Heather Rabinowicz, a sophomore at Lafayette College and a 1998 graduate of Syosset High School, is the coordinator of Lafayette College's AIDS volunteers - a group which travels to surrounding areas in Pennsylvania to teach students about AIDS prevention.

Rabinowicz, a behavioral Neural Science major at Lafayette, began her volunteer work at Syosset High School. "I was selected for the Peers as Leaders (PAL) program when I was entering my junior year of high school," she said. After filling out an application, 50 students were interviewed and 25 were selected to be an AIDS educator, including Rabinowicz. Selected students go through a training process and then begin work with local schools to teach students about HIV and AIDS.

"I was trained at North Shore University Hospital," said Rabinowicz. "Every year I am re-trained by a professor here at Lafayette." Volunteers don't just learn AIDS statistics during this training process, but what to expect from the students whom they are teaching."

After high school graduation, Rabinowicz still wanted to pursue AIDS work. Lafayette College had two programs related to AIDS through the Landis Community Outreach Center on campus. One was for off-campus work and the other handled AIDS related education on-campus.

"The two coordinators were seniors and at the end of my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to take over both programs and combine them," said Rabinowicz. The result was a program called HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education Now (HAPEN). Volunteers are now doing on and off campus work for the same program. Rabinowicz is the coordinator of the program. "It is a great program - I love it," said Rabinowicz.

Through the current program, Lafayette students visit local schools in the Pennsylvania area and talk to students, ranging from seventh through twelfth grade, about the risks associated with unprotected sex and other aspects of AIDS. By establishing a rapport with Lafayette students, the teens open up more than they would with adults. Volunteers attend planning meetings and training on campus before engaging in the program with the high schools.

"The kids seem to respond to them," said Pat Gibbs, supervisor of health and physical education at Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey where the volunteers visited. "The students relate to them well because they're not much older. I don't know what kind of impact it's had, but their knowledge has increased."

The volunteers recently spent four days, two with seventh and eighth grades and two with high school seniors, teaching lesson plans, which they created, outlining AIDS education. "I go there too and teach," said Rabinowicz. "I don't just coordinate and sit back. I participate too."

This has been a life changing experience for Rabinowicz and all of the volunteers. "I definitely feel that we have changed a few kids' lives," Rabinowicz said. This was the first year that the volunteers worked with high school seniors. "Some of them thought we should have started earlier because it was already too late. There were a few seniors putting themselves in danger by living risky lifestyles. They admitted, after we spoke to them, that they might not stop what they are doing, but they will be safe and get tested." HAPEN volunteers pass out index cards for the students to anonymously tell them things they might be embarrassed to admit publicly. This way the volunteers can answer their individual questions. "It might not be a huge impact, but I think that it is something and that is more than enough for me," Rabinowicz said.

HAPEN volunteers also hold on-campus fund raisers benefiting AIDS victims and their families. Rabinowicz plans to have the AIDS Quilt displayed at Lafayette College next year.

After college, Rabinowicz plans on attending graduate school to get her Masters degree in public or health administration enabling her to work in area hospitals and surrounding school districts educating about HIV and AIDS.