What's Happening

By Jamie Barnett, MBA, CISSP | October 2, 2018
Parent Volunteer, Palo Alto Parents 4 Sex Ed

October is #LetsTalkMonth. I’ll be tackling some great topics with my kids—healthy relationships, equity, inclusion, ethics, domestic abuse, technology. We’ll also be talking about #MeToo. (Full disclosure: I have these talks with my kids pretty much all year long.)

By Ifeoma Udoh, PhD | September 27, 2018
Senior Research Associate, ETR

Access to PrEP is changing minds and behaviors. As an HIV prevention option, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) has provided individuals who may be at risk for HIV an important tool in the way they conceptualize choices about sex partners.

The practice of serosorting—selecting a sexual partner based on HIV status—has often been seen as either stigmatizing or divisive. However, PrEP is changing this practice among both older and younger men who have sex with men (MSM). I contributed to a just-published paper that demonstrates this in some persuasive ways.

By Debra Christopher, MSM | September 25, 2018
Ambassador for Health and Learning, ETR

Last month, I stayed in the tiny village of Bennington, VT. I happened upon the tiny, cozy village bookstore and, of course, wandered in. (Stay with me. It is worth it.)

I picked up a book titled Scratchings, written by the "Scribble Sisters." 

By John Henry Ledwith | September 19, 2018
National Sales Manager, ETR

Hello, September! Like many of you, I am part of a team that has been getting local classrooms ready for the new school year. The hum and clatter and movement of all of that effort has left me thinking a lot about teamwork this week.

By John Shields, PhD, MSW | September 17, 2018
Senior Research Scientist and Director, K12T9 Initiative, ETR

We need the #MeToo movement. Widespread attention to sexual and gender-based harassment is long overdue. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected in some meaningful way by this national conversation.

Here at ETR, we celebrate this opportunity for education, enlightenment and change. 

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | September 13, 2018
Senior Editor, ETR

I love science. I like the wonky part of research, and I really like seeing the practical applications. That’s why I was so pleased to see the FiveThirtyEight blog offer a series on the science of sex ed. These folks know their numbers!

By Tracy Wright, MAEd | September 10, 2018
Project Director, ETR

Trees, mountains, sky. That’s what I see from the window of my home in Golden, Colorado. I love it. Being able to live and work here is one of the splendid benefits of being a remote worker.

By Katherine McLaughlin, MEd | September 4, 2018
Founder and Director of Training, Elevatus Training

I remember the day Karen Topper asked me the question. “Can we create a sexuality education curriculum where people with developmental disabilities are the teachers? Can we have them be actively involved in creating this curriculum?”

By Suzanne Schrag | August 31, 2018
Editor/Product Manager, ETR

JJ is 11 years old and on the way to school. JJ usually stops at the bodega to buy a candy bar for a snack. But today is different. This week JJ is learning in school about increasing your heart rate through physical activity to stay healthy. So, instead of stopping at the bodega, JJ runs around the block three times. JJ shows up to school a little sweaty but excited and energized.

By Shawn Del Carlo | August 28, 2018
Warehouse Senior Supervisor, ETR

ETR is a non-profit. In some ways, we’re also a sort of family business. I’ve worked here for 21 years, and during that time, we’ve hired lots of employees’ kids, nieces, nephews and friends.

Sometimes people come for temp jobs, and sometimes they’re hired in standard positions. This has been good. I think it’s built a closer sense of connection among staff.

By ETR | August 23, 2018
 

Most books, even textbooks, don’t make it to a seventh edition. This one did. What’s so special about ETR’s new offering, Sexuality Education: Theory and Practice?

By John Henry Ledwith | August 21, 2018
National Sales Manager, ETR

I heard a story last night that’s had me thinking about inspiration. I was at a performance of the John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band. The amazing Herb Pedersen told us about how he came to write one of the finest and most popular bluegrass songs ever, “Wait a Minute.”

By Vignetta Charles, PhD | August 16, 2018
CEO, ETR

ETR is privileged to work with outstanding partners. In fact, one of the best things about working here is the opportunity to collaborate with people and programs whose mission, like ours, is to make a genuine difference.

Today the California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) is particularly on our minds. 

By Julie Potyraj, MPH | August 14, 2018
External Relations Manager for Content Marketing, 2U Inc

I have seen the power of health equity in my life as a woman living in the United States and as a public health professional working abroad in rural Zambia. Equity meets people where they are, and acknowledges that different problems require different solutions, depending on the context. 

By ETR | August 10, 2018

The planets must be aligned auspiciously. Dr. Karin Coyle, ETR’s Chief Science Officer, has just been awarded the 2018 Douglas B. Kirby Researcher of the Year award from Healthy Teen Network (HTN).This is a confluence of three extraordinary goods.

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | August 7, 2018
Senior Editor, ETR

Fifth grade. My girlfriends and I are on the climbing gym. We stay on the low bars and carefully tuck our skirts under us so the boys won’t look up our dresses. When we really want to bust free and climb up to the top, my friend Cyndi—one tough girl, I’ll tell you—runs foot patrol around the base. No boys allowed near the gym!

By Karrie Bobby | August 2, 2018
Customer Service Representative, ETR

Thinking about calling ETR? You might talk to me. I’m one of the voices behind ETR’s Customer Service Department. The other day, a customer said I had a soothing voice. That was nice to hear.

By Antwan Matthews, BS | July 31, 2018
SHARP Scholar, ETR and San Francisco Department of Public Health

I am Antwan Matthews, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, and recently graduated from Tougaloo College in Biology. This summer I have the privilege to serve as a scholar for the Summer HIV AIDS Research Program (SHARP), an NIH-funded initiative of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.    

I have an argument to offer about the ways we think about public health.