SGSC students from the theatre and nursing programs participate in Teen Maze event
It’s all about choices. This is the message of the Teen Maze at Pierce County Middle School (PCMS) in Blackshear, Georgia. South Georgia State College (SGSC) theatre students and nursing students from the Waycross and Douglas campuses came together to support the Pierce County Family Connection at this year’s event. “Teen Maze is an outstanding and thought provoking program that helps middle and high school students see the firsthand effects of life altering decisions through real life demonstrations,” explained Katherine LeRoy-Lawson, SGSC assistant professor of theatre. “We worked closely with Executive Director of Pierce County Family Connection Stephanie Belle to orchestrate our participation and performance. Our students did an outstanding job portraying characters in the party and crash scenes.”
SGSC nursing students from the Waycross campus prepared trifold boards and spoke with the eighth-grade students at PCMS on various health care related topics including: abstinence/contraceptives; sexual transmitted infections (STIs); alcohol/ JUUL/ nicotine/ marijuana use; lack of motivation; taking responsibility; safe internet use/sex trafficking; dating violence; social media addiction; gaming addiction; cyberbullying/bullying; pornography/sexting; handling stress/depression and suicide. These were all topics the PCMS students and staff recognized and reported as problematic for our youth.
“Our children face more life stresses than ever before and it truly is all about the choices you make in that split second decision that can affect you and your family members for years to come. Ambi Bess and Stephanie Belle do a wonderful job bringing together community resources for the production of Teen Maze each year,” explains Ms. Lisa Batten, SGSC associate professor of nursing. “Teen Maze not only focuses on life choices but is also about letting our youth know that there are people out there that care about them and want to help them be successful in life. I believe that is the calling and life of a nurse, to dedicate one’s life for the betterment of another. SGSC nursing students did a great job alongside other community resources, helping to educate our youth about life choices.”
Nursing students participating in PCMS Teen Maze were Kayla Bradford, Makala Clinch, Carlin Collins, Jazzmin Crawford, John Dean, Ansley Delk, Jessica Forbes, Nadia Gibson, Savannah Griffith, Kelli Harvey, Jessica Howell, Elizabeth Jacobs, Victoria James, Shannon Knight, Bryant Lee, Ronald Mason, Seth McDaniel, Sidney Middleton, Taylor Mullis, Shelby Parker, Valeria Pittman, Mikey Rhoden, Sarah Roberson, Alexis Scarborough, Tabitha Smith, Tiffany Sutton, Jocelyn Vaughn, Ursy Wallace, Christina Walsh, Blair White, Dolly Winters and Suzanne Yeomans.
Theatre students participating were Noah Rouse (President of TheaCo Waycross campus), Rachel Vuong (President of TheaCo Douglas campus), Victoria Highsmith,
A’Kye Smith, Ivee Cole, Madison Drury, Madison Gruber, Shanya Jackson, Jaela Rogers, Hunter Moore and Kerrington Hollis.
Teen Maze 1:
SGSC theatre students are pictured with Stephanie Belle (Executive Director of Pierce County Family Connection) and Katherine LeRoy-Lawson.
Teen Maze 2:
SGSC nursing students prepare to speak with students at the Teen Maze.