April 7, 1999		HIV Educators Visit Oberlin Middle School Classrooms Media Contact: Mark Graham
	Jessica Garascia		OBERLIN, OH--Lorain County ranks 12th out of Ohio's 88 counties in AIDS infection rate, according to Ohio Department of Health statistics. In an effort to reduce HIV infection by raising awareness of the disease, more than a dozen trained students with the Oberlin HIV Educators program will enter middle school classrooms this spring. Educators will work with classes at Oberlin's Langston Middle School and Oberlin High School, covering everything from what the letters HIV stand for to how HIV is contracted. "Understanding the basics is really important," says program director and Oberlin College sophomore Jessica Garascia, "because there's a lot of mystery around HIV." Garascia first became involved in HIV education as a high school student in South Bend, Indiana. As a first-year student at Oberlin, she went on to develop an eight-week training course for HIV educators. Both experiences made her a firm believer in peer education. "Having a 20 year-old get up and tell a teen about HIV is a lot more effective than having a 40 year-old health teacher do the same thing," says Garascia. "I've seen the difference." Garascia is one of several Community Action Fellows sponsored and funded by Oberlin College's Center for Service and Learning. Each year, the Community Action Fellows program give students the opportunity to develop and implement service programs in the local community.