Terri's Story

For many of us at SESAME, it is personal experiences that have brought us to this advocacy work. And that is the case with me. I was raising my young family in a small town of 4,000, just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. When my oldest child was not even four years old, I was told that a teacher was found in bed with a high school student. And this caused me great worry.

Even then because I knew I was going to be raising my children in this community and there was only one high school for them to attend. So I took it upon myself to make sure that this high school was going to be a safe place for my children and it took me 11 years. I am grateful to everyone that participated alongside with me because I didn't do it myself. I had the help of friends, former students, staff members at the school, people within the community that bolstered me to do it. And it was scary. It was a scary time for me. And I was threatened in the process. But I stood on the truth. And the truth is our children deserve the best protection in our schools. And that's why I do what I do each and every day.