SMART Girls is one of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s top programs. It is taught year-round at Clubs across the country, reaching nearly 90,000 girls ages 8 to 18. Its targeted curriculum ensures girls get the right information and the right support at the right time.
Separate modules are specially tailored to three distinct age groups: 8 to 10, 11 to 13 and 14 to 18. The interactive, engaging, small-group sessions engender camaraderie, while also encouraging each girl to explore and express her individuality through discussions, hands-on games and activities, role-play, take-home challenges and activities, and collaborative decision-making and problem-solving.
The SMART Girls Native Adaption aims to assist Club staff in tailoring the program to be culturally relevant and responsive to the unique strengths and needs of Native girls in their Club. Many indigenous scholars have found that promoting positive youth development among Native youth demands a holistic approach to program design that incorporates each of the following four dimensions of wellbeing vital to their culture.
- Social – connections with peers, family, school, community
- Emotional – the ability to cope and deal with the effects of colonization, historical trauma, loss, discrimination, and racism
- Cultural – the ability to live in two worlds, knowledge of culture and history, positive identity and connection to cultural community
- Psychological – positive sense of self, adjustment, knowledge of drug and alcohol abuse
