my first *REAL* week of work

Oh my goodness..this week has been fantastic! Tuesday I spent the entire schoolday teaching my first classes! They went so well. I didn't really know how to expect the kids to be. They were really cool! Although you could tell most were at least a little embarrassed, I think some of the things we talked about really got them thinking - and there was even some really thoughtful discussion! We discussed what some words meant,such as: "sex," "sexuality," "abstinence," and "contraception."

And it felt so good being out and about and intereacting with people. I'm so excited! We have an anonymous question box, and I had all the kids fill out a "question," even if they didn't have one they had to write something down...I got a couple of really cute notes (you can tell they're girls handwriting) that said that I seem like a "cool" and "nice" person! It was so cute...my own little private affirmations! And it was really fun reading the students questions...like I get a secret snapshot into their heads.

Then today I had a meeting with some parents at a junior high school which I'll be starting to teach in next week. It was so cool to be able to talk with parents. Particularly since I'm really passionate about finding ways to involve parents in educating and talking to their children more about sexuality issues. Research shows time and time again that even though media and friends are huge influences, parents are the biggest influence on their kids sexual decisions. And teens really want to hear from their parents about it. So it was just a great opportunity to talk with them and get some feedback with them and hear their questions.

It felt so great finally having an active work week. No more sitting in my office alone all the hours of the day! Yeah good work!

I'm off tomorrow to San Francisco for a 3-day weekend...very excited about that! I'll actually have Monday off work too, it's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day...I would suggest finding A Letter From a Birmingham Jail and reading it...a powerful peice of writing and a wonderful reminder of our responsibility towards justice.

Peace to all!