BreakDown STL is a student driven organization in the greater St. Louis region whose mission is to “educate, equip and empower teens to make positive life choices regarding relationships, sex, alcohol, drugs, bullying, self-harm and suicide by providing culturally relevant preventative health education.” BreakDown STL communicates its message through theatrical performances that unabashedly confront the pressures teenagers face everyday.

Founder Jenna Imergoot created BreakDown St. Louis in 2007 to combat the low expectations set for teenagers, saying, “We believe in the unlimited power of youth and challenge students to rise above these low expectations, push against peer pressure, arrive in adulthood with multiple life-affirming options, be leaders and role models in their families, schools and communities, and become all that they were created to be.”

Through the BreakDown STL OnStage program, the team visits high schools around St. Louis in an effort to reach as many students as possible. The performance combines a mixture of music, dance, drama, statistics and motivational speaking to make a connection with the audience and challenge them not to surrender to the harmful peer pressures that they may fall subject to.

“The most important aspect of BreakDown is that of second chances and hope. Our biggest goal is to empower teens to realize their worth as individuals and to fight against the lies society feeds them, no matter what their past may carry,” said Abby Charles, junior and BeakDown STL dancer.

Another aspect of BreakDown STL is the OffStage program that serves as a follow up outreach partner with participating schools. This teen to teen mentoring program allows for personal, meaningful connections to be made with students in a safe environment, which allows them to grow stronger as an individual as they acquire leadership and character building skills.

“[The Offstage program] doesn’t just affect the students, but it affects the crew and volunteers as well. Our faith gets stretched and tested and we grow as a family and as brothers and sisters in Christ,” said Emma Winter, junior.

In March of 2015, BreakDown STL piloted the Northern Expansion Team by presenting at three inner-city schools. Imergoot said that, “Building upon the pilot effort in St. Louis City, we have hired a part time Northern Expansion Team Director and are in the process of auditions. This team will be comprised of a diverse student cast, trained to be servant leaders in their families, schools, and communities.”

Despite visiting schools all across the educational spectrum, both private and public, it has been six years since BreakDown STL visited Westminster. When talking with Noah Brink, he assured that the administration at Westminster is aware of the expressed interest in having BreakDown STL visit the school. At this time, the administration is looking to attend a BreakDown STL community event as the first step in the process of getting them to bring their message to Westminster.

Junior Abby Charles put it like this, “Every single student at Westminster needs to hear the message that BreakDown has to offer! No matter public school or private, every school has students who struggle with addiction, with self harm, with pressure from their peers. It would be an injustice to them to ignore them because they go to a private school!”