Education

Demand for PPLM’s acclaimed education programs reached record levels in FY21.

Milestones in Worcester

PPLM’s Sexual Health Ambassadorship Program (SHAP), a dynamic collective of Latino/a/x and Hispanic leaders and community members, had ambassadors on the ground in Worcester working to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for Latino/a/x and Hispanic youth. As the culmination of their seven-month training, SHAP participants produced an educational video examining the damaging effects of stigma on sexual health outcomes and built an anti-stigma tool kit for distribution in the community.

Parents in the Know

PPLM’s parent education team of bilingual community health educators updated the Let’s Be Honest and Seamos Honestos curricula to be more inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive to PPLM’s growing audiences of Latino/a/x and Hispanic parents and other caring adults. The parent education team met increased requests in Worcester and Springfield for parent education workshops and resources. Highlights include a Staycation Sex Ed program during spring break, as well as development and delivery of a new workshop on using and translating inclusive language to Spanish, which was presented twice to national audiences.

Teen to Teen

The Get Real Teen Council (GRTC) ran a full year of virtual programming in Central Massachusetts and Metro Boston. Twenty-four high school peer educators reached large audiences with their workshops and 1-to-1 conversations. The GRTC members received focused education that addressed their and their peers’ mental health and wellbeing in a virtual world, including sustainable coping mechanisms and youth-friendly resources. Because of the popularity of the GRTC program and to reach new youth across the Commonwealth, planning commenced for the launch of a Greater Springfield GRTC in 2022.  

Get Real Goes Digital

Now in its 2nd edition, PPLM’s Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works curriculum expanded its reach through the release of a digital version that makes the middle- and high-school curricula and associated materials available online as well as in hard copy. Get Real educators can now access lesson plans, teacher guides, student workbooks, and classroom activities for use in a virtual classroom setting, in English and in Spanish.

“Young people continue to demonstrate their resiliency in the face of the pandemic, curiosity, and ability to reimagine what sexual health education, as well as social justice looks like, as they strive to provide their communities with medically accurate appropriate information.”

Marlees West, Manager of Youth Education