S.T.A.R.S. stands for:

Students Teaching Abstinence, Relationships and Self-Control

FRIENDS FIRST presents the follow up to your current abstinence curriculum - The FRIENDS FIRST STARS Mentoring Program.  This program has been tested in Longmont, CO for and has been successful in keeping teens abstinent from all high-risk behaviors including pre-marital sex, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.  FRIENDS FIRST has seen the mentoring program work in urban and rural areas across the country.

WHY STARS?

Abstinence educators, give teens a solid foundation when teaching abstinence and relationships in the classroom.  You can now make the choice of abstinence and healthy relationships a part of their everyday lives through the FRIENDS FIRST STARS Mentoring Program.  When teens are involved in a year-round mentor program with their peers, abstinence becomes more realistic and attainable.  Through the mentoring program you are reaching a broad age range of students from 5^th - 12^th grades.

This is how a full-scale mentoring program works:  Gather a group of high school teens who are committed to abstinence.  These teens form a group called STARS and support one another in making healthy choices.  The STARS then mentor students in 5^th - 8^th grades.  For 5^th and 6^th grade students the STARS give the children "pre-abstinence" training by teaching character foundations, how to avoid negative peer pressure, how to become leaders and more.  For 7^th and 8^th grade, the mentoring is more abstinence focused.  The 5^th - 8^th grade students then have role models and see that choosing a healthy lifestyle is realistic and preferable.

WHAT CAN I DO?

The best part of the FRIENDS FIRST STARS Mentoring Program is that you can implement it in a way to meet the needs of your school and community.  They are as follows:

• Call in or send an e-mail to our national office requesting additional information and a Curriculum Preview CD
• Become an official FRIENDS FIRST Charter
• Use the material as a supplement and/or implement into existing programs.
• Set up a group of high school and/or middle school students who support each other in their commitment to abstinence.  This group can have meetings at school and do activities together outside school.  The STARS Handbook acts as a guide to facilitate meetings.  Order your STARS Handbook today!
• Set up a mentoring program.  This is a group of high school students that mentor younger students in the 5^th - 8^th grade age ranges.  This can be done in a variety of ways, in which FRIENDS FIRST can be of assistance.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT FROM THE STARS MENTORING PROGRAM AND CURRICULUM?

Here are some resources that you will find useful for starting a mentor program or writing us into your grant:

• Sample Budget (From the STARS Leader's Guide)
• STARS Handbook Table of Contents and Unit Introductions
• Technical Assistance for Starting a Peer Mentoring Program