HBP welcomes its newest 20 confirmed participants in the Teen Parent Empowerment Program (TPEP), which officially launched on September 19. The focus on our first sessions was on the importance of education.
TPEP’s first formal session: The Importance of Education
Facilitator and TPEP Program Coordinator Kahlil Kuykendall helped participants understand that education is a means to bring about the desired change in society and to develop a generation of quality individuals. Participants learned –
- Education’s fundamental purposes: to help students gain knowledge, instill proper conduct, and acquire technical competency
- Education serves as the means to develop oneself physically, mentally and socially
- Education allows teen parents to mature as individuals
- Education is important for youth as they develop life principles, make career decisions, and begin pursuing goals
Statistics show that when teenagers fail to focus on their education, they likely encounter future career difficulties in life. After discussion, the teens determined the best way to both they and their children can understand the importance of education is to regularly stress its significance, beginning in their early years. By raising children in an atmosphere that places a heavy emphasis on education, children will understand that it is an important tool in reaching their goals.
Second session: Stay in School for Success
How can teen parents lay the foundation for a fulfilling and successful career? In this session, the group explored reasons why teens drop out of high school and why support can prevent them from feeling overwhelmed. Then they identified and discussed why the following factors help our teens succeed:
- Encouraging teens to graduate
- The value of a high school diploma
- The “Dropout Problem” and why teens leave school
- Ways to help teens stay in school
Opportunities to participate in TPEP
Because TPEP participants are in varying stages of pregnancy and may go on maternity leave during the course of the program, TPEP operates on rolling admissions. Potential participants can enter the program at any time. However, applicants must first complete the program registration form and a confidential orientation interview. HBP welcomes walk-in applicants on Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 1-5 PM.
For more information about HBP’s Teen Parent Empowerment Project (TPEP), contact Kahlil Kuykendall at (202) 396-2809, by email, or at Healthy Babies Project, 801 17th St. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002.