By Becky Miller, Education Coordinator for Rhode Island RTL

The "physician" who had just "assisted" my "suicide" wiped her sticky fingers in satisfaction. Cool Whip slid down my cheek as the students laughed. Even our speaker, philosopher Dr. Fritz Wenisch, chuckled at the whipped-cream-splattered room and the volunteers who had just illustrated the various types of euthanasia with a pie-in-the-face workshop. Week six of Rhode Island Right to Life's first Summer Academy for pro-life teens was off to a great start.

Rhode Island Right to Life students and staffers conclude their first pro-life teen Summer Academy with a visit to pro-life Governor Carcieri.

Inspired by the camps that Wisconsin and Oregon Right to Life host, we created an eight-week series of Wednesday afternoon sessions with speakers and workshops. Up to 19 high school students joined us each week in July and August for two hours of learning and interaction. The students loved the academy and are heading into the school year educated and energized to take pro-life action.

Our class represented seven different schools from across the state. The students ranged in grade from freshmen to seniors. Our goal with the Academy was to engage high school students as workers in the pro-life movement. We hope these students will become ambassadors of RIRTL in their respective schools, churches and communities as well as start/support pro-life clubs in their schools.

Top-notch pro-life speakers addressed our academy class each week. We kept the students well fed with snack breaks that gave them a chance to mingle and network, and we had a ton of fun with workshops and games.

The National Right to Life Convention in June offered sessions for teens and youth leaders that gave us excellent ideas for activities, like the color typing personality workshop we did as an ice breaker our first session and the pie-in-the-face game we used to teach about euthanasia.

In our final session, we toured the Rhode Island State House, which is just down the street from our office. We met pro-life Governor Carcieri, who encouraged the students, "You are doing essential work. This is the most important issue of our time.

Let this be a life-long pursuit for you."

Rhode Island is the smallest state, and our state organization has a small staff, but even with our limited resources, we put together a strong program. We challenge other state affiliates to try a similar program next summer – either a camp, a weekend retreat, or a series of seminars. Step up your youth outreach and education efforts. Local schools are full of enthusiastic pro-life teens who want to be taught, mentored and pointed in the right direction to channel their boundless energy and passion.

We would be happy to share ideas and curriculum with other state organizations that want to put together a teen program next summer. Contact me at bmiller@rirtl.org.

Part One