- The Developing Responsibility in our Peers, or D.R.I.P. program is part of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative through the Health Department.
- Jackson high schoolers visit Northeast Elementary fifth graders to prepare them for middle school by talking to them and offering face to face mentorship.
Once a week, high school students from Jackson come to Northeast Elementary School for a program where they mentor younger students. Those fifth grade students get to spend their lunch hour with their high school mentors.
This team leadership group, part of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, called Developing Responsibility In our Peers, or D.R.I.P., helps elementary students prepare for middle school. These mentors listen to the elementary students concerns, or simply ask questions about their day.
Jasmine Isaac, Volunteer Manager, explained, "This generation, COVID, social media...we have a lot of interactions that aren't genuine. I think for our young people, our elementary and middle school students, when they're able to have those face to face interactions, it helps them with their social skills. I think the interactions are priceless, but also needed, because we don't have enough of that anymore."
Some of the high schoolers shared about their own experiences, "At the beginning, some of the kids were like 'I'm scared to go to middle school!' and I'm just talking them through it. You can see the weight lift off of their shoulders," says senior Kennedy Lee.
Another JPS senior, Addison Richmond, shares, I remember being a kid and always wanting to be with the older kids and just have somebody to talk to. They just want to be heard."
Empowering all of these kids from Jackson High and Northeast Elementary to advocate for themselves, making differences in their own neighborhood by impacting younger lives.
Isaac states, "I really think the purpose and the passion of this program is to encourage young people to share their voice and learn how they can do it, and where they can do it, and what spaces they can do it in their community."
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