After-School Program Offered by KPS and Kalamazoo Junior Girls Organization
The Blue Line to Success program is a free eight-week “interactive” educational incentive designed to build self-esteem and confidence, and to promote healthy lifestyle choices for girls that attend KPS middle schools. The program is being offered by the Kalamazoo Junior Girls Organization as an after-school curriculum, and is facilitated by their staff and other professional volunteers. Scheduled classes will be held one day per week over the course of eight weeks, and each session will be in two-hour increments to include: Confidence/Healthy Lifestyle Choices, Goal Setting, Dressing Appropriately, Career Planning, Workplace Issues, Decision-Making, Mentors and Financial Literacy. All students will receive their own Student Guide Manual with the course materials provided, information on MIChild insurance and “Charting a Healthy Course” Consumer’s Guide to Good Nutrition.
Registration Information:
Classes started at Linden Grove on November 30. Classes will take place at Hillside and Maple Street Magnet during February and March 2012. From January 9 until January 27, Hillside and Maple Street students can register at their school's main office.
More About the Blue Line to Success Program:
The methods used to implement this educational incentive include lectures from professional female volunteers, interactive group discussions, and participation in the Reality Store. The Reality Store is a component of the “Women Helping Girls with Choices” program sponsored by the Business and Professional Women of Michigan. This is a fun exercise and will allow students to learn about financial independence by making healthy life and career decisions.
After eight weeks of successful class completion, a planned graduation will take place and the graduates will have an opportunity to tour through the Reality Store during the ceremony. This is a major component of the BLTS program where students receive a checkbook that contains their perceived occupation, marital status and family size. They will be provided with a calculator and visit fourteen different stations to determine how much of their income will be needed to provide them with the healthy lifestyle they desire. All Blue Line participants will also have the opportunity to play an integral role in planning the Kalamazoo Junior Girls Organization upcoming Blue Line to Success Girls Leadership and Health Summit scheduled to take place in August of 2012.
The vision for the Blue Line to Success program was originally cast and piloted by Blue Cross Network executive Joan Morehead, BCN employee Linda Kripowicz, and Sarah Jones from Michigan Office Design in 1998. The program was developed by the Community Affairs Department of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a public education campaign to promote healthy lifestyles and career choices.
In January 2010 the Kalamazoo Junior Girls Organization Board of Directors collaborated with the Community Affairs Department of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and was offered the opportunity to implement this curriculum as part of KJGO programming and community-building efforts. This partnership has since been endorsed and supported by the Kalamazoo Public Schools and PNC Bank so that we can continue to offer this program as an on-going curriculum to reach other girls. To date, 75 girls have graduated from the Blue Line program.
Registration Information: Classes started at Linden Grove on November 30. Classes will take place at Hillside and Maple Street Magnet during February and March 2012. From January 9 until January 27, Hillside and Maple Street students can register at their school's main office.
