Grad Girl Nation
Peer outreach program that gives Grad Girls the opportunity to reach their classmates and other students where girls share their experiences regarding opportunities they are taking advantage of to better their futures and provide insight on how they are getting through high school. Many Grad Girls come from similar backgrounds as their classmates and are able to respond to questions that other students may have from the perspective of a peer.
Mirror of Me
Mirror of Me is our mentoring program which pairs students with professional women who make up the Power Women Mentors. These women work with students to shape their futures and girls are then required to inspire a fellow peer by providing them with inspiration and strategies for getting through high school. In their active roles with our teens, mentors provide guidance and advice on chosen topics that include dealing with peer pressure, setting boundaries, making wise decisions, and understanding time management. They also share their personal stories relating to being a teen girl so that students are able to recognize that many struggles of teens were also at one time the same struggles of now self sufficient and thriving women.
How’d You Land a Job Like That
This career development program brings professional women into Grad Girls meetings to provide students with career and networking advice. Women share their experiences in landing the positions that they currently hold and offer girls strategies for living their best life and steps to take in order to have the career of their dreams one day as well. Students are also invited to spend a day seeing what that career of the Power Women Mentors entails first hand and also takes part in mixers that engages girls with professional women in order to practice networking skills and learn to feel comfortable in unfamiliar environments that benefits their futures.
Leadership and Self Esteem Peer-to-Peer Development
This program engages girls in various activities to promote peer to peer interaction. These activities allow girls to share their concerns, feelings, and stories with each other pertaining to issues that affect them as teen girls. They also learn about ways to increase self esteem and build leadership skills which assists them with becoming more productive leaders.
It Pays to Give Back
We engage our students in many community service activities throughout the school year including food drives, breast cancer walks, toy drives, and hospital visits among others. Prior to becoming Grad Girls, 70% reported having low self esteem somewhat often and studies have shown that youth who volunteer are more confident, are more likely do better in school, have strong school attendance, and are more likely to have a strong work ethic as an adult.
Knowledge on College
Because many of the students who we assist would be first generation college students, this program provides girls with insight into what steps should be taken in pursuit of a collegiate future. Knowledge on College inspires and motivates girls to begin planning for their lives after high school and our broad range of topics includes finding out what type of school is best for you, important deadlines, and filling out the all important application. Through this program we also focus heavily on building networks, job interviews, and living a healthy lifestyle to avoid the freshman 15.
Grad Girl Town Hall Discussions
This program gives Grad Girls the opportunity to voice their concerns to community members pertaining to how the graduation rates can be improved locally. Girls are able to identify issues that prohibit their fellow peers from staying in school so that the concerns may be addressed to ensure that school officials work to rectify the problems. Members are able to have their voices heard and become a part of the solution for making a positive difference in their schools and communities.