Bellini, Alexandra

PBH 600

Assignment # 6 - Part 2
School Health Advocacy Plan School: Great Neck North High School

School Health Advocacy Goal:

By the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, adopt and implement a research proven sexuality education
curriculum for the high school level. This curriculum will be consistent with scientific research and best
practices. The teachers will receive training to help implement this new curriculum which will educate
students on how to be healthy, safe, and successful, while accomplishing the National and NYS standards.

School Health Advocacy Objectives:

1. Increase knowledge about the current sex education curriculum and how it’s not up to date and
aligned with best practices that are shown to work and be successful.

2. The new sex education curriculum that is developed through a CSH model will raise awareness in our
school. This new sex education curriculum will connect students to health services, engage parents
and community partners, and foster positive relationships between adolescents and important adults.
A well-designed, well-implemented school based program including HIV and other STD prevention
can decrease risky sexual behaviors among school-age adolescents. Benefits of this new sex education
curriculum can help delay the onset of a first sexual intercourse encounter, reduce the number of sex
partners as well as decrease the number of times adolescents have unprotected sex while increasing
the use of condoms.

3. Collaborate with the rest of the school healthy advocacy committee and Student Organization (SO) to
secure administrative and board of education support and funding for the new sex education
curriculum at North High School. Focus will be placed on gaining support for health education
teachers to receive professional development and workshops in sex education yearly so they can be up
to date with the constantly changing information. It’s important for our teachers to be highly qualified
and informed within the new sex education curriculum.

Target Audience(s) (who your messages will be Outcome Audience(s) (who will benefit or be
targeted toward) impacted)

The main target audience is Board Of Education High school students at Great Neck North High School
Members, the Superintendent and the Assistant specifically students in 9th and 11th grade health
Superintendent for Secondary Instruction. Once education classes will be the audience that is impacted.
these members get on board with the curriculum
The two current health education teachers are also the
the target audience is then the building principal, outcome audience given they will be the ones

parents, students and the rest of the school teaching the new curriculum and attending yearly
community professional developments training

Key Advocacy Messages

1. North High School is not providing students the most up to date and accurate sex education curriculum.
It’s important we implement a sex education curriculum to our students because the best practice
suggests “Research shows that quality sex education programs can help young people delay the onset of
sexual activity, reduce the frequency of sexual activity, reduce their number of sexual partners, and
increase condom and contraceptive use.” Skills-based sexuality education works and can impact our
students.

2. Our school district needs to incorporate an updated sex education curriculum into the High School
curriculum. In this curriculum, students will learn and develop key functional knowledge and health
skills such as self, relationship and stress management, communication, planning and goal setting, and
decision making. Along with these important skills, our students will learn about a broad range of topics
such as consent and healthy relationships; puberty and adolescent development; sexual and reproductive
anatomy and physiology; gender identity and expression; sexual identity and orientation; interpersonal
and sexual violence; contraception, pregnancy, and reproduction; and HIV and other STDs/STIs.
Including sex education curriculum helps adolescents communicate about and make informed decisions
regarding sex. Providing these topics concerning sexuality will provide students skills and knowledge
necessary to avoid negative health consequences, understand and value their own bodies as well as
provide a range of other benefits leading them to live long and healthy lifestyles. By teaching our
students about these topics, and providing them with strategies, risks and benefits associated with each
topic, will allow them to change current behaviors.

3. Skill-based sex education is an important concept that needs to occur in the new curriculum. By
providing young people with opportunities to explore their own identities and values along with the
values and beliefs of their families and communities. It also allows young people to practice the
communication, negotiation, decision making, and assertiveness skills they need to create healthy
relationships, both sexual and nonsexual, throughout their lives. These are lifelong benefits that they
need to learn. During this skill-based sex education curriculum, the students will be able to take what
they learn in the classroom and apply it to their everyday life.

4. Healthier students are better learners. Studies have shown that healthy children get better grades and
attend school more often and behave better in class.

5. When students are taught about sex in a wholistic and inclusive way, they can make smarter decisions
that lead to safer and healthier living.

Advocacy Action Steps: (what will you and the SHAC do to advocate – step by step)

1. The School Health Advisory Council will collect various data on this new skills-based sex education
curriculum while looking at the needs of their students. They will look to make sure this new
 curriculum is aligned with NYS and National Standards, and look into the cost of professional
development for teachers to make sure the teachers can teach the new curriculum.

2. The School Health Advisory Council will create a brochure explaining the importance of a sex
education curriculum. The main goal of this brochure is to advocate for this new effective skills-based
sex education curriculum for the high school and teacher training. This brochure will be available for
administrators, teachers, parents/guardians.

3. The School Health Advisory Council will have a meeting with administrators and teachers to express
the importance and benefits associated with this new skills-based sex education curriculum. The
SHAC created a presentation with the new and existing sex education curriculum in order to compare
and contrast the two and show the importance of updating the curriculum to better our students!

4. The School Health Advisory Council will create an information brochure to be sent to parents,
caregivers and community members pertaining to the benefits of having a new skills-based sex
education curriculum.

After you develop your Plan and Create your Advocacy Item (of your choice) please write a thoughtful and
thorough reflection on what it was like to go through this process with your advisory council and plan and
advocate for enhanced school health/WSCC/CSHE.

What did you learn? What were your strengths? What was or might be difficult to do in real life within your
school? What else do you think needs to be done to enhance school health and health education in NYS?
What insights do you have? (Reflection should be a minimum of 3 paragraphs)

Self-Reflection:

I have personally learned a tremendous amount about advocacy plans while working on this assignment. I
had never heard the term before, and as you know I confused it with an implementation plan. I could not be
more grateful for your help, feedback, guidance, patience, and support for helping me through this
assignment. THANK YOU!

Creating an advocacy plan with my advisory council was a bit challenging initially. The first step was
identifying where we needed improvement in our current health education curriculum. The council shared
many different ideas and opinions which made it difficult to come to a consensus. We spent a significant
amount of time brainstorming and compromising. Ultimately we all agreed that our existing sex education
curriculum needed updating. Once we agreed on what we wanted to focus on the process was easier going
forward. We first looked at our current sex education curriculum and compared it to research on best practice
for a sex education curriculum. We noted many differences and quickly saw where our program was lacking.
We made a list of all changes/improvements we wanted to make. This was the next step in creating our
advocacy plan. The biggest obstacle we faced was preparing a plan we could present to the BOE and
administration that they would support. The CDC asserts that when teens receive accurate sexual health
education information and skills, they can reduce health risk factors that may impact their success in school.
Health risk behaviors, such as early sexual initiation are associated with lower grades and test scores, and
lower educational attainment.

The more time we spent looking at our current sex education program and exploring what was needed to meet
the needs of our students, the more committed I, along with my colleagues became to making this a reality.
This assignment brought me back to my high school experience and how insufficient the coverage of some
topics was and brought to light that many of those same topics are still being addressed in much the same
way. Sex education is about life skills. There are so many aspects students take with them for the rest of their
life, but they only receive it once or twice in school. An effective sex education program should focus on the
emotional, psychosocial and economic impacts of what happens when youth and adolescents engage in
sexual intercourse and other sexual practices

Creating this advocacy plan has shown me the importance and value of collaboration and open and honest
communication in order to achieve change and support. Our council members were open and supportive
which made the process a bit easier. This situation has strengthened my belief on the importance of having an
open mind and the importance of listening to all ideas even the ones I don’t agree with. One of my personal
strengths as the spokesperson of the committee was being able to facilitate successful meetings and maintain
professional respect among the members.

A realistic barrier to actually implementing this change in my district would be finding money in the budget.
Considering the way budgets are proposed in a major factor in timing. Budgets for the following year are
presented in April for a vote in May for the coming school year. This would put pressure on us to get it done
soon if we want to have it in place for the 2021-2022 school year. In addition, our school calendar is
approved in February and we would need approval for professional development in a few weeks to be
presented at January BOE meeting.

One of the weaknesses in our current sex health education program is that we’re trying to assign primary
responsibility of “the talk”. We are caught between the information students get at school and what they can
find on the internet. These conflicting messages make it harder for teens to make responsible and safe
decisions and more difficult to rely on the people they trust. This disconnect with what students learn at
home, and what they find on the internet combined with what they learn at school sends mixed messages and
makes it harder for teens to navigate these difficult times.

In order to enhance school health and health education in NYS, I feel that it is essential to understand the
main weaknesses of the current curriculum, and the needs of a school and community as well as the students.
Consideration also has to be given to the current issues facing our students in the 21st century. Once the
weaknesses are identified, the district needs to set goals and gather individuals committed to their vision and
goals.

To successfully execute a quality, effective sex education program, schools need supportive policies,
appropriate area content, properly trained staff and parents and communities that are engaged and supportive.
The issue of sex education feels more urgent than ever, at a time when abortion rights nationwide are dividing
our government and our nation. The current administration is cutting federal funding for family planning
programs, while a national conversation about sexuality, harassment, and consent is being debated. In New
York State the standards for sex education curriculum are outdated and ineffective, this leaves it to districts
and educators to deliver these important topics and fill the gaps about what teens are learning about sex and
their bodies in schools.

The advocacy committee strongly agrees that a school health education curriculum that targets the
development of critical thinking and encourages the opportunity to practice what is taught is needed in order
to promote healthy behaviors and avoid risks. We recommend that students should be given time to practice,
assess and reflect on the things they are taught. Adolescence is such a confusing time, and we want to build a
foundation where there are trusted adults students can turn to with questions. Our advocacy school program
will focus on adapting to current health issues and trends that affect the scope of sexual health