Girls Inc. of Sioux City

Help with homework

TUTORING CENTER

Staff help the girls and work with their teachers in completing homework assignments and providing academic enrichment activities.  Literacy and mastery of basic academic skills for each grade level are stressed.  The reading room, next to the tutoring center, is a great place to read.  In the summer, girls can write in their journals, join a book club, and intensive academic assistance.  They can also learn about any subject that interests them, including career and college paths. 

Extreme Teen Makeover

Health & Sexuality

Girls will learn about their bodies in our age-appropriate, abstinence based health and sexuality classes.  We believe girls have the right to accept and appreciate their bodies and that the more they know the better able they are to take care of themselves throughout their lives.  Health and sexuality classes include:

Growing Together, for Girls Ages 9 – 11 & a Parent/Adult Five interactive sessions jump-start crucial, two-way conversations between girls and a trusted adult about sexuality issues — to open doors to future communication. Key topics include parents being the primary sexuality educators; changes during puberty; anatomy, physiology and hygiene; adolescent sexual development and feelings; and values and expectations for teen sexual behavior.

Will Power/Won’t Power, for Girls Ages 12–14 In this 10-session program girls learn how to say no to sex as they enter the most pressure-sensitive adolescent years. Interactive sessions center on values; relationships; female health and hygiene; separating myths from reality; assertiveness and communication skills and the power of a positive support system.

My Girlfriend Zelda Ages 6-10 helps build self-confidence, respect and responsibility in girls. Incorporating the Zelda doll into eight sessions allows girls to learn about the function and purpose of various organs from the skin and lungs to reproductive systems. They also learn about the role of medical providers.  My Girlfriend Zelda helps promote awareness and understanding of health problems while encouraging self acceptance of their bodies," said Dina Perez, program assistant.

Fostering Families, for girls ages 12-18, offers girls in out-of-home placement settings (foster or group homes) and their caregivers asset development exercises.  This new program allows girls to develop a notebook of resources and to work with staff and a close adult to develop resiliency-based strategies for thinking and living.

The Briar Cliff University "Bug Doctor" Makes A House Call to Girls Inc

OPERATION SMART 

Operation SMART is designed to increase girls' interest in science, math and relevant technology.  Girls Inc of Sioux City currently offers “Girls Think” during the summer.  Girls Think is a comprehensive new program developed in partnership with Western Iowa Tech.  Girls Think features hands-on experiments in biology, physics, chemistry, and more.  These activities also encourage girls to explore non-traditional career paths.

Operation SMART is based on a formula for success:

• Assume girls are interested in math, science, and technology.
• Let them make big, interesting mistakes.
• Help them get past the “yuk” factor.
• Expect them to succeed.

Girls Inc of Sioux City recently received a $20,000 award from the National Science Foundation through Girls Incorporated to further develop Girls Think!

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In SRLS girls also work in the garden

 SELF-RELIANCE AND LIFE SKILLS 

Girls learn how to take care of themselves and build better lives through our Self Reliance and Life Skills curricula.

Friendly PEERsuasion builds girls' skills for resisting pressure to use harmful substances such as alcohol, tobacco, household chemicals and other drugs. The two-part substance abuse prevention program teaches girls ages 11 to 14 healthy ways to manage stress and confront peer, media and other pressures. The girls then assume roles as PEERsuaders for younger girls.

Kid Ability is a child abuse and child sexual abuse prevention program which teaches children as young as age four (through our outreach programs in local daycares) about stranger danger, personal safety and boundaries.

Don't Laugh At Me is made up of three programs, one for grades 2-5, another for grades 6-8 and a third for summer camps and after-school programs. All of the programs use inspiring music and video along with the curriculum to help children learn gentle conflict resolution techniques.  DLAM has helped transform Girls Inc of Sioux City into a more compassionate, safe and respectful environment for girls.

Economic Literacy consists of five programs which introduce girls as young as six to basic financial concepts, including money management and investment. The program explores how money affects us locally and globally as it fosters development of the skills needed to be financially self-sufficient.

Media Literacy, encourages girls to think critically about media messages and fosters their awareness of the scope and power of the media and its effects of girls and women. Girls gain media literacy skills that enhance their ability to critically examine and advocate for change in entertainment, news and advertising media.

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