The R.E.C. Roomprovides more than free snacks and a spot to hang out after school for students in Homer. A group of local teenagers working with the R.E.C. Room are teaching their peers, and now adults, about healthy relationships.
Consent and resiliency are two powerful words when it comes to a healthy relationship, and Homer’s Peer Education Team is dedicated to teaching teens the meaning of those words.
One interactive style the team uses for educating is role-play. In one skit Homer High seniors, Chloe Pleznac and Zane Boyer, demonstrate an unhealthy relationship where Boyer tries to pressure Pleznac into having sex without a condom. His reasoning is that if she loved him, it shouldn't make a difference.
During these role-plays the team asks the audience to identify the unhealthy aspects of the relationship, such as controlling or manipulative behavior.
Pleznac and Boyer, along with Homer Flex graduate Ciara Cordes-Walker and junior Cassidy Lush, are the four teens that make up the team.
Boyer has been a peer educator for a year and a half. The classes are his favorite part of his job.
“Working with my team in these classes [has] just been so great, but at the start of each class you really don’t know all the people you’re teaching, but as you continue working with them, doing role plays, you get to know them and you really start to connect with them," said Boyer.
Pleznac said her experience as a peer educator over the past year has taught her a lot.
“This job’s really helped me with my public speaking skills and my ability to just stand in front of a classroom and talk and teach, and I think that’s been a really invaluable skill that I’ve gained," said Pleznac.
The team receives grants that allow them to teach sexual health, education, and healthy relationships at local schools. This year they’re adding new programs, including “Adult Nights” to help adults care and connect with teens.
Youth Peer Health Education Program Manager, Anna Meredith, and, Peer Coordinator, Doug Koester, help guide the team. For Meredith and Koester, the work is rewarding and enjoyable.
“Doug and I have been here for five years, and we’ve always felt lucky to be able to work with teens in this way because this is one of the few places that young people are given the opportunity to be treated and have full respect like adults are expected to have," said Meredith.
