Has an experience from your past ever made you want to do something in the future?

That is exactly what led many South High students to participate in the Peer Teaching program this year. Sophomore Sanjay Manteuffel says he would not have been part of the program if he had not experienced the lessons in middle school.

“When the high schoolers came, I always admired them and thought they were cool cause they took their time to come teach us,” Manteuffel said. ”It was really cool that these older kids cared, and that definitely persuaded me to try this out.”

Parkway’s Peer Teaching program is part of a bigger program called PATH, which stands for Peers Advocating for Total Health. PATH includes three programs that run throughout the school year: High School Heroes, Peer Teaching, and Now N L8R.

P.E. teacher Ashley Sheets is the PATH leader for South High, and believes Peer Teaching’s focus on alcohol and character development are very important for students.

“The overarching message of the program is to teach middle school students the importance of avoiding alcohol but they will also discuss the importance of self-worth, resilience, integrity, and responsibility,” Sheets said.

Sheets is looking forward to spreading Peer Teaching’s message to more middle school students as sessions begin in February.

“I am excited to lead this program because I have seen the positive impact it can have on middle school students,” Sheets said. 

There is a lot of hard work put into making the Peer Teaching program a success each year, according to junior Samantha McHale.

“At the retreat, we were taught the lessons we are going to be teaching,” McHale said. “We also worked on understanding the self-discipline that is required to be able to refrain from the actions we are teaching about, but also to explain the worth in having good self-value to be able to say no.”

This preparation for Peer Teaching caused participating students to miss two days of school, but junior Ava Moretti was not worried about this getting in the way of her learning.

“I think I’ll be fine. I can go to my teachers during ac. lab to make up what I missed, and I can do some work after school. It’s worth the extra homework,” Moretti said.

The hard work that goes into making these lessons does not go to waste, according to South Middle P.E. teacher Jason Gruzeski.

“I think that Peer Teaching is especially valuable because there are some important life lessons being taught,” Gruzeski said, “I think that many of our students can identify with the students in the lessons and hearing how it can go really bad for all involved in bad decisions makes a difference.”

Learning from Peer Teaching in middle school is not the only thing that has South High students interested in participating this year. McHale is motivated by trying to help create a safe school environment for her younger siblings.

“Having three younger siblings that are growing up in the schools that I did, I want to help create a safe environment for them, even if I have a small impact,” McHale said. “By creating a good education in these topics at a young age, the knowledge of these dangers can help to prevent these dangerous actions in future instances.” 

Learning to set boundaries and make smart choices in middle school is important, but students aren’t always willing to listen to teachers about these dangers, according to Gruzeski. That is one reason why he believes having high school students in the classroom is so valuable

“I think at times students hear my warnings and think that I’m so old that it’s not like that anymore, but current high school students are living it right now so that brings with it credibility,” Gruzeski said, “I also appreciate having the students who have chosen the safe and drug-free lifestyle here, so middle school kids can see that high school students do make the choice not to drink and smoke.”

As lessons are beginning soon, Manteuffel is looking forward to seeing the change that he and his classmates can make through Peer Teaching.

“In the end, I want to make sure the middle schoolers take away the message of remembering what is best and safest for you, trying to love yourself, and never hesitate to take new adventures,” he said.