Bringing Inclusive, Affirming, & Anti-Racist Sex Ed to Dallas | Sherri Cook | Tiny Pulpit Talks: 012
In this episode of Tiny Pulpit Talks, Rev. T. J. FitzGerald welcomes Sherri Cook, Executive Director of Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE) for a conversation about inclusive and affirming sexuality education, literacy about our emotions and our body, and helping youth to grow into sexually healthy adults.
00:00 – Rev. T. J. Fitzgerald welcomes Sherri Cook, Executive Director of WISE
01:00 – What is WISE and how did it get started?
04:30 – Creating innovative and updated sex ed curriculum
05:42 – The Question Box
06:39 – Media, body, and emotional literacy
09:28 – Feedback from WISE participants
10:45 – How to learn more about WISE
About Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE)
Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE) is based in the Our Whole Lives Lifespan Sexuality (OWL) curriculum taught to young people at UU churches nationwide. Though launched from First Unitarian, it is a separate 501(c)(3) from the church. The WISE program has been delivered across Dallas since 2021.
WISE is for Every Body. We are committed to inclusivity and radical diversity, and we seek to equitably empower young people with science-based, comprehensive sexuality education. Through narrative change, we are challenging the status quo around the way that sex ed is delivered and understood. Addressing a crisis of connection and a decline in teen mental health, we promote a broad definition of sexuality that includes healthy-relationship skills, values identification, media, body, and emotional literacy, responsible decision-making, LGBTQIA+ awareness and inclusion, intersectionality of racial and sexual equity, consent, anatomy, bullying and bystander responsibilities, and more. We believe everyone deserves bodily autonomy.
WISE was created in response to a desire to live our values in the community, and to answer the need for life-saving human sexuality education in schools and neighborhood spaces outside the church. We are proud to say that we have been enthusiastically received, and to date WISE has reached over 500 students with multi-session workshops. Wholly Informed Sex Ed partners with over 20 youth-serving organizations throughout the city and continues to grow.
Follow WISE on Instagram here
Learn more about WISE on their website
Contribute to the WISE Fund here
About Sherri Cook
Sherri Cook is the Executive Director of Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE), a non-profit community outreach program originating in First Unitarian Church of Dallas. An experienced educator, Cook holds a BS in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Humanities from the University of Dallas. She has been active in Dallas volunteering and non-profit board leadership for over 30 years, with a focus on reproductive dignity and academic freedom. She served as chair of the board for First Unitarian for two years and co-chaired the most recent capital campaign. She and her husband Tom raised their daughter Jane in the church, and as a family they are involved in many activities at First U.
Tiny Pulpit Talks is a podcast series from First Unitarian Church of Dallas that takes a behind-the-scenes look at ministry from a Unitarian Universalist perspective. This is a rare opportunity to see what goes into crafting meaningful and inspirational sermons, learn how worship comes together each Sunday, and explore the many facets of spiritual leadership. Subscribe to get updates about new episodes here on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
