A Student Association outreach program that educates students in the Syracuse City School District on topics including marijuana usage, peer pressure and contraception is expanding to more schools this semester.

Syracuse Students Teaching Healthy Habits (SSTHH) is a program that aims to inform students in the Syracuse City School District in making well-informed choices when dealing with those type of issues.

“The program is encouraging outreach into our local community by integrating Syracuse students into education curricula,” said SA President Aysha Seedat.

The program was initiated in fall 2015 in Edward Smith Elementary School, said Obarima-Yaw Opoku Afriyie-Baah, a sophomore in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the administrative coordinator for the program.

This semester, Afriyie-Baah said, the program will be implemented in three more schools: H.W. Smith PreK-8 School, Grant Middle School and Clary Middle School.

“After positive feedback from students and teachers alike, it is our desire to further expand the program into more schools within the Syracuse City School District,” he said.

Afriyie-Baah said the program allows SU students to go into the classrooms at middle and high schools to guest lecture on age-sensitive issues such as peer pressure and drug awareness.

“In the Syracuse City School District, only about half of the students who start middle school will end up graduating high school. Many will fall into illegal activity,” Afriyie-Baah said. “SSTHH is designed to show students that ‘Hey, you are no different from us. We do not know the pressures and struggles you deal with, but you can be successful.’”

The program consists of three categories of lesson plans, which differ based on the ages of the students in the classroom, Afriyie-Baah said.

One lesson for middle school-aged students explains the dangers of marijuana, Afriyie-Baah said. Another one for high school students aims to inform students of the various available forms of contraception.

There is also a lesson plan designed for students with special needs, which focuses on aiding students in forming and maintaining healthy friendships, Afriyie-Baah added.

“Sometimes all you need is one person to believe in you in school, and we hope to get there through this program,” Seedat said. “Students need inspiration, and we want to encourage these students to stay in school by practicing healthy habits, and far along, go to college.”

Any interested SU or State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students are eligible to participate, Seedat said.

Published on February 17, 2016 at 10:00 pm

Contact Deniz: dsahintu@syr.edu