• What is "Get Real"?

"Get Real" is a mentoring program supported by the Girl Scout Councils in Florida. Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida (www.girlscoutsfl.org) provides "Get Real" for Miami-Dade and Broward County. It aims to match a female volunteer with a girl of middle school age to serve as her mentor.

A mentor becomes a friend, a life coach, and a guide. The mentor relationship encourages the mentee to make positive liife chioces reagarding drugs, violence, sex, and self-esteem. The "Get Real" mentoring program  takes place during the school day or after school.

• Goals:

The main goal of the program is to help the girls maintain or increase significant life skills. The program aims to increase attendance by ten percent and decrease the referral/suspension of the participating girls by twenty percent.

Furthermore the 30 week program stresses reading and writing skills by having the girls read and write in their journals each week.

• Is the program approved by the State of Florida?

The mentoring program's curriculum, "Raise the Standard", has been approved by the State of Florida Health Department. It is also supplemented by the "Baby Think it Over" program, another State of Florida Health Department approved program.

• Can anyone join "Get Real!"?

To particapate in "Get Real!" you must be a Girl Scout Cadette, membership is provided by the program. A girl scout member of "Get Real!" will have access not only to "Get Real!" but also the new Girl Scout Program Journeys.

http://www.girlscouts.org/program/journeys/maps/

To join Get Real your school can request to be a program participant.   The participating schools of 2009-2010 are Arthur and Polly Mays Middle School, Mandarin K-8 Academy, Key Largo Middle School, and Aspira EMH Youth Charter School. We Also serve the Miami Bridge Youth and Family Shelter. If you attend one of these schools/centers then you may speak to a teacher or counselor to enroll.

If your school is not listed you may call The Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida, Inc 305-253-4841, and request to speak with the director of the Get Real Mentoring Program.