PERREAULT Magazine MARCH | APRIL 2016 | Page 55

Perreault Magazine - 55 -

Students are guided to rehearse for potential real-world situations through guided role-playing. It gives students an opportunity to test different responses and strategies to various circumstances they may or may not encounter. Elisabeth points out, “It’s really a powerful moment for students to discover their own voices or actions to deal with challenging and plausible situations they are likely to face or are already experiencing.”

The third component, Positively Speaking, relies on collaboration between the UCLA Art & Global Health Center and LAUSD to engage trained speakers who are living with HIV to present to each of the high school health classes on their personal experiences of living with HIV. Often times, this is the first time these adolescents are invited to interact with a (known) person living with HIV and can hear about their story firsthand.