Representatives for Morris Heights Health Center recently went to Truman High School to recruit students for its new Changing the Odds program.
They took a group of students and held a “value class,” where students were asked to stand up if they considered hanging out with friends more important than finishing homework. The vast majority of students stood up.
The group was then asked if they considered hanging out with friends was more important than graduating high school. Almost nobody stood up.
Those are the types of conundrums that teenage students in Changing the Odds discuss with their peers for two hours each week.
On Friday, May 13, MHHC’s School-Based Health Center at Truman High School in Co-Op City hosted an official ribbon cutting for the new teen support program.
Changing the Odds is being funded by a $5 million grant to MHHC from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is designed to lower risk of teen pregnancy, suspension, course failure and drop outs.
The program has been operating as a pilot since Monday, April 4, and is currently at six schools other schools throughout the Bronx.
“This gives our young people a terrific opportunity to explore a side of themselves that other people wouldn’t think to give them,” Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson said at the ceremony.
Truman freshman Dale Wilson moved to the Bronx from Jamaica during the academic year and is one of the 25 students in the school’s inaugural Changing the Odds group.
Since starting the program, teachers say he has become more talkative, outgoing and has made his first friends in the United States.
“I feel like we make progress in here,” Wilson said. “We talk about things like what we want to do in the future, changing things in the community, drug addiction. It keeps you out of trouble.”
Changing the Odds is based on a national model called Teen Outreach Program, which is used in schools across the country, but never before in New York City.
TOP is usually focused on sex education and preventing teen pregnancy, but MHHC chose a more comprehensive approach that includes portions on decision making, substance abuse, and community involvement.
“This is really an extension of the services we provide at our School-Based Health Centers,” said Estelle Raboni, director of Changing the Odds.
MHHC runs 20 school-based centers. They provide both physical and mental health care. The principals at each school that house an MHHC center were given the option of participating in Changing the Odds.
“When they first told me about it, it didn’t take 10 minutes to decide,” said Sana Nasser, principal of Truman. “This improves our children’s social skills and then they will use that to educate their peers.”
Marissa Rousselle works for MHHC and leads Changing the Odds groups at Truman, Health Opportunities High School and Bronxwood Prep. She said the most rewarding part of her job is when the students contact her on their own time.
“When they text me, honestly, that’s the best part,” Rousselle said. “It means there’s someone they can ask if they have a problem. It makes them feel supported.”
