When does no mean no?

Gabby Creason took a few conversations she had with a friend about sexual consent, then turned it into a survey and group discussions for a project for Family Career and Community Leaders of America, a club at Ignacio High School. Her project took a gold medal and second place in the advocacy category of the FCCLA Colorado convention in April, and she advanced to win a silver medal in July at the national FCCLA convention in San Diego.

She and her club advisor, Lynn Blakesley, Creason's family and consumer science teacher at Ignacio, attended the convention with 4,000 competitors from around the nation and 8,000 participants, including exchange students from Japan.

There were 200 students competing in the advocacy category, with topics ranging from environmental causes, literacy, and human trafficking, to campaigns urging drivers not to text.

"I was so excited to be in San Diego," Creason said, and she hopes she can show other Ignacio students that they can succeed in national competition, as well.

During both the state and national presentations, she had display boards showing statistics from her surveys.

The IHS junior said she was talking with a friend last fall about how her boyfriend wanted her to have sex, even when she didn't want to.

"She felt like she 'owed herself' to her boyfriend," Creason said. "She said, 'We have to have sex, we're dating,'" and that didn't seem right.

The theme for Ignacio FCCLA projects last year was "Stop the violence," so Creason contacted the Sexual Assault Services Organization in Durango and asked how she could talk to her peers about the topic of sexual consent.

Small groups are more effective for talking with young people about difficult issues than lectures, Maura Doherty Demko, the executive director of SASO, told Creason.

Creason formulated a survey, asking 83 students in the small school of 230 students their views about sexual consent.

Then she held several discussion circles with students, then surveyed 56 students.

One of her survey questions asked if someone has sex with someone who is unconscious, is that consent?

Creason said some people responded that if someone was asleep or unconscious, "it doesn't matter" if someone wants to have sex.

Part of the discussions she had focused on this being illegal under Colorado law, "and it's morally incorrect," Creason said.

After holding the discussion circles, more students seemed to realize that behavior isn't acceptable. They also became more aware of when a person says no, it means no.

Creason said in her discussions, one girl said both her mother and grandmother had been sexually assaulted, and she knew she didn't want that to happen to her.

The statistics can be grim. For Native American women, 39 percent experience dating violence sometime in their lifetime. One in four college women report being sexually assaulted during their first year at college.

Raising awareness of the issue is key.

"I'm very proud of her," Blakesley said. "These can be touchy discussions, and she did a great job. It's so important that everyone understands they have every right to say no."

Creason put a good amount of work into her survey, as well, making sure the questions were balanced and fair.

To reach more students, Creason asked her art teacher if art students could make some posters on the topic. Some people took some of the posters down, but another told her, "I appreciate what you're doing," Creason said.

IHS offers a teen choices class that discusses domestic and dating violence, as well as sexuality, Blakesley said. "It is addressed in school, but it's an elective. Everybody needs to be a part of the discussion."

While the FCCLA teens were discussing some serious topics at the national convention, they had some time for fun as well. They got to visit the San Diego Zoo, Coronado Island and the Seaport Village, as well as watching Independence Day fireworks over the ocean.

Blakesley said they both enjoyed spending time with so many enthusiastic, smart and polite kids.

"I have a lot of hope for the future," she said.

FCCLA focuses on creating stronger communities, and the skills students learn in creating their projects will serve them well in college and work, Blakesley said.

To raise funds for the trip, Creason sold "cupcakes for consent" at school, and teachers gave her donations to wear jeans on casual days. She raffled a fountain and helped the district sell some old furniture for donations. She also received grants from Pine River Valley Rotary, the LPEA Round-Up Fund, and the Ignacio School Board.

Creason plans on studying pre-med in college, then wants to continue on to medical school to become a physician.