Concurrent Sessions

10:00–11:00 Concurrent Sessions I

What's so Funny? Using Humor to Teach Sex Ed
Everybody loves a good laugh! Research even indicates that humor can be beneficial to the learning process. Everyone has the potential to incorporate humor into education with the proper direction and resources, even if they think they aren’t funny. In this workshop, participants will explore both the unpredictable and strategic use of humor in sex-ed, from jokes to carefully selected comics and media clips. Participants will also gain experience and increase their comfort with integrating humor into sexuality education. This session will be offered by Bill Taverner and Allyson Sandak.

Web-Based Outcomes Tracking and Outreach
This session will describe the development of a Web-based data collection system, used to monitor and evaluate the impact of the Pregnant and Parenting Teens program. The presenter will give a Web-based demonstration of the system, illustrate how it provides the logistics for a staff member to maintain contact with program participants after graduation, and provide ongoing resource and referral and a more comprehensive continuum of service. The National Health Foundation’s school-based Pregnant and Parenting Teens program combines individual services, strong linkages to clinical services, and peer group education sessions to help teenage mothers avoid subsequent pregnancies. Serving predominantly minority and underserved communities, this program has been in operation for nearly three years and has served more than 150 teen parents. In 2009, the AT&T Foundation provided the support to develop and launch the Web-based data collection system in order to bolster the Pregnant and Parenting Teens program. This session will be offered by Brooke Fox.

Love, Lust, or Sex? Supporting Teens to Plan for Sex before It Happens
Teens are bombarded with messages about love, lust, and sex from a multitude of sources, but how often are they given an opportunity to express their own values about sex? This workshop will use didactic, experiential, and small-group learning techniques to explore the importance of supporting teens in verbalizing their own values about sex and intimacy and to identify how to “stay real” to these values. The workshop will also explore the role that parents, teachers, and health educators play in supporting teens to plan for sex. The vast majority of sexual health education is centered on disease prevention rather than supporting healthy sexual development. This developmentally appropriate approach works with teens to reflect on their first or next sexual experience before it happens. It helps teens explore the steps needed to make it the type of experience they seek. This session will be offered by Sara Marques and Allison Bayley.

Urban Pregnant and Parenting Youth: What They Teach Us about Pregnancy Prevention
This presentation will focus on teen pregnancy prevention from the perspective of urban youth who have been through it.  In urban and racial minority communities, traditional pregnancy prevention programs are ineffective, owing sometimes to a lack of professional cultural competency within these communities. This presentation will trace the history of birth control in racial minority communities, gender roles in Black and Latino cultures, and focus on the value of parenting in these communities. Interactive activities will be used to strategize more culturally sensitive ways to address teen pregnancy in these communities. The presentation will also focus on incorporating culturally sensitive technological resources into educational programming. Although this presentation will be most relevant for educators working with racial minority and urban youth, it will also be highly relevant for those seeking to better understand intersections of race, class, and sexuality in the United States today. This session will be offered by Danielle Ruggles.

Whomp Whomp Wha Whomp Whomp: Keeping Your Sex Ed Program from Sounding Like a Peanuts Cartoon
Educational theory tells us students absorb more when they experience learning in authentic situations. By means of interactive games and activities using experiential education and authentic assessment techniques, participants in this workshop will create vibrant lessons, activities, and assessments that students can apply to real life situations. This session will be offered by Robin Slaw.

11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions II

Unequal Partners: Teaching About Power and Consent in Adult-Teen and Other Relationships
The Unequal Partners workshop uses interactive methods to address the dynamics, complexities, and risks of adult-teen and other potentially unhealthy relationships, including their connection to teen pregnancy. Drawing on the third edition of the groundbreaking Unequal Partners: Teaching About Power and Consent in Adult-Teen and Other Relationships, participants will learn engaging strategies for teaching teens to understand the characteristics of healthy relationships and recognize the warning signals of unhealthy relationships. These interactive educational methods will allow professionals to explore ways to help adolescents develop healthy relationships and avoid, change, or leave unhealthy ones. This session will be presented Allyson Sandak.

Teen Pregnancy and Rural Poverty — Making a Difference
The association between poverty and teen pregnancy risk is well documented. This brief lecture presentation will provide an overview and update on rural poverty in Pennsylvania and how it impacts teen pregnancy risk. The majority of our time will be spent exploring — via small- and large-group discussion — the barriers to teen pregnancy prevention in rural families and communities, and ways to overcome those barriers. Groups will focus on specific regions or populations within rural Pennsylvania relevant to their practice. Alternatives for varied populations will be explored. This session will be presented by Cindy Rupp.

Building Youth Leadership: Effective and Meaningful Peer Education Programming
Peer education can be a powerful approach for teen pregnancy prevention; however, building leadership skills and navigating the youth-adult partnership required to implement a successful program can be challenging. As examples, we will look at three peer education programs implemented in Washington, D.C.: 1) The Teen Health Promoters program trains high school aged youth interested in pursuing medical careers; 2) The Project STRIPES is a peer-led social outreach program working with LGBT; and 3) The Young Parents program provides training, case management services, and leadership development among young parents. While these programs have differing goals and target populations, they all incorporate best practices. Based on the programs presented and the participants’ own experiences, we will review peer education best practices, explore how to build youth leadership by gradually and appropriately transitioning youth from adult- to youth-developed initiatives using dynamic presentation and small and large group discussion. This session will be presented by Sara Marques and Allison Bayley.

Sex ed? Press 1 for Yes  
One of the technological tools that have become available for sexuality educators is the audience response system, often known as “clickers.” Clickers can be used in traditional classroom settings, and they can also be a part of community based educational efforts. Clickers can serve a variety of purposes, including addressing perceived norms, assessing current knowledge levels of participants, and obtaining an instant understanding of participants’ beliefs on a variety of personal topics relating to sexuality. This presentation will provide an overview of what clickers are and how they can be used both in and out of the classroom. Participants in the presentation will have the ability to take part in a clicker demonstration and will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using this type of interactive tool, with a specific focus on its applications for sex education. This session is offered Sue Milstein.

Science and Sensuality
Safer sex lessons often focus on the preventative benefits of condom use, but science has revealed that information about anatomical shape as well as pleasure are important to address. Drawing from a variety of scholarly and Web-based sources, participants will learn about research regarding penile dimension and condom comfort, examine the diversity of condom sizes, shapes, and textures designed to increase sexual pleasure. The demonstrated activities will equip professionals to incorporate science, sensuality, and safer sex in a classroom. This session will be offered by Melissa DiGioia.

2:15–3:15 Concurrent Sessions III

Sex Ed with The Family Guy
“It seems today, that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV...” providing an abundance of teachable moments!!! Viewed regularly by millions of young people, The Family Guy has many teachable moments on which sexuality educators can use to provide young people with critical skills needed to interpret media messages, recognize inaccuracies and stereotypical schemas. In this workshop, participants will experience strategies examining moments from the television series and learn how to incorporate them into a sex-ed lesson. This session will be offered by Jessica Sheilds.

Somethin' to Think About: Creating Media by Youth for Youth Community — presented by Michele Perlman, Cancelled. Replaced by: Using New Media Technology for Increased Access to Contraceptive Services— presented by Advocates for Youth

In this session, participants will come to understand how a youth activist model can be used to increase sexual health awareness to youth and young adults; be able to explain why it is beneficial to use new media strategies to educate youth about access and information on contraceptive methods; be able to list innovative strategies for reaching young people through new media technology (such as social networking sites — MySpace & Facebook; — blogging, video blogging, and text messaging); and will explore how they can make use of new media technology to disseminate reproductive health information among teens in their own programs or communities. This session will be offered by Joy Baynes.

Freshman 101: Understanding Sex and Love — *note this sessions speaker will be brought in using technology.
Many teens make life-altering decisions their freshman year of college with no given guidelines to follow. This presentation will provide you a complete program to discuss issues of respect, safe sex, and relationship dynamics, all explored in an interactive forum. Presenter Ranee Spina encourages audiences to get past all of the hype from magazines, television, and celebrities. Her no-nonsense, but extremely entertaining approach to relationships and self-worth is riveting and full of stories detailing the journey called life. Countering today's sexually aggressive society, her thought-provoking program brings to the forefront the power (and consequences) of our choices. It is a fact that personal relationships have an impact upon one's self-worth and leadership abilities. Help change the mindset of students by challenging them to succeed in both life and love. This session is offered by Ranee Spina.

OMG No Way! The Secret Life of Teens and Social Media — Canceled

Replaced by: Technology Games 101
Are you looking for creative ways to present and review information with your students but you have no idea where to begin, let alone have the time to create? Walk away from this program with resources that allow you to utilize games such Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, via PowerPoint. Participants will utilize technology games to reinforce important messages students learn. Participants will be given the tools and resources to be able to create their own games with students. This session is offered by Amy Cotner-Klingler.

Teens and Sexual Violence
This hour-long training is designed to give adults guidelines to help teens who may be experiencing violence from their intimate partner. The program explores the dynamics of dating violence; specifically, sexual violence as it contributes to teen pregnancy. It will also strive to answer frequently asked questions, such as “How can I help a teen who is being abused?” and “What are the warning signs of an abuse?” This session will be presented by Betsy VanNoy.