April 2012

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 Cool Girls'  Signature Hot Pink Party  

April 28th at 7 p.m. 

 Cool Girls is proud to present The Woman of the Year Award to the incomparable recording artist, CeCe Winans.  Actress Keisha Knight Pulliam will receive The Pink Empowerment award for being an inspirational leader and role model to young girls in the Atlanta community.  The Alice Hadley Volunteer of the Year Award will be presented Shelley Nelson who is a dedicated community member for her long -standing commitment to Cool Girls.  The Erica Turner Achievement Award will be given to Ayana Barry-Buchanan who is a Cool Girls alumna currently a junior at Vanderbilt for setting standards of success. 
 

For more information, please visit our Hot Pink Party website at www.thecoolgirlshotpinkparty.com. Sponsorships and tickets are now available. Sponsorships begin at $1,000 and individual tickets are $100. Pre-registration deadline is April 20th.  

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GoGirlGo! and Hope Lab Zamzee Initiative

This spring Cool Girls has been participating in a 12-week pilot program with GoGirlGo! and Hope Labs to help motivate middle school students to increase physical activity. Over 30 Cool Girls participants received a Zamzee, an accelerometer designed to measure and reward participants for physical activity through an online reward system. Cool Girls have had the opportunity to create an online profile and receive awards based on meeting their fitness goals. Cool Girls was selected to participate in this pilot program due to our strong commitment to girls' empowerment and physical fitness..If successful, we hope to implement the Zamzee program into Cool Girls Club during the 2012-13 school year.   

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'A Beautiful Me 2012' ! 

Cool Girls' Annual Pregnancy Prevention Workshop - May 12th  

It's almost that time of year where Cool Girls participants, Cool Sisters, parents and volunteers get together and have a little "Girl Talk."  The event will be on Saturday May, 12th at Clark Atlanta University. The day will specifically address the issues regarding health and wellness, pregnancy prevention, body awareness, child development and healthy communication and relationships.

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Hot Off the Press

Alternative Spring Break groups keep heading to Atlanta. In the past weeks, we have had students from Elon University and University of Colorado. The group visited three schools and presented fun and informative skits related to life skills topics of the week.      

 Cool Girls on TV- Last Thursday, March, 31st, Cool Girls was featured in the Fit Kids Fit Families segment on CBS along with Divas in Defense. Please click here to watch the video Cool Girls in action!  

Field Trips, Field Trips and More Field Trips- For the past weeks, Cool Girls' participants have had the chance to attend various enriching field trips to wonderful places in Atlanta including the Delta Museum, the Georgia Aquarium and the Microsoft Store at Lenox Mall.

 On Sunday, March 25th, 10 of our Cool Future participants went on a shopping free at Fab'rik in Atlantic Station. Each of them received a personal shopper, clothing and accessories. Thank you so much Fab'rik for hosting this wonderful event.

 Interested in volunteering?  Our next Volunteer Training for the 2011-2012 school year will be on Thursday, April 19th. Please email Andrea Hill at a.hill@thecoolgirls.org to RSVP while space is still available.  

Board Spotlight: Laura Beaty 

  Dedicated to our Cool Cause

Dr. Laura Beaty holds a medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and  started her own private practice, Alliance Primary Care, in 2005. She is now a small business owner as well as a committed physician practicing in the style that she feels best serves the health and well-being of her patients. 

 What do you like best about being involved with Cool Girls? I most enjoy being a volunteer and engaging directly with the girls.  I've also enjoyed my time on the board and met one of my best friends through board service.  Giving back to the community is an important part of my life and I hope my daughter and all of the Cool Girls do the same when they are adults.

What advice would you share with our Cool Girls?  We all have obstacles in our life, but it is important to set a high goal for yourself and fight to achieve that goal.  Being the first person from my family to graduate from high school, my goal to become a physician sometimes seemed impossible.  But with hard work, education, and dedication, you can beat the odds.  I know, because I did.

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Volunteer Spotlight: Shelley D. Nelson 

"A Beautiful Me" Fashion Coordinator 

Meet our 2012 Volunteer of the Year - Shelley D. Nelson. She originates is from Baltimore, Maryland but has lived in Atlanta for over 15 years.  She has passion for volunteering to benefit the homeless and our youth. Shelley has a background in event planning and is currently an entrepreneur in the fashion industry. She has been an annual organizer of the "A Beautiful Me" Fashion Show. Since joining Cool Girls as a volunteer, Shelley decided that she wanted to further serve the organization by investing her time enriching a life, thus becoming a Cool Sister, her most proud volunteer effort to date.    

What do you like best about being involved with Cool Girls? 

The best thing about being involved with Cool Girls is my opportunity to directly and positively impact young girls lives, specifically with Linda Lowe, my Cool Sister.  The commitment, exposure, trust and fun that we share is unmatched.  I also admire the dedication of the Cool Girls team and their tireless work, enabling the most amazing experiences for our young girls.  Giving selflessly, just to make a young girl smile, completes the effort, for me. 

What advice would you share with our Cool Girls?