IRHI offering sexual health programming for middle schoolers

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 20, 2025

By Julia Soes

As fall approaches, parents, guardians, and teachers on Orcas are once again gearing up for another school year. While academics, sports and clubs help keep kids mentally engaged and physically active, one of the more challenging areas to prepare young people for is sexual health education.

According to the Youth Community Health Assessment published in June 2025, “Youth expressed a strong desire for better health education about reproductive health. It was the second most significant topic that students brought up.” The Island Reproductive Health Initiative is committed to closing this gap.

Thanks to a successful Give Orcas Spring 2025 campaign, IRHI is excited to once again offer the Our Whole Lives sexual health programming — creating a safe, inclusive space for Orcas Island middle schoolers, from any school, to learn about sexual health in a non-judgmental and comprehensive way. Led by trained community facilitators, OWL provides students with in-depth, age-appropriate information about puberty, relationships and their health. Grounded in a holistic view of sexuality, the program covers six key areas: human development, relationships, interpersonal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society and culture. IRHI is inviting parents and guardians to attend an information night on Tuesday, Aug. 26, in The Community Room at the Public Library from 4:30-6 p.m.

The Our Whole Lives program is guided by core beliefs about young people’s rights, including the right to:

• Ask any questions they have about sexuality.

• Receive complete information about sexuality.

• Explore any issues of sexuality that interest them.

• Have support in making their own decisions about sexual matters.

• Learn how sexuality can be expressed in ways that are healthy and life-affirming.

• Be treated with respect by leaders and participants in this group.

The curriculum is also based on the following assumptions about human sexuality:

• All people are sexual. Sexuality is a good and natural part of the human experience.

• Sexuality includes much more than sexual behavior.

• Human beings are sexual from the time they are born until they die.

• It is natural to express sexual feelings in a variety of ways.

• People engage in healthy sexual behavior for a variety of reasons, including: to express caring and love, to experience intimacy and connection with another, to share pleasure, to bring new life into the world and to experience fun and relaxation.

• Sexuality in our society is damaged by violence, exploitation, alienation, dishonesty, abuse of power and the treatment of persons as objects.

The 26-session OWL program is divided into eight Sunday evening meetings and three daytime retreats from October through February. The full cost per student is $675 ($27 per two-hour workshop), but a sliding scale option is available. No participant will be turned away due to funds. For more information and to apply, check out IRHI’s website, irhiorcas.org.