HU TO WORK WITH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON AIDS/HIV EDUCATION PROJECTS

Hampton, VA - Hampton University has been invited to participate in Project PITCH (Partners in Teaching Community Health), college/high school collaborations in which high school students work with college students on AIDS/HIV education projects. Project Pitch is sponsored by the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

Hampton University will participate in a national consortium of post-secondary institutions that are promoting student engagement with critical health and health policy issues. The project will incorporate a number of innovative learning strategies stemming from their interdisciplinary approach to teaching. Dr. Anne Pierce, assistant professor of education and Dr. Marilyn Wells, assistant professor and coordinator of health education at Hampton University, will create materials in their classes that will be piloted with high school students entering Hampton’s Upward Bound Program this summer. Hampton University is one of seven institutions to receive funding to support this project.

Project PITCH is apart of the Program for Health and Higher Education (PHHE), a national program to improve both student health and learning by integrating HIV/AIDS into the college curriculum. At Hampton University this collaboration fosters undergraduate student investigation of health policies in public schools for both students and teachers. The project reflects the Department of Education’s conceptual framework of developing reflective collaborative leaders as it requires students interested in pursuing teaching degrees to think about the health issues confronting the students they will teach. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40,000 cases of HIV are reported in the U.S. school age population annually.

David Burns, director of this initiative, expressed his appreciation for the leadership that Hampton University is bringing to this national effort.

"Project PITCH encourages real student learning and gives new meaning to the ideal of higher education’s community commitment,” Burns said. “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Hampton University as they continue to encourage students to become leaders who may be required to focus on some of the hardest issues of our time."