this afternoon i met with the students of TASA- Teens Against the Spread of AIDS, who i will be coaching on spoken word performance poetry and street theatre for the coming year. we wrote some together, performed, and discussed the relevance of poetry to peer education work. key word: connection. that’s what we decided it’s all about. making connections.
these talented and fun students will be working together for the next year spreading awareness about STI’s and prevention methods to their peers in the area. this work is greatly needed, for as you may know, Washington, DC has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. in fact, according to a Sept. 20, 2010 article in Medscape Today, from WebMD, Washington, DC is home to the nation’s worst per capita HIV rate. i can attest to the wide availability of free condoms in the district. i can attest to the numerous outreach efforts by numerous organizations fighting this epidemic. but as is life, i can also attest to continuing ignorance.
if you (or someone you know) is in the DC/MD/VA area and wants TASA to come speak with and/or perform for your student or community group, please hit me up at jtucker@teachingforchange.org.
JBT 
We had sooo much fun! This year is gonna be awesome. 🙂