Centered on safety and prevention, students throughout the Massapequa School District were educated about HIV/AIDS with state-mandated, age-appropriate lessons during AIDS Awareness Week, Nov. 30-Dec. 4. The presentations were held in alignment with World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.
At the middle and high school level, powerful interactive lessons on how the disease is contracted and what students can do to protect themselves were delivered by student Peer Educators under the guidance of physical education/health certified teacher Michael La Bella. Students learned important information about how the disease spreads and were given resources, such as where to get tested.
“Our goal is to keep students interested and engaged so we change up our skits to keep them fresh and relatable,” said Peer Educator Logan Suntzenich, a senior.
At Massapequa High School-Ames Campus, two speakers from Love Heals, the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education, clearly stressed the importance of exercising good judgment, open communication and responsible behavior during intimate relationships to the freshmen student body.
The speakers consisted of a woman who contracted the disease through a blood transfusion and unknowingly gave it to her husband, and a man who, back in college, went to support a friend by getting tested along with her, and found out that his friend didn’t have it but he did, though he did not yet have any symptoms.
Both speakers opened up the eyes of their adolescent audience about the harsh reality of living with a disease that has no cure and stressed the need for students to take responsibility for themselves.
On the elementary level, students in the lower grades were taught basic hygiene practices and those in the upper grades learned about how the disease is difficult to contract and how to be compassionate to those infected. The lessons were reinforced with a take-home activity to facilitate discussions in the home. To spread awareness among the community, a public viewing of panels from the World AIDS Quilt was hosted at Massapequa High School where peer educators were on hand to answer questions for visitors.
