Fifteen Milwaukee girls return from PEARLS for Teen Girls’ annual national college tour
PEARLS girls gather at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia during PEARLS’ 2012 National College Tour. Fifteen PEARLS girls visited seven colleges in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
PEARLS for Teen Girls, Inc. recently returned from their ninth annual national college tour. Fifteen PEARLS Girls participated in the annual tour, visiting seven schools in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Each year, PEARLS hosts the college tour to expose PEARLS Girls to new places, ideas and education options.
The schools offer fully-guided campus tours as well as information on tuition, entrance requirements, majors, degrees and financial aid, as well as opportunities to talk with staff and students. In addition to school visits, the girls participate in cultural field trips, this year’s tour included trips to the Georgia Aquarium, the John G. Riley Museum, and the George Washington Museum.
The college tour is one way in which PEARLS serves at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls in the Milwaukee community. PEARLS’ programming is focused on equipping girls with the skills necessary to negotiate and sustain positive relationships, achieve academic success and increase their capacity and comfort level for being accountable for the decisions they make. PEARLS has consistently achieved these program goals, in tangible, measurable ways that illustrate the program’s ability to transform the experiences of at-risk Milwaukee girls.
“The annual college tour is another valuable resource we use to help PEARLS girls set and achieve their goals and dreams,” said Danae Davis, Chief Executive Officer at PEARLS. “It’s also an opportunity to provide girls with a vision of possibilities that exist beyond their schools and neighborhoods.”
In addition to the national tours, PEARLS offers several annual Wisconsin College Tours for girls in grades 7 -11 in order to showcase the many outstanding institutions of higher education that exist in Wisconsin. Nearly 150 PEARLS girls experienced Wisconsin college tours during the 2011-2012 academic year.
PEARLS for Teen Girls, Inc. (PEARLS) is a dynamic and innovative non-profit leadership development organization serving at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls, ages 10 to 19 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. PEARLS helps girls achieve in school, avoid teen pregnancy, and use their personal power to achieve their goals and dreams. PEARLS offers a totally distinct, custom curriculum that focuses on helping girls build leadership skills like self-reflection, critical thinking, sound decision making, goal setting, clear communication and personal accountability.