Q: I’ve seen on a couple of rotating billboards with an advertisement for Cool Girls. Can you tell me about it?
A: Cool Girls was created in response to the East Lake neighborhood known in the late 1980s as one of Atlanta's most violent public housing projects, according to the website.
“Cool Girls was founded because of everything that was happening in East Lake,” said Executive Director Tanya Egins. “Thirty-one years later we are still here and have touched the lives of over 6,000 girls. Sometimes from bad, good things happen.”
The Cool Girls Club is a weekly after-school program for girls in second to eighth grades. Academic support, including intro into STEM, health and life skills development are provided.
“Programs are offered at their partnering schools in Atlanta and DeKalb County. The majority of their students attend Title 1 public schools and live at/or below the poverty line,” according to their site.
“I think that society sees African-American girls as less nurturing, more independent, knowing more adult topics and are treated as such,” Egins said. “But they are still young girls without the knowledge and experience of an adult.”
Moving up to middle school can be momentous.
“Many of the lessons or topics addressed in the earlier years at the Girls Club are actually used in these years as they have the tools to be able to deal with those things,” Egins said. “It is also a safe space to be able to share those things with their peers.”
Cool Girls who participate during elementary and/or middle school are eligible for the following Cool Scholars program.
Addressing opportunities beyond graduation, Egins said they are exposed to different opportunities: field trips that include seeing women in non-traditional roles, college tours, job shadowing activities, etc.
“You can’t dream of something you can’t see,” she said. “It’s important to hear someone else’s journey.”
Their one-on-one mentoring program, Cool Sisters, has matched over 1,000 Cool Girls with adult role models providing positive influence and motivation as they continue to mature.
“We can’t change society, but what we can do is give the girls the tools that they need to be able to navigate in the world they live in,” Egins said.
For more information about the program or eligibility, visit thecoolgirls.org or call 404.420.4362.
New to town or simply have a question about this place we call home? Email your request to atlactualfact@gmail.com.
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