We are Rachel and Nicole! We spent six week
with Mrs. Kirk’s Grade 9 health class and, although our time spent together was
short, it was an awesome experience. The
most relevant topics for this group of students were substance abuse and sexual
health so this was what we spent our time teaching about!
In our first class, we wanted to make a
broad introduction about health to the students. We discussed what the students thought made a
healthy person and how they see health in their daily lives. This helped us to shape our lessons to cover
the most relevant material possible in these students’ lives. The students really wanted to learn about the
different types of drugs, side effects, and what do to in emergency situations
related to substance use. We emphasized
the fact that our presence in the classroom was to provide the students with
correct information and life skills with which to lead happy and healthy lives.
We had multiple lessons about substance use
and abuse covering tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, other drugs and ending with
strategies to avoid drug abuse and peer pressure. We finished the unit with a summarizing game
of Jeopardy! and the students were extremely excited for some friendly
inter-class competition!
At the end of this unit, we moved into
teaching about sexual health. We
discussed male and female anatomy, pregnancy, STIs, and contraceptive
options. The students asked lots of
questions and we focused on providing correct information to correct any false
myths that were circulating in the classroom.
We provided trustworthy websites for students to access if they had any
further questions after our teaching time ended.
We were extremely proud of the student
participation in discussions and class activities throughout the semester. We felt that this group of students
benefitted enormously from the peer education aspect of the QHO program because
they felt more comfortable asking questions.
We were very lucky to have been welcomed into this classroom and we wish
the QECVI community a future of healthy life choices!
Rachel & Nicole
