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In 2021, the PPGNHAIK Education department continued to create high quality, inclusive sex education programming and reach youth, their families and communities while making a positive impact across the country.  
 
This past year also marks the creation of the Education team’s first five-year strategic plan. The plan builds on 40+ years of experience, was developed by a multi-disciplinary team representing all Education Department levels and was created in consultation with the communities and partner organizations Planned Parenthood serves. The plan’s strategy centers BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth, who face the greatest barriers when accessing medically accurate and culturally affirming sexual and reproductive health education. 

Sonia Blackiston, Vice President of Education and Global Programs at PPGNHAIK, explained that “our updated vision is to create a just world where all young people control their own bodies, and our revised mission is to improve sexual and reproductive outcomes by providing culturally responsive sex education.” 
 
Spark*ED Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary 
 
Spark*ED (pronounced “sparked”) is an online professional development training program for educators. A year after its start, Spark*ED has launched five instructor-led courses and seven self-paced courses, reaching 1,900 educators across the country. 98% of all participants said they would recommend the training to a colleague. 
 
The curriculum focuses on delivering high quality sex ed that is comprehensive, medically accurate, age and developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, inclusive of all genders and sexualities and culturally responsive. 
 
Some educators have given the following praise after completing Spark*ED coursework: 
 
“Since completing the Spark*ED trauma-informed facilitation techniques and practices course, I have incorporated a new technique into a trauma-informed training that I offer for sex ed facilitators around de-escalation. Many times, the focus of de-escalation is around external practices instead of internal. Through the Spark*ED course, I learned that I am the intervention, and to get centered within myself prior to connecting with an individual that is experiencing a trauma trigger. This has been so helpful in my work.” 
 
“The most enjoyable part of this training was by far the passionate and knowledgeable facilitator for the course. The information could have been presented by anybody, but the facilitator really brought the information to light and allowed me to interact curiously and without judgment. Their personalized recommendations after my virtual classroom teach-back have been absolutely invaluable to my journey in becoming the best educator and person that I can be.” 
 
Teen Council Expands, Succeeds, Wins Awards — Despite Virtual Challenges 

Teen Council is Planned Parenthood’s youth leadership peer-to-peer education program.  

There are currently 33 Teen Council programs across 19 states.

Through the Peer Education Institute, the Education Department provides support and training for other organizations to start their own Teen Council program. 
 
Despite the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peer Education Institute team continued to be responsive to partners’ needs, including providing live monthly training webinars and self-driven learning modules, offering guidance in response to COVID-19 concerns and hosting youth connection calls for Teen Council youth nationally. 
 

Partners report that being part of the Peer Education Institute has helped them to support their Teen Council better and makes them feel more connected to a national network of support and camaraderie. 
 
In Washington State, educators reached over 3,000 pupils and taught for over 300 hours. Washington Teen Councils also had their first hybrid virtual retreats (with both online and in-person portions). Many youths indicated the virtual portion was an exciting addition to a traditional retreat and mentioned that they want to continue having the chance to bond with Teen Council groups in other states. 
 
Pierce, Thurston and King County Teen Councils all recruited and selected full cohorts for the Teen Council school year – in fact, Thurston County Teen Council has one of the highest participation rates in the country. 
 
Idaho Teen Council participated in PrIdaho, a virtual LGBTQ+ fair in which Teen Council provided LGBTQ-focused sex ed for parents and teachers of LGBTQ+ youth. They have been busy cultivating their small but thriving group and have welcomed a new educator. 
 
In Indiana, educators have revamped their curriculum to work in a unique type of virtual learning environment, juvenile correctional facilities, for inclusion within the IN-PACT education program. The IN-PACT program uses evidence-based curriculum to serve youth in three facilities in central and northwest Indiana. With this expansion, Planned Parenthood educators in Indiana have reached nearly 500 participants.  

Indiana educators have also focused on serving BIPOC folks in sex ed. Two educators presented a professional training through PPFA, entitled “Black Like Me,” focused on microaggressions, and another educator co-facilitated a training about anti-Blackness at the Bridge Conference in Washington State, was trained to help with Mind Sciences training and provided feedback and facilitation on Spark*ED courses. 
 
In Kentucky, a Teen Council educator presented on a panel to students at Transylvania University, answering their questions about sexual health and providing them with sexual health resources. Kentucky educators have also been training new Teen Council facilitators, updating lessons and co-facilitating with other states and departments. We are thrilled to report that we have received funding to support both educators that serve our Kentucky communities. 

In Hawai’i, educators reached nearly 2,000 participants on O‘ahu and Maui islands through education programming and outreach. The O‘ahu Teen Council continues to participate in community actions and events while also providing much needed information to their peers.  
 
“I value the ability to share key information and meet people who are passionate about reproductive justice,” one Oahu youth peer educator said. “I have made some great friends through this program, and we can all relate to being excited about teaching sex education that is inclusive and medically accurate.” 
 
The O‘ahu, Anchorage and Juneau Teen Council members spent the last week of July with their hybrid retreat. Groups met individually in the morning either in-person or virtually, with all three TCs coming together in the afternoon for content and connection. The theme “Across Oceans” connected participants with the network of teens supporting peer sex education across the country and the similarities and differences between the states.  
 
Significantly, the State of Alaska contracted Planned Parenthood educators and Teen Council members to review curriculum and provide feedback on their modules for the Alaska Safe Children’s Act. This law mandates that schools teach sexual and dating violence prevention in K-12 schools. Facilitators coordinated focus groups to review curriculum for grades 7-12. 
 
The Juneau Teen Council made local headlines and a lasting physical change to their neighborhood when a recent youth campaign in Juneau, focused on bringing art to youth spaces, chose its Teen Council space as a recipient. The artist, Corinne James, daughter of Daxkil.atch Kolene James and Xeetli.eesh Lyle James, is a local teen attending Thunder Mountain High School. Corinne was inspired after hearing a story from a community elder, X̱ʼunei Lance Twitchell. (He has since passed away, but if folks would like to hear his telling of the story, they can watch it here on his YouTube account: Taan ḵa X̱ʼeisʼawáa -- Seal Lion and Ptarmigan [Tlingit Language].) 
 
The Anchorage Teen Council was recognized in 2021 as a runner up for the Spirit of Youth Humanitarian Award and honored at a virtual awards ceremony in May.  

Spirit of Youth, a local Anchorage community organization, aims to highlight dedicated young people and unsung heroes from around Alaska each year by recognizing the hard work and efforts of these future leaders through awards. The Humanitarian Award recognizes youth who have put forth efforts to make their community a better place or are active in local or state government and community. 
 
Global Programs Reach for Further Positive Impact Across the World 
 
In partnership with organizations and communities in low and middle-income countries, Planned Parenthood provides support to improve sexual and reproductive outcomes for young people. 
 
This past year, global programs provided funding and technical assistance and capacity-building support to five grantee partners in the Dominican Republic, Marshall Islands, Nepal and Vietnam. 
 
In July, Planned Parenthood’s partner organization in the Marshall Islands – Youth to Youth in Health (YTYIH) – received a grant from the U.S. Office of Population Affairs Teen Pregnancy Prevention program to implement sex education in schools and communities. PPGNHAIK collaborated with YTYIH on the grant application and is a sub-grantee. Over the next two years, the organization will work in tandem with YTYIH to provide sex education training and overall project management support. 
 
This past year marks the midway-place of a two-year project with Lighthouse Social Enterprises, a youth-led LGBTQ+ focused organization in Vietnam, to adapt and implement PPGNHAIK’s IN•Clued sexuality education curriculum. 
 
The global programs education team also worked with Yuwa, a youth-led organization in Nepal, to implement a human-centered design project with 20 youth leaders to increase access to safe abortion services for Nepali youth. Yuwa piloted interventions that aimed to share information about available abortion services, including a Facebook page, radio shows and in-person education sessions in the community.  

Through Clínica de Familia La Romana, a longstanding partner in the Dominican Republic, almost 3,000 young people were reached primarily through virtual sex ed programming. Clínica also provided family planning services to 4,386 young people between the ages of 10 and 24, including 1,901 first-time users of family planning methods. 

 
Virtualization, Expansion of LGBTQ+ Programming 
 
Expansion and virtualization were the predominant gains for LGBTQ+ sex ed this past year. IN•clued created a promotional video with involvement from peer educators and created a youth advisory group for Washington Youth Sexual Health.  
 
IN•Clued’s workshops for LGBTQ+ youth and health center staff have also been virtualized and implemented, and 11 facilitator trainings were provided to educators around the country in these modules. 
 
Education team members presented on IN•Clued and LGBTQ+ inclusive topics to ten national conferences and partners, including GLSEN, Deeper Well, Adolescent Health Initiative, Summer Institute, SIFUS, APHA, TPPP, TTH/ETR, WSPHA, and the National Sexual Health Conference. 

Finally, the Education team secured a grant that will help to bring LGBTQ+ sex education to all six states within the PPGNHAIK affiliate. 

 
Education Excels Despite Challenges of 2021 
 
Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, the Education Department has pivoted to provide hybrid in-person and virtual trainings, classes, Teen Council virtual sessions and retreats, and has revamped curriculum to accommodate both virtual and in-person modules across varying programs.  
 
Two of the education department’s programs, IN•Clued and LiFT: Linking Families and Teens, officially were recognized as evidence-based and highlighted by the Office of Populations Affairs as part of a list of seven new programs that make an impact. In other words, the Planned Parenthood education team created two out of the seven new evidence-based programs. 
 
Education staff in all six states and in global programs continue to innovate and succeed in connecting with youth to provide high-quality sex ed. 
 
To support the groundbreaking and crucial education work being done at PPGNHAIK across six states and beyond, please donate here. 

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