This Monday, BreakDown STL visited St. Dominic with the goal of educating, equipping and empowering teens to make positive life choices. The organization certainly succeeded in doing so, leaving a positive impression on the school community.

BreakDown STL was created by Jenna Imergoot in 2006 when she recognized a call for her to make a positive impact on current youth culture. Imergoot put together a team of talented teens to perform at schools around St. Louis, addressing high-risk problems that teens face such as drugs, alcohol, sex, eating disorders, suicide and body shaming through skits, dances, singing and poems.

The presentation “breaks down” all of those subjects and illustrates how participating in certain behaviors can put you and those around you at risk and lead you down a much more difficult path in life.

Junior Taylor Larner and sophomore Tori Larner, a dancer and actress respectively, are part of the BreakDown team, and they were so excited to perform for St. Dominic. The girls worked incredibly hard to prepare, and they hope the presentation impacted the school community that they are so close to.

“I hope that high schoolers realize that they will not be alone when choosing to live their lives differently. I hope that by seeing the presentation they see that there are a lot of their peers making positive choices, and they won’t be alone if they choose to as well,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s hope seems to be a reality, as many students have been talking positively about the presentation over the past few days.

“While it did hit so many heavy topics, it helped me notice that my actions have consequences… I gained so much of a deeper understanding of teenage problems and how they could have negative outcomes,” freshman Madison Ey said.

Senior Ryan Monahan couldn’t agree more.

“BreakDown gave me a new perspective on how complex everybody’s life can be, and it especially enforced the fact that we don’t know absolutely everything about someone or about a certain situation,” Monahan said.

BreakDown STL holds at least two community presentations a year, which are open to all. The next community presentation is scheduled for Feb. 2, 2020 at Crosspoint Church from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. If you missed out on Monday, make sure to come check out BreakDown at their next performance. You won’t be disappointed!