Growing up in Bermuda, the only health education Middle School Health and Well-being Faculty Jessica Frith received was watching her teacher soak a tampon in water and put  a condom on a banana. “Kids need more than that. They also need someone that they can ask the questions to that maybe they don’t feel comfortable asking their parents,” Frith said. This experience is part of what led Frith to her passion: teaching health. Frith has always felt drawn to health; she likes the mixed aspects of teaching and health that it has.  She now teaches fifth through ninth grade students.

If Frith weren’t a teacher, she would likely be a doctor, a neuroscientist, or work in a similar healthcare field.. Frith graduated from Hunter College and received an undergraduate degree from The City University of New York’s Unique & Interdisciplinary Studies program, where students can design their own majors—hers was a B.A. in Psychosocial Health Studies. She received her Master’s in Health Education from Columbia University,then taught at a small junior high school in New York: Square Public Charter School.  

Frith recalls the challenges of being a Middle School student. She believes that Middle School is an important chapter in a student’s development.In addition, Frith is working with Health and Well-being Faculty Phoebe Aberlin to extend health requirements beyond ninth grade. Their idea is that there would be one class per semester, “ I think the stuff that you guys learn in Middle School, you might not be in those situations yet, right? So we’re preparing you to deal with different types of peer pressure, whether that is resisting peer pressure around drugs and alcohol or sexual peer pressure. Once you’re in Upper School, those situations are actually happening.” Frith believes it is important that not only Middle Schoolers understand health as a form of preventive medicine, but Upper Schoolers as well.

 Frith enjoys teaching about healthy relationships the most, whether that be romantic relationships, friendships, etc. “ I think that the most challenging part of being a Middle Schooler is finding the people who treat you like a good friend should be treated. And also just helping people really understand that kindness and compassion and empathy are important now.”  However, she also enjoys teaching about body dysmorphia and body image trends, especially in a time when social media can misinform people and lower their self-esteem. Frith had a notable experience at her former school that made her see clearly how flawed our society is in how we view our appearances. “These sixth graders all felt like they had something to add. They all knew who the Kardashians were,” Frith said. To her, it was astonishing that the girls in sixth grade wanted a certain body type: small waist, larger hips and butt. “And I thought that was really a sad sign that we had sixth graders worrying about that sort of thing.” Frith strives to make her classroom a safe space. One notable way she strives to achieve this is by encouraging her students to be vulnerable.

One of the most important things Frith learned this year is to focus on the people you love. “I feel like I’m always learning… I think one of the things I have learned is how as you get older people start to get sick or you lose people in your life. I think I’ve realized that it’s really important to say the things you need to say to the people you love, spend time with the people that you love, and not worry so much about what other people think.”