Hill Country Freethinkers Association donates to student parenting program

Santa and some friends visited the offices and preschool classrooms of the San Marcos CISD Student Age Parenting Program (SAPP) last week, to present Program Director Jennifer Vogel with a $4,000 check from the Hill Country Freethinkers Association (HCFA).  

For over 30 years, SAPP has helped young families to complete their education, acquire parenting skills, access resources, and become informed citizens of the community. SAPP provides parenting education, peer mentoring and sex education. It has achieved remarkable success reducing the drop-out rate and repeat pregnancies among SMCISD teen parents.

SAPP's influence extends beyond the students of SMISD. Its staff has created and written the Texas Education Agency curriculum for the Teen Parent Education course for high school credit, and it has led state educators with its sex education program Beyond Talk and its attention to LGBT issues.

Vogel said she plans to use the donated funds to support a community assessment on youth risk behavior and other areas to address the needs of teen parents. She will use an assessment tool such as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HCFA was established in the greater San Marcos area over 6 years ago as an educational, charitable, and social organization. It traces its origin to Freethinking German immigrants who came to the Texas Hill Country between 1840 and 1860 seeking freedom from political and religious tyranny. The group meets monthly to discuss topics such as freethought as a philosophical life-stance, humanism, ethics, science, psychology, philosophy and religion. Its charitable activities have included providing meals at the Southside Community Center shelter, sponsoring educational events with other organizations in the area and making donations to local charitable organizations.