The PARTNRS Team is excited to welcome four new summer interns to our office this week! The interns were selected through a competitive process from over 80 qualified applicants. They will play an essential role in recruiting and interviewing participants at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael, as well as completing tasks around the office. In addition, they will gain valuable exposure to the public health field through workshops and presentations by notable speakers. We’re incredibly excited to have them as a part of our team, and are looking forward to a successful summer!

The 2010 Summer Intern Team is comprised of:

Jeanine Hernandez, who is currently a psychology major at Southern Connecticut State University.

Joshua Thomas, who just graduated from Hill Regional Career High School and who will be attending Southern Connecticut State University in the fall.

Lenise Fields, who just graduated from Metropolitan Business Academy/Polly T. McCabe School and who will be pursuing a career in nursing.

Kauaneekee Vasquez, who just graduated from Wilbur Cross High School and who will be attending Monroe College in the fall.

WELCOME INTERNS!

New Haven’s Polly T. McCabe Center boasts graduation rates and hosts rare services not found at traditional schools. It serves about 40-50 students at a time from grades 7^th-12^th. Polly T. McCabe Center located in New Haven, CT is a transitional school for pregnant teens. The overall goal of the center is for the students to have a smooth transition back into traditional school after they have given birth. These students are able to meet this goal because the school follows New Haven Public School system’s calendars, curricula, and schedules. Students are offered social and medical services at school which gives them the much needed support outside the classroom. For example, nurses lead daily classes in childbirth birth, prenatal development, family planning and infant care. These nurses also provide individual counseling to help teens plan for their present and future lives.

Research has shown that teens who attended were less likely to have another baby two years after giving birth to their first child and were also less likely to give birth five years after the birth of their first child. This research also reveals that of those students who had not had a second child within the first two years of the first, 69 percent of teens had remained in school and earned passing grades or graduated, compared with 35 percent of the teens who delivered a second child within two years.  These students who do not repeat child birth within this time frame are more likely to continue onto college and graduate and have less of a chance of only relying on public assistance in the next 6 years. According to researchers from Yale University and the University of Virginia, personal attention and active consideration of the whole student—recognizing her as a student, a mother and a teen is key to Polly T. T. McCabe’s success.

If you’d like to learn more about Polly McCabe’s success, follow this link:

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1329&Itemid=336

On behalf of everyone on the PARTNRS team we are very thankful for Polly T. McCabe’s support of young mothers in New Haven, and for their kind assistance with our research process. We are also excited to welcome a recent Polly McCabe graduate to our staff as a member of the 2010 PARTNRS Summer Internship and Research Training Program!  We’re grateful to be partnering with such an excellent organization in the quest to support young people in New Haven during their transition to parenthood, and to build strong families in our community!

For more information:

Visit Polly T. McCabe at:

21 Wooster Place, New Haven, CT 06511

Or Call: 203-946-8758 / 203-946-6423

April is STD Awareness Month!

Not only is pregnancy an opportune time to help young women AND MEN improve their health habits, but adolescence is as well. I liked this quote from a blogger at RH Reality Check…

“Contrary to popular belief, adolescence is a more than just a period of raging hormones. It is a period of emotional growth and development. It is time when young people explore their autonomy and seek to define who they are. The values, habits, and behaviors cultivated during adolescence shape the values, habits, and behaviors we exhibit as adults. That being said, it is also a time for those of us who are deeply committed to improving adolescent reproductive and sexual health to make our impact and strike while the iron is hot.”

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/04/13/youth-stds-epidemic-midst

The deadline for applications to the summer internship and research training program is quickly approaching.  Please submit your application and resume by Friday April 2nd, 2010 to info@partnrstudy.com. High school, college and trade school students in the New Haven area are all welcome to apply! For more information, go to www.partnrstudy.com/join/internships!

We are pleased to announce that applications are available for the 2010 PARTNRS Internship and Research Training Program!  This opportunity is for students in high school, college, trade school or any type of educational program. Follow this link to more information and an application: www.partnrstudy.com/join/internships.

The PARTNRS Project Office…click the pic!