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Show Candace Gunnell honored by School Board By MILTON K. SHAUM FARMINGTON The Davis County School Board honored Candace Gunnell, Centerville, for her volunteer services to help educate Davis County teens about sex. Gunnell's crusade to help teens began two years when she was a housewife with a part-time wedding consultant business. Prospective brides who came to her often greatly great-ly distressed her, because they were already pregnant and frequently very unhappy. Her concern led her to Superintendent Nancy Fleming and a referral to the Davis County Council on Infants, Children and Youth. At the monthly council meeting in March 1989, she presented her concern regarding the escalating number of teen pregnancies. It was also a council high priority item, so she was asked to head a "Teen Pregnancy Prevention" task force. Gunnell has not slowed down since she became chairman of the task force. With an eight-member task force, she did many hours of research, reviewed numerous sex education programs, and consulted with local, state and national leaders. This culminated in the recommendation rec-ommendation to the Davis County School District Board of Education that they adopt the abstinence-based sex education program, 'Sex Respect." The Board unanimously approved the program. Her work was not completed, however, as she held numerous meetings with parents, community groups, professional and others, to help with general awareness, in-service in-service and program finances. Her efforts did not go unnoticed, as she was frequently called by other school districts throughout the state, and even groups from other states and countries. Gunnell has volunteered thousands of hours in this very worthwhile wor-thwhile project. She has become a true expert on the subject. Her task force continues to meet, and she has helped promote an additional program pro-gram for high school students. She personifies all that is good in volunteers and epitomizes the truly "concerned citizen." She has a very positive and infectious personality per-sonality and has won the respect and love of everyone with whom she works. j |