Letters
Broaden program to make condoms available in all District high schools
Princeton Review did make a difference at Sayre High
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Letters to the Editors
Broaden program to make condoms available in all District high schools
To the editors:
Would you believe that a life-saving public health effort that began as a pilot program in nine city high schools back in the early 1990s hasn’t been scaled up since?
We know Philadelphia’s pioneering high school condom availability program, known as Policy 123, works. The research shows that condoms don’t condone or increase sexual activity but do protect those kids who are already engaging in high-risk behaviors from HIV, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The school system has failed to guarantee all students a fair chance to protect themselves from HIV by refusing to expand the program to all public high schools. Currently, fewer than 25 percent of students can access condoms in their high schools.
Condoms are a highly effective tool to prevent HIV and most other STIs, and Philadelphia exhibits some of the highest rates of these infections in the country. For young African-American women in particular, HIV has become the leading cause of death.
While rates of condom use among young people went up for most of the 1990s, recent data suggest that the trend is leveling off. One step we can take to continue increasing condom use among youth is to ensure their accessibility.
In response to alarming rates of HIV among youth in the city, the Philadelphia School District in 1991 took a bold public health step and introduced condoms in nine high schools. They must follow through with the policy and allow condom distribution in all the high schools.
ACT UP Philadelphia’s “condoms in schools” campaign is looking for interested, passionate students and parents to stand up and advocate for the right to condom access for all high school students, not just a select few. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/wewantcondoms or contact ACT-UP Philadelphia at wewantcondoms@yahoo.com or 215-386-1981.
-Leah M. Hilsey
The writer is an MSW intern with Philadelphia
FIGHT.
Princeton Review did make a difference at Sayre High
To the editors:
Sayre High School was fortunate to work with the Princeton Review during the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 school years [“Budget crunch, evaluation spell downfall for four managers,” Fall 2006].
Princeton Review worked with administrators, teachers, and support staff in developing a plan to transition Sayre from the existing middle school to a full, comprehensive high school. The team that was brought into our school was energetic, enthusiastic, and extremely competent. They were involved with every facet of the school. Academics, high-stakes testing, student analysis, school climate, parental involvement, and grant writing were all areas for which Princeton Review provided support.
The team was very accommodating to all staff members. Teachers were informed of the visitations and were provided additional educational materials to enhance their lessons. The Princeton Review team also presented demonstration lessons in the classrooms with the teacher of record present for observation. Teachers were given an opportunity to critique the Princeton Review strategies along with their own strategies.
A Princeton Review consultant worked with students in helping them analyze their benchmark test data. Students had the opportunity to review the questions and the appropriate responses. They were also given an opportunity to indicate why they responded in the manner that they did.
Although the Princeton Review contract did not include parental involvement, strategies to increase the numbers of parents participating in our Home and School activities were discussed with our Home and School president. In addition, strategies were proposed to increase student attendance.
Our school’s partnership with Princeton Review was favorable. If it had been continued, it would have enhanced our position in making Adequate Yearly Progress this school year.
-Joseph M. Starinieri
The writer is principal of William
L. Sayre High School.