Sex education. These two words alone inspire a groan from almost any St. Paul Academy and Summit School student. While most dread the sometimes uncomfortable yet vital topic, two students are going above and beyond to educate others about safe sex.

“It is a dream to be a sex ed teacher,” sophomore Isabelle Saul-Hughes said.

Saul-Hughes carried her passion for teaching others about sexual health over to her required tenth grade community service hours by working at Planned Parenthood on University Avenue in St. Paul.

Saul-Hughes worked one night a week for a little over two months in Planned Parenthood’s offices. “It was a really cool work environment,” she said.

“I was a member of the ObamaCare outreach team so I called people and told them about ObamaCare,” Saul-Hughes said. “With them I also went to see Obama [at the Union Depot on Feb. 26] , which was so cool.”

Even though it can sometimes be uncomfortable, Saul-Hughes knows that sex education needs to be covered. “I think that sex ed is super important because it’s really easy to not know what is going on. It’s easy to get an STI,” she said.

Saul-Hughes is not the only student working with Planned Parenthood. Senior Clare McGlincey will complete her Senior Project mentor-ship with the organization.

“My next door neighbor is the head of Planned Parenthood for North and South Dakota and Minnesota, so I just figured that that would be an easy connection and its something I’m interested in,” McGlincey said.
McGlincey will split her time between Planned Parenthood’s locations in the Minneapolis Uptown area and on University Avenue in St. Paul.

“I’m going to be teaching different people about what the program is at Uptown and at [the University location], I will be working as an escort for the women that are patients because there are protesters outside,” she said.

“I’m gonna be protecting them and helping them get into the clinic without being distracted.”

McGlincey believes that many people have misconceptions about the organization. “I think the most important thing about Planned Parenthood is the education part and spreading awareness,” she said.

“They sort of get painted out in this sort of awful picture that they have this abortion agenda when really everything else they do is to prevent abortion from even being an option.”

While Planned Parenthood is one of the leading organizations for students to get involved in, there are many other organizations that are always looking for volunteers. Family Tree Clinic, a local reproductive and sexual health clinic, has a summer program called Keeping It Safe and Sexy [KISS] for teens interested in sex education. “It’s for teens and you learn how to teach sex ed and you get a free sex ed kit…” Saul-Hughes said. “It is so cool and I really want to do it.”

Students interested in working with either of these organizations should visit the Planned Parenthood website.