This year, the eighth-grade students in Marisa Annese’s health class at Copiague Middle School have welcomed a series of guest speakers. The speakers are being brought in to give the students firsthand accounts of topics they’re learning about within their classroom.
Representatives from Response of Suffolk County, a telephone and online crisis counseling center, gave students information on where they can turn for help in a crisis; Long Island Association for AIDS Care, a not-for-profit agency delivering comprehensive services to all Long Islanders infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, spoke to the students about the disease during December, which is AIDS awareness month; and Phoenix House, a non-profit substance-abuse service organization, brought three in-patient residences to discuss their personal experiences with drugs and alcohol.
“I hope the students get something extra out of the speakers,” said Ms. Annese. “These are real people, with real issues, speaking about what we’re learning in class.”
Representatives from the Long Island Railroad and Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island are alsoscheduled to come and speak with the eighth graders.
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