Pre-marital sex contributes to many health, financial and societal problems in our country. Did you know that one in five people in the U.S. over age 12 are infected with genital herpes, which is an incurable disease? Also, according to the Centers For Disease Control, almost 40% of females age 14-19 are infected with HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer. And, more than one-third of girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before their 20th birthday. 

House of Hope Northeast Indiana believes in being proactive in taking a stand against destructive lifestyles that negatively affect teens in our community. We offer health education classes, dealing with topics of abstinence and healthy lifestyle choices. This cutting edge approach to these challenging topics is enabling us to work with local public schools through in-class training. It is our goal that every teenager in Wells County is adequately informed and has every opportunity to make educated decisions concerning their future. House of Hope Northeast Indiana integrates the Creating Positive Relationships Curriculum and Navigator Curriculum in this fun, interactive, educational and life changing training program.

For more information on the Alive and Well program or to schedule a training class for your school or youth group, please call House of Hope Northeast Indiana at 260-824-4774.

A Teacher's Perspective

Please accept this correspondence as a letter of strong support for the newly established Alive and Well abstinence education courses.  With backing from our community, our school board, and our administrators, Norwell Middle School has partnered with a local organization to offer this course to our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.  As the classroom teacher, I have been truly impressed!

First, the Creating Positive Relationships & Navigator curricula fulfill the requirements of Indiana Code 20-30-5-13 by teaching establishment of a mutually faithful marriage relationship as the certain way to avoid out of wedlock pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and other related health problems.  I consider this program to be a certain and direct method of impacting the health and stability of our community.  Students are learning to respect themselves enough now to save sex for a committed marriage relationship in the future. 

Both curricula of the Alive and Well course are fun, interactive, and engaging sessions for adolescents.  My students enjoy these classes and demonstrate their interest by their willingness to participate!  Young people are tough critics, and they have positive comments about Alive and Well. 
Middle school students respond to frank discourse.  Alive and Well instructors communicate honestly with our middle school students.  Today, they shared with students a recent CDC report that determined that one in four (26%) female adolescents in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted infection.  Instructors also shared some critical information about internet safety and privacy with students.  The activities, tools, scenarios, and reflective questions utilized in Alive and Well cause students to pause and consider positive and negative consequences associated with their choices.
As a health teacher, I consider teen sexual choices and behaviors to be a critical health issue.  This program directly confronts these issues and teaches students the benefits of saving sex until marriage.  They take the concept of abstinence and make it obtainable and desirable to teens.  I feel privileged to be part of a program that has the potential to impact so many young lives in such a positive manner.  I will continue to offer my guidance and support to this program in any possible capacity.

Sincerely,
Holly Morgan
Health Teacher
Norwell Middle School