WASHINGTON 鈥� For most of this semester, Erin Boudreau, Liz Brighton and Sydney Fry have left college campuses in some of D.C.’s richest neighborhoods to come to the Washington School for Girls in Southeast.
They’re part of a group called .
This nonprofit organization brings more than a thousand college athletes here in D.C. and puts them inside gyms and classrooms with over 5,000 area students.
Using games and physical activity, the athletes go to D.C. schools to teach about healthy living, hoping the unique approach will resonate with kids.
Inside the gym at The Arc last week, Boudreau, Brighton, and Fry gathered a couple dozen sixth-grade girls and got them into a circle to play a game called 鈥淛uggling My Life.鈥�
Using tennis balls with words like 鈥渟chool鈥� and 鈥渇amily鈥� and 鈥渇riends鈥� and other aspects of the typical sixth-grader鈥檚 life, the girls started bouncing the balls in a set pattern to each other.
And of course, things got more and more chaotic as more tennis balls started bouncing around the circle.
鈥淎nd that was hard to juggle?鈥� Boudreau, a senior public health major and soccer player getting ready to graduate from聽George Washington University, asked one of the girls.
The response was a simple: “Yeah,鈥� was the point.
After a short discussion, they played again.
鈥淎nd then we threw the soccer ball in,鈥� said Boudreau. 鈥淲hich was the sex ball.鈥�
To which another girl replied, 鈥淭hat scared me!鈥�
That鈥檚 when it got even more hectic.
After the soccer ball, more tennis balls with words like 鈥減regnancy,鈥� 鈥淪TI鈥� and 鈥淗IV鈥� were added to the mix.
It was no accident that terms associated with sexual activity caused an even bigger commotion in the gym.
The tennis balls, metaphors for the obligations in the lives of these girls, scattered all over the place once sex was introduced. It was too much to juggle everything orderly.
鈥淪ex is a choice,鈥� Boudreau told the girls after the game was over. 鈥淪ex isn鈥檛 something you have to do,鈥� she explained after the consequences of the game were conveyed into a real-life lesson.
鈥淚 think the kids retain a lot more than we think,鈥� said Boudreau. 鈥淚 think they鈥檙e picking up a lot and I hope that they鈥檙e internalizing the facts and factoring that into making their own health decisions.鈥�
鈥淓ven when they seem a little disorderly, they always seem to know the key messages,鈥� said Liz Brighton, who rows for the crew team at George Washington University and is also preparing for graduation.
鈥淓ven when you call on different people, a lot of them pick it up pretty quickly,鈥� she聽said.
It鈥檚 not only by participation that the athletes are able to bond with the girls but it’s also in the way they communicate.
Rather than use her real name, Sydney Fry goes by “Squid,” for example.
The sixth-graders, who picked out their own nicknames, were addressed as 鈥淛oey the Kangaroo,鈥� 鈥淎MC Movie Theater,鈥� 鈥淟ED Lights鈥� and 鈥淩ight Twix,鈥� for example.
And there鈥檚 a method to that madness, too.
鈥淲e talk about a lot of serious things, so through the nicknames, we try to make it fun and a little less personal,鈥� said Boudreau. 鈥淚 think it just makes it easier to talk about subjects like sex.鈥�
For Boudreau and Brighton, last Thursday was the final class they鈥檇 be a part of through the program. But it鈥檇 be a mistake to say they didn鈥檛 learn from the students they worked with this semester.
鈥淭he Grassroot Project made me decide to be a public health major,鈥� said Boudreau. 鈥淚t has completely changed the course of my academic career.鈥�
She started with The Grassroot Project four years ago as a freshman.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really even know what public health was, and I didn鈥檛 even know that HIV was a huge problem in D.C. and in the United States,鈥� said Boudreau, who grew up in Connecticut. 鈥淪o it really changed my perspective on a lot of things.鈥�
鈥淟ike she [Boudreau] said, I didn鈥檛 know what public health really meant,鈥� echoed Brighton. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned the importance of not assuming people know a lot of information and really meeting people where they are to teach them about things and not seeming critical or judgmental if they don鈥檛 know different things.鈥�
Which doesn鈥檛 mean the kids she鈥檚 come across through Grassroot don鈥檛 know anything.
鈥淪ometimes the kids really surprise me,鈥� said Brighton.
Fry, a sophomore lacrosse player at American University who is winding down her first year with the program, said no one聽underestimate these kids.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e in areas that are hardest hit by HIV and AIDS. It鈥檚 real to them, and we鈥檙e bringing it in and being able to talk about it, and it鈥檚 just super important,鈥� said Fry. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something special, and they鈥檝e learned so much in eight weeks. I just hope they continue to take this on into high school and tell their other friends about it.鈥�
As a neuroscience major, these sorts of public health programs aren鈥檛 going to have a direct correlation with what she plans to do later in life. But that doesn鈥檛 mean her involvement is going to wane.
Far from it, in fact.
鈥淎U is kind of newer to Grassroot, but hopefully I鈥檓 going to get some teammates and other teams to come and join it. There鈥檚 only a handful from AU right now that鈥檚 participating.鈥�
Her plans?
鈥淗opefully become a leader, eventually, and get that training,鈥� said Fry. 鈥淚 like it a lot.鈥�
