Mentors Give Young Girls Counsel And Friendship

While waiting for the evening meeting of Your Choice, Not Chance to begin, Debbie Miller, 15, and Chandra Delp, 14, hover over a television set at the East Central Community Center and discuss the merits of a Babyface music video that flashes on the screen.

Ten minutes later, the girls sit on opposite sides of the room. They’re chatting for the first time with the young women who will serve as their mentors for the next six months.

The teens and their college-student companions relate their astrological signs, discuss each other’s philosophies on life and recount their most embarrassing moments.

“My most embarrassing moments are when I have to stand in front of my class and read stuff. I hate that,” Miller says to Joetta Bell, a graduate student in the education department at Eastern Washington University.

In the months to come, the pair plan to go to the movies, the mall and possibly hiking or fishing.

Your Choice, Not Chance is a health education and support group aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy.

Each girl initially receives $100 to participate.

“I think the money is nice, but I would stay in (the program) anyway,” Miller says. “It’s fun.”

The support group is part of a study being conducted by the Washington State Institute For Public Policy at Evergreen State College and the Spokane County Health District.

The program will evaluate the combined effects of a monetary incentive and a mentorship program in deterring 12- to 17-year-old girls from getting pregnant.

The program also maintains a speaker’s bureau that makes presentations to classes, youth groups and organizations.

“The group showed me the consequences of getting pregnant or catching STDs,” one 18-year-old West Valley High student said after participating in Your Choice, Not Chance.

“It gave me a chance to talk about problems I have, or listen to people who are in the same situation as me.”

To take advantage of Your Choice, Not Chance, call Lisa Yadao or Tricia Stevenson at 324-1460.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: Created in support of the Spokane County Health Improvement Partnership (HIP) Discoveries highlights people working to improve community health and well-being. If you have a discovery that deserves recognition, call Elana Ashanti Jefferson at 459-5419. To get involved with HIP, call 482-2557.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Elana Ashanti Jefferson Staff writer