When Delaney Balderas isn’t studying public health at American University, she’s putting what she’s learned into practice with students in the D.C. public school system.   
 
At least once a week, Balderas volunteers with the Peer Health Exchange (PHE), a non-profit that gives 9th grade students not only information regarding healthy living, but hands-on skills such as decision making, communication, advocacy and accessing health resources in their schools and communities.
 
“It’s really exciting studying all these different health models and [learning] how important it is to educate young people,” says the 20-year-old sophomore.
 
The PHE works in cities across the country including New York, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco. The D.C. location has chosen to focus on three health issues: sexual health, substance abuse and mental health.
 
Last year, Balderas volunteered as a health educator—directly instructing students in the classroom. This year, she’s climbed the ranks to the program’s leadership council, where she also guides three new health educators on effective methods to use and improve upon in PHE’s curriculum.
 
Unique about this particular program is that high schoolers are not learning from traditional adults, but instructors who are just a few years older.
 
“Students often feel more comfortable sharing their experiences with us because we are close in age and we're in more of a unique position to have really open conversations about important and often stigmatized topics,” says Balderas.
 
College students are also ideal instructors because they have just the right level of maturity, says Kellye McKenzie, PHE executive director. “With college students being a little older and  further along in their academic careers, they have the skills and capacity to master our curriculum, which is fairly rigorous. They have the academic capacity and the rigor to deliver the content in a way that’s really impactful and meaningful.”
 
This year, Balderas spends most of her time with 9th graders at Eastern Senior High School on East Capitol St. in Southeast D.C. Her workshops center around accessing resources, which utilizes the internet as a primary source for information.
 
Accessing nearby health facilities is also taught within this workshop. At Eastern, students have access to a school-based health center, where they can receive comprehensive health services without ever leaving the campus.
 
“We've actually been giving students tours of the health center so they're one step closer to feeling more prepared to go use the resources within their communities,” says Balderas. 
 
The workshop also has more interactive activities. In a game called “myth and truth,” students partner up to read everyday conversations youth might have about health issues, such as teen pregnancy.
 
“Students have to respond whether they think it’s valid or not valid, then we talk it out,” says Balderas. “This [activity] goes to show how many rumors are out there about pregnancy prevention and how important it is to go into the classroom and really set the record straight so that rates of teen pregnancy can decrease over time and that kids can use the knowledge they’ve learned to make decisions about sex and pregnancy prevention.” 
 
For Delaney, the opportunity to teach health in this capacity has added direction to her future. Although she’s not certain exactly what she plans to do once she graduates, she definitely wants to continue health education in the community.
 
“I’d just like to do community-based, hands-on work with people to help empower them to make healthy decisions in their lives,” she says.