Cherokee Nation: Tahlequah Public Schools Expands Sex Ed Program

As part of our CDC grant, we are trying to implement comprehensive reproductive health curricula in the middle and high schools within our 14 county tribal jurisdictional area which consists of 152 schools. We are taking very small steps toward reaching the entire area and are only doing 6 schools at a time. This has been no easy task as we live in the Bible belt and we have been met with some opposition regarding this and it seemed to be a very daunting adventure.

Our main success thus far in our grant has been obtaining an MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) with Tahlequah Middle School to begin a 12 week program entitled “Worth The Wait” in their sixth grade classes. Tahlequah was our first school to agree to an MOA with us and also, we have become trailblazers within that school district because never before has reproductive health been taught at this level at such an early age within this community. Our program has been featured on local broadcast news twice as well as area newspapers because of this. We are currently within our fourth week of this program and are being met with very high praise from school personnel, parents and students alike. We have also seen interest coming in from surrounding school districts as well.

• Contact Person: Terrill White
• Email Address: terrill-white@cherokee.org
• Website Address: http://www.cherokee.org/