Girls Inc. Healthy Living Project

Girls Inc. of Worcester plans to offer a nine month program July 2017- March 2018 for 90 high school girls enrolled in Eureka! Girls Inc.'s capstone STEM- science, technology, engineering, and math- program and 150 girls registered in Girls Inc.'safter school program. Girls Inc.'s multi-tiered Healthy Living Project aligns with NNLM's mission to broaden access to and awareness of health information resources, with an emphasis of using those resources provided by NLM. The project will complement and enhance Eureka! and Girls Inc. after school programs. Support will provide summer Externships for three 10th-11th grade Eureka! participants; train up to 90 Eureka! participants in the use of research tools at the University of Massachusetts Lamar Sautter Library; develop a Healthy Living Curriculum for girls in grades K-2, 3-6 and 7-9; and enable Eureka! participants to deliver that curriculum during Girls Inc.'s After School Drop-In program . Eureka! participants completing summer Externships at Girls Inc. July 2017 will utilize their training in PubMed, Medline Plus, and other NLM resources to create age-appropriate Healthy Living Curricula for girls in grades K-9. The curricula will focus on nutrition and physical fitness; adding to the value of Girls Inc.'s fitness and nutrition program. The new curricula will be implemented during Girls Inc.'s after school activities from September 2017 through March of 2018. In the fall of 2017, three Cohorts of Eureka! participants 90 girls grades 8-10 will visit the Lamar Sautter Library for tours and research training. Evaluation during each of these visits will determine if the participants have a better understanding of the use of the library resources. Some of those girls will assist with the facilitation of the Healthy Living Curriculum to our After School participants.