex. We drew in a crowd with candy and stress balls saying, “Real Love Waits.” Overall, Christina and I had a very successful and fun day at the River Region Health, Wellness, & Resource Fair for Youth. I am excited to hear from the people we talked with this weekend about coming to speak to their different organizations in the River Region!

 

~Frances

Meet Frances

We have been so fortunate this semester to have a student intern from Auburn University working with Growing Our Own Youth. Frances has already gotten off to a great start and is learning all about Growing Our Own Youth and the REAL Program. In order for you to get to know Frances better we have a note from her to introduce herself:

“Hi, my name is Frances Rutledge. I am interning with The Gift of Life through Auburn University. I am a Senior at Auburn majoring in Human Development and Family Studies and will graduate in December 2012. I grew up in Montgomery, AL and went to Montgomery Academy from Kindergarten thru 12th grade. After I graduate from Auburn, my goal is to go to nursing school and eventually become a nurse practitioner. For fun, I love to go shopping and I love spending time with my family and friends. I have thoroughly enjoyed my internship this semester and am learning so much and have met so many wonderful people. I can’t wait to see what is in store for the rest of the semester!”