Meet The Team
Lori Tesauro
(she/her/hers)
Program Coordinator, Teen Talk New Jersey
Miss Lori is a Program Coordinator at the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative for the Teen Talk New Jersey program. Miss Lori has been providing South Jersey youth with safe sexual health information for the past 11 years. In her spare time, Miss Lori spends time with her daughter and dog Rocky and takes time to relax with friends.
Miranda Falkowski
(she/her/hers)
Health Education Field Representative, Vineland Health Department
Miss Miranda has worked for the City of Vineland Health Department since 2018 and has facilitated Teen Outreach Program clubs since early 2019. Miss Miranda has a passion for teaching teens and is constantly continuing her own education. She loves spending time at her home in Vineland with her two dogs, Bear and Finn.
Sara Paciocco, BA, CHES
(she/her/hers)
Health Education Field Representative, Vineland Health Department
Miss Sara is a Vineland native and has worked for the City of Vineland Department of Health for seven years. She loves daily interactions with teens. They are so creative, thoughtful and unpredictable! At home, Miss Sara could spend an entire day in her kitchen baking, dancing and chopping up produce from her garden.
Youth Programming
Our Programming
Below is information about the youth programming we offer through Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative. The Cooperative is funded through a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health. All programs are free of charge, evidence-based and conducted by our health educators. Please contact us for more information and to learn how your school or organization can benefit from our programming.
If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact Lori Tesauro at teentalknj@snjpc.org.
One-Time Presentations
Health educators provide presentations on healthy relationship skills, LGBTQ awareness, goal-setting, positive decision-making skills and health and wellness. The presentations can be designed to fit the audience’s needs.
Teen Outreach Program
Youth Development That Works
Do you want to inspire and prepare young people to succeed? Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program (TOP®) empowers teens by providing the tools and opportunities needed to lead healthy and successful lives. TOP® is a place for teens to interact with their peers and participate in activities that promote positive youth development.
While participating in TOP®, teens will learn and develop:
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Healthy behaviors
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Life skills
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Sense of purpose
Topics Include:
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Relationships
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Communication skills
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Values
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Goal-setting
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Sexual health
Teens also participate in community service projects where they can practice the skills they are learning. TOP® is intended for middle school or high school youth.
This is a 9-month program that requires: 25 one-hour weekly club meetings, 20 hours of community service learning and parental or guardian consent.
Reducing The Risk
Building Skills to Prevent Pregnancy, STD/HIV
Reducing the Risk (RTR): Building Skills to Prevent Pregnancy, STD/HIV is a curriculum designed to help youth delay the initiation of sex or increase the use of protection against pregnancy, STDs and HIV if they choose to have sex.
Two key skills are taught:
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Refusal skills – Responses that clearly say no to having sex or refuse unprotected sex
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Delay tactics and alternative actions – Ways students can avoid a situation
Topics Include:
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How STDs are transmitted
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How teens can best protect themselves
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Information about protection methods (abstinence-focused)
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Strategies to enhance their communication and
decision-making skills
Program Requirements:
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Memorandum of Understanding between the host site and Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative
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Participants’ parental/guardian consent provided by Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative
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Zoom or Google classroom capability for virtual instruction
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45-minute sessions can be delivered weekly, bi-weekly or designed to fit the organization’s needs
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Intended for youth in grades 8 - 12
The program is 16 sessions and each session is approximately 45 minutes.
Not Sure? Try a Pilot!
At Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, our health educators are here to support the needs of your organization. If you like a program above, but you need it customized to fit your youth, let us know. We can tailor programs to fit any number of sessions. We can also tailor each program to focus on a particular topic like emotional health, sexual health, goal setting, values or communication skills. Contact us to find out more!
Just for Parents
Teen Speak
A Guide to Understanding and Communicating with Your Teen
Parenting a teen can be aggravating, confusing and wonderful all at the same time! Equipped with Teen Speak®, parents/guardians can overcome the most common challenges – from vaping and peer pressure, to chores and homework.
Teen Speak helps parents:
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Talk to their teens about sensitive topics
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Better understand adolescence's physical, cognitive, emotional, and sexual development
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Practice talking to their teens through interactive activities
Teen Speak is typically a two-day workshop for two hours each day, but it can be adjusted to fit various schedules and needs.
Professional Trainings
Our health educators are not just committed to cultivating well-being in youth, we are here to support professionals and programming that serves youth as well! With over 10 years of youth-centered programming and experience working with diverse youth populations, our team works hard to support other youth programming in New Jersey and beyond. Below are some professional courses we offer. We are also able to tailor courses and create content to better serve your training needs.
Supporting Transgender Youth
These workshops offer a plethora of nuanced guidance, practices and resources for professionals on the transgender experience and prejudice experienced by the transgender community. This workshop can be designed for any audience whether it is a social service organization or medical provider.
Teen Dating Violence
This one-time professional training talks about teen dating violence, what it is and how you can make prevention efforts more successful. Through this training, participants will learn about assessment tools that provide insight to what teen dating violence is and how to use empowerment models effectively with teens.