A group that gives young teenagers life skills, and helps them make informed decisions about their relationships and sexual activity has been nominated for the Car Company Charity Drive competition.
YrChoice is a preventative life skills programme that is delivered by trained young adults to year 9 and 10 students in many schools throughout the country. It is managed by the youth charity Family Education Network, and Nelson co-ordinator Lynda Rea says it is presently offered in Waimea College, Nelson College for Girls and Garin College.
Lynda says one of the keys to the success of YrChoice is that it is delivered by a male and female young adult.
“The students can relate to these people because they are younger and that’s one of the strengths of YrChoice,” Lynda says. “Students aren’t always comfortable talking to teachers and parents about relationships and sex.”
Lynda says they have six presenters in the Nelson-Tasman region, aged from 18 to 25. The presenters are all trained and deliver a formatted, inter-active lesson, that is designed to complement the school health education curriculum.
YrChoice presenter Stephanie Mackintosh says the students always enjoy the programme and it invariably leads to “a lot of interesting discussion.”
“We make it fun and give them something they can relate to,” Stephanie says. “They get right into it which can be a bit scary sometimes.”
Lynda says they presented YrChoice to 1500 students last year and 94 per cent of the students said they learned something from the presentation. The programme has an annual budget of around $20,000 and is funded by grants, sponsorship and donations as well as a small fee from the schools. Lynda says they would love to win the Charity Drive so they can take YrChoice into more schools and help even more young teenagers make the right decisions. The Car Company Charity Drive competition started last year and offers $10,000 to a non-profit group or organisation in the Nelson-Tasman region. Groups can enter the competition until August 22 by going to the Car Company’s website carcompanynelson.co.nz
