Girls Inc. of the Berkshires

Girls acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to take charge of and to make informed, thoughtful decisions about their sexual health. Girls learn to identify ways and reasons to avoid early pregnancy and to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The program comprises three age-appropriate components: Growing Together; Informed and In Charge; and Taking Care of Business. Growing Together is available in Spanish as Crecer Juntas.

Girls develop enthusiasm for and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Through hands-on activities, girls explore, ask questions, and solve problems. They also consider careers in these fields by interacting with women and men pursuing such careers. Components of the program include: Eureka!; Girls Dig It; Career Action, and Thinking SMART.

Girls learn to manage money, invest, and begin to develop an appreciation for global economics. Girls as young as six explore how the economy affects us locally and globally and develop skills needed to be economically independent. Girls learn these skills through four age-appropriate components: She’s on the Money!; Dollars, Sense, and Me; Equal Earners, Savvy Spenders, and Futures and Options.

Girls learn to appreciate an active lifestyle as they develop movement and athletic skills, cooperative and competitive spirit, health awareness, and interest in sports and adventure. Girls also explore career opportunities related to sports and experience the benefits and excitement of taking healthy risks. Through three age-appropriate components — Steppingstones, Bridges, and Girls enCourage — girls build a foundation for a lifetime of enjoying physical activity and participation in sports and adventure.

Girls learn to lead safer lives by developing skills and strategies for self-defense, including physical techniques. Girls also learn how to seek out and talk to caring adults about personal violence and to advocate against gender-specific violence issues. Components of the program include: Action for Safety and Living Safe and Strong.

Girls build their leadership skills and create lasting social change through community action projects. In Discoverysm, girls ages 9 to 11 celebrate the heritage of girls and women as leaders and develop awareness of themselves as community resources and trustees of the common good. In In Our Own Hands, girl ages 12 to 14 deepen their understanding of girls and women as social change agents and of leadership as a collective process grounded in belonging to and having responsibility for one’s community.

Girls develop skills to resist pressure to use harmful substances such as alcohol, tobacco, household chemicals, and other drugs. In this peer-education program, girls ages 11 to 14 learn healthy ways to manage stress and confront peer, media, and other pressures and then assume the roles of PEERsuaders for young girls. The program is available in Spanish as Persuasión Positiva.

The Girls Inc. of the Berkshires Eureka! program is an initiative that addresses the skills and knowledge gap that has persisted for girls specifically in STEM-related subjects. This program works with girls, many who will be first generation college applicants, to explore and excel in STEM-related subjects over the course of their participation in the five-year Eureka! program. The primary objective is that they further their education enabling them to join the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.