AFTER the recent awarding of a grant fund of $416,667 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Guam Department of Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez welcomed the news this week, “calling health education an important component of the work all educators do in shaping the lives and minds of our youth.”
The grant funds “will further bolster the school district’s efforts to educate teenagers on the prevention of teen pregnancy, as well as the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases,” according to a GDOE news release.
One of GDOE’s stated grant program goals is to “increase the level of instruction for teachers to ensure that all targeted students (ages 10 to 19 in grades 6 though 12) are prepared for college- and career-readiness expectations, to make informed decisions, develop life skills, and practice healthy behaviors now and in the future.”
Aside from the DHHS grant, the Curriculum & Instruction Division also manages grants under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the HIV Prevention Program, and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS) programs that focus on “Improving the Health and Educational Outcomes of Young People.”
The HIV Prevention Program, according to GDOE, “educates and provides awareness on HIV/AIDS, STDs, and unintended pregnancy prevention among school-aged youths.”
Meanwhile, the YRBS Survey program “focuses on priority health risk behavior data that result in unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to HIV infection, other sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy; unhealthy dietary behavior; and physical inactivity.”
GDOE gets $416K grant from feds
- Thursday, 04 Oct 2012 03:00am
- BY LOUELLA LOSINIO | VARIETY NEWS STAFF
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