Other Cool StuffNative It's Your Game!

Native It's Your Game!

News!

  • Check out the Anchorage Native It's Your Game Summer Camp flyer with session times: 

    Anchorage Native It's Your Game Flyer - Session Times Anchorage Native It's Your Game Flyer - Session Times (640 KB)

  • Check out the Anchorage Parent Meet & Greet flyer:

    ANC Parent Meet & Greet Flyer ANC Parent Meet & Greet Flyer (680 KB)

  • Check out the Juneau Native It's Your Game Summer Camp flyer with session times:

    Juneau Native It's Your Game Flyer - Session Times Juneau Native It's Your Game Flyer - Session Times (678 KB)


  • Summer camps happening in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau throughout June 2013.
    • Dates for Anchorage are:
      • June 3-7 8:00am - 5:00pm at Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC)
        • This session incorporates a morning session run by CITC where youth get to learn to build their own computer games.
      • June 10-13 1:00pm - 5:00pm at Cook Inlet Tribal Council
      • June 17-21 12:00pm - 4:00pm at Wendler Middle School
      • June 24-28 12:00pm - 4:00pm at Wendler Middle School
    • Dates for Juneau are:
      • June 24-28 12:00pm - 4:00pm at Juneau-Douglas High School
      • June 24-28 12:00pm - 4:00pm at Thunder Mountain High School
    • Submit your interest form today to get information on enrolling in the summer camp sessions!

    Native It's Your Game is a free multimedia, web-based summer program for Alaska Native and American Indian youth 12-14 years old being offered in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau.

    What will my child learn and do?

    • They could learn about:
      • Healthy friendships & relationships
      • How to handle peer pressure around: drugs, alcohol, and sex
      • Internet safety
      • The facts about substance abuse, child obesity, and hearing loss in teens
    • What will they be doing?
      • Your child will be going through different interactive health programs that are web-based.
      • These program include music by contemporay musicians, games, journaling, and videos.
      • Breaks will be included during the summer sessions, weather and location permitting, the breaks will be outside.
      • Food is provided to your child during the program.
    • Will they get anything for participating?
      • They will be part of a national attempt to create a free, effective health program for Alaska Native and American Indian youth across the nation.
      • They will received a gift card for every survey they complete.
      • Free custom Native It's Your Game! earbuds.
      • A chance to win a free iPod Nano
      • Enter to win other prizes.

    Interested?

    Submit your interest form today to get information on enrolling in the summer camp sessions!

    This research program is being done out of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium HIV/STD Prevention Program, 3900 Ambassador Drive, Anchorage, Alaska

    Background of Native It’s Your Game:

    • The study in Alaska is being done out of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium HIV/STD Prevention Program.
    • The original program was created by the University of Texas Prevention Research Center, as an effective, multimedia program designed to improve healthy decision-making while reducing teen pregnancy and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases)/HIV
    • Funding to adapt the original version of IYG to a more culturally appropriate version was granted from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and ACF (Administration for Children and Families) as a three-year study.
    • Adaptations for IYG were based on feedback from AI/AN students, parents, educators, community members, elders for our Alaska Native youth across Alaska.

    What is Native IYG?

    • A complete, stand-alone, Internet-based curriculum, which allows individual use without the need for classroom group-process or teacher facilitation.
    • A rich, interactive learning experience for middle school youth that incorporates music, creative skills, and games.
    • The curriculum is thirteen lessons, 30-45 minutes each.
    • The program teaches about healthy relationships, life skills, communication, and refusal skills. It emphasizes abstinence, but also teaches students how to protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections using medically accurate information.
    • The curriculum meets National Standards for Health Education.
    • It can be used in the classroom or as an extracurricular/after-school program.

    Purpose of the research:

    • Develop and test how well a sexual health education program works for American Indian and Alaska Native middle school students (aged 12 -14 years).
    • Designed to help students make better choices in life. Native IYG teaches youth about dealing with peer pressure about sex, drugs, and alcohol. It may also help prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) when students who become sexually active.
    • Efficacy study – study sites will be randomized to receive the Native IYG intervention OR a science education program so the testing of NIYG is effective.
      • The other science programs focus on substance abuse, addiction, childhood obesity, and hearing loss in teens.
    • Testing is happening in three US locations: Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and MatSu areas), Arizona and the Pacific Northwest.

    Why should students and parents participate in the research?

    • The original It’s Your Game has be shown to delay sexual activity in middle-school students and promote positive beliefs about abstinence.
    • Alaskan students and parents have a chance to be part of a nation wide testing of NATIVE It’s Your Game before it is released to schools and tribes across Alaska and the US for FREE.
    • Students will be given small gift certificates as they complete program milestones, along with Native IYG swag and a certificate of completion.
    • All students regardless of ethnicity are welcome to participate, although the program does include many AN/AI elements. The information delivered is applicable to all students and their lives.

    Where are we in the process?

    NATIVE IYG is a three year study.

    • Year 1 –Test the usability of It’s Your Game.
    • Year 2: The adaptation phase. Adaptations for IYG will be base off feedback from year 1 and recommendations from the AI/AN community.
    • Currently we are in the beginning stages of Year 3 –Test the effectiveness of Native It’s Your Game.

    Timeframe:

    • Online Baseline Survey (at the start of each summer 2013 session)
    • Site Coordinator Training (On-going)
    • Program Start (various weeks in June and July 2013)
      • We will be having one-week summer camps in Anchorage the first three weeks of June 2013.
      • We will be having two one-week summer camps in Juneau in June 2013.
    • Post-survey (at the end of each summer 2013 session)
    • 12-month survey (June and July 2014, will be emailed to the students)

    Reporting of Results

    • The findings of this study will be disseminated to participating AI/AN communities and schools (in the form of newsletters and press releases), research partners, and the scientific community. If found effective, NATIVE It’s Your Game will be made available to AI/AN communities and schools nationwide.

    Contact Information:

    For more information regarding Native It’s Your Game in:

    Want your child to be involved in Native IYG?

    We want them to be involved too! If your Alaska Native or American Indian child lives in Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Juneau they can enroll in Native It's Your Game! Right now we are only collecting information from parents who are interested in participating, we will contact you throughout May and June to fully enroll your child into the program. Fill out your Native It's Your Game interest form now and receive a $5 gift card!