Shanae Adams, a teen pregnancy prevention educator with Planned Parenthood, says a federally funded grant worth $5 million over the next five years will allow education and advocacy to be brought to the two counties. Adams says while the rate for teen pregnancy in Page County is lower than the national average, it is high in relation to the number of teens in the county, and the state-wide average.

After five years, Adams said the hope is for the program to remain sustainable so it can continue. The first two years will be spent organizing community and youth advisory boards to help get the initiative’s curriculum into Page and Mills county classrooms. Adams said she will ask the school boards for Page and Mills county schools to bring the curriculum into those schools.

Planned Parenthood is hoping to launch a pilot program at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year for its new sex education curriculum for Page and Mills County schools. Adams is also trained to present on topics such as bullying, online safety and confidence, providing other options for schools as they look to supplement their existing educational programs.

As the teen pregnancy prevention initiative continues to get underway in Page County, volunteers are needed to serve and provide input into the planning process. A community advisory board meets 7 to 8 p.m. the last Thursday of each month in the meeting room of the Shenandoah Public Library, 201 S. Elm St. The meetings are open to anyone in the community.

In the hour before the community group, a youth advisory board will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Shenandoah Public Library. The meetings are open to any teenager in Page County.