 Well, back in October, a new clinic focused on reproductive health education to open its doors in Brainerd. Now, many youth are opening their arms to help spread the message to their peers. Sarah Winckelman has more. We definitely brainstorm a lot, as I say, what a lot of the meetings are. We discuss things that have happened. That's Laura, a senior at Brainerd High School, talking about their newly formed Youth Advisory Council at the We Are Clinic. Sort of committed to the effort to provide birth control, STI testing and sexual health counseling services, as well as education to young adults and teenagers in our area. The Youth Advisory Council is made up of 10 students, grades seven through 12, throughout the Brainerd Lakes area, that have an important message to share about reproductive health. It's not a taboo topic. It's it's a good topic and it's one that needs to be talked about. The teens in the council joined to make their peers aware and let them know that they have options, especially sometimes hearing something from a young person can be more effective for a young person. As for one of the younger members, Olivia hopes to spread the message of awareness to others her age during this transition into high school. Getting to know what relationships are like, and it's important to know that you want to be safe while being in those relationships. The Youth Advisory Council has been brainstorming a lot of new ideas, but one that was put into action is a new texting number option for the clinic. A lot of teenagers and young adults aren't necessarily as comfortable with forms of communication like phone calls or with face-to-face conversations about sensitive issues that are very personal. But for this group of teens, they continue to talk about the issues. They really get the mission and we really want this to be a safe and confidential place where kids can come, youth can come, they can get the services they need and they can get accurate information and we feel that that's so important and they really get that message and what better way to get that message to other youth and through their peers. It's just been fun to see the progress that we've made in such a short amount of time. The group meets about every other week to discuss new ideas to reach youth in the community. Reporting in Brainerd, Sarah Winckelman, Lakeland News. The Youth Advisory Council will soon be open to regular youth members, not just the 10 spots for those currently on the board. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.