CAASE Is Helping Them Get Started

When Chicago schools returned to entirely in-person learning in the fall of 2021, students were excited to make connections on campus with their peers and teachers. Likewise, teachers and administrators were eager to create a sense of community that had been difficult to foster during remote learning. These desires were strengthened by a year of lockdowns, protests, and political uncertainty. Students expressed wanting to learn how they can take action to address issues their communities and peers face, and teachers reached out for our programs at a record rate.  

CAASE experienced unprecedented demand for our Empowering Youth to End Sexual Exploitation curriculum and our single-session workshops. We deepened our impact at long-standing partner high schools like Mather and George Washington, where glowing word-of-mouth recommendations led more teachers to seek out our programming. Collaboration with a new community partner further extended our reach as they helped connect our educators with new schools and audiences of Chicago teens. 

Perhaps most importantly, we continued listening to students and were responsive to their passion for activism. We adapted our content to more specifically model how to take action to end sexual harm, whether by practicing consent or by showing compassion for people who need help. The results were astounding. Ninety percent of participants over the past academic year indicated that they understood what they could do to end sexual harm in their personal lives and communities—a 111 percent increase from pre-program surveys.

Young people are looking to take action after CAASE leaves their classroom. So, we created a new webpage dedicated to students. It’s a one-stop resource when they have questions about what sexual harm looks like, how to be engaged in ending it, and where they can find help for a peer or themselves. We are excited to introduce it to program participants in the fall of 2022.  

Students’ drive to shift our culture is inspiring. Each participant’s power to influence people in their lives makes reaching a record number of students even more significant. CAASE educated 7,162 youth over the past academic year and hit a major milestone: 30,000 served since our founding.

After a remarkable year, CAASE continues to see that, as the breadth of our reach expands, so does our ability to empower youth to come together and make a difference.

CAASE published this piece on September 12, 2022. It was authored by CAASE Prevention Manager Ryan Spooner and Communications Manager Hayley Forrestal. Learn more about our staff here.