Harry Potter and his gang flew into MHS earlier this month to teach students about HIV/AIDS.

The Peer Aids club emphasized HIV/AIDS awareness during the week of December 1, and continued to spread knowledge to students from seventh to twelfth grade by conducting assemblies in Berner and Massapequa High School until December 5.

Mr. LaBella, a teacher and athletics coach at MHS, has been running this program for the past six years. He picks about 25 students to go to Berner and 25 different students to hold an assembly here at Massapequa High School. Mr. LaBella said that the assemblies do more than simply provide prevention tips to students; they also provide students with information on how not to contract HIV/AIDS. “We provide education for the individual.” He believes the assemblies truly impact the students.

The Peer Aids educators have an amusing way of keeping the students involved, interested and engaged. “We try to make them have fun–we do skits and obstacle courses related to HIV/AIDS,” Mr. Labella said. This year, the assembly theme was Harry Potter, and included many of the characters from the world-renowned novels and movies. “I found it useful because it taught me to be careful with my choices that will affect my life forever,” sophomore James Grillo said of the play.

According to the school website, “[the assemblies] provide helpful, accurate information regarding HIV/AIDS.” The Peer Aid educators are there to teach the importance of the HIV/AIDS predicament, the modes of transmission, the disease itself and prevention tips. The focus is to reduce the frequency of HIV/AIDS by encouraging students to make the right decisions. This program has been running for 18 years now, providing students in the middle and high schools with the right information.