Abstinence education encourages students to take charge of their lives and make healthy personal choices. It involves them in planning for their own futures. What better way to teach this message than to give them the opportunity to engage with the lesson in the same way we want them to be engaged with their life - hands on, creative, and focused!

Schools in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area have the unique opportunity to involve their students in NWFS’ annual media project contest. Designed as a component of the Youth Solutions curricula, this contest is a great way for students to creatively express what they have learned about abstinence. Youth educators from Northwest Family Services spend two class periods with the students introducing the project and helping students complete their entries in the time allotted. Each student can choose to complete a poster, a newsletter, or a radio spot advocating premarital abstinence. Students receive an “I’m Worth Waiting For” keychain as an entry prize. Winners of the contests, judged by a panel at the close of the school year, receive cash prizes for 1st and 2nd place, and fast food gift certificates for honorable mention entries.