The nonprofit PowerUp Girls for Life curriculum provides
Essential life skills for mental, social, and behavioral health, equality, safety, and academic success in fun, active learning experiences!
Educational series for 4th through 12th graders requiring minimal prep, supplies, and training for professionals and parents who teach lessons
Video-led lessons (sessions) teach practical tools for self-esteem, confidence, positive body image, wise social media use, bullying and sexism defense, coping with stress and pressure, gender and racial equality, rejecting substances including vaping, squelching drama, and much more!
Enhances learning and positive culture with fun activities and games
Previously piloted under the name PowerUp for Middle School
professionals and parents can get 2 free lessons here
PROGRAM SECTIONS and a whole CURRICULUM bundle at low introductory rates are here
Designed to help girls feel
P repared
O ptimistic
W orthy
E mpathic &
R esilient
U nder the
P ressures
they'll face during their teen years and adult lives
General information
With minimal prep and supplies, the PowerUp Girls for Life Curriculum provides 4th through 12th girls with knowledge and practical skills to defeat today's common threats to well-being and success such as:
low self-esteem, negative body image
anxiety, stress, depression, anger, self-harm
social media
bullying, cyberbullying
relationship conflicts, friendship problems, drama
forms of bias and hate
substance use
dangerous situations for unsafe touch, and
sexism and sexual harassment, while giving them foundations for coping, equality, decision making, and academic achievement!
Para leer sobre el programa en español, haga clic aquí
Video-led 30-minute sessions (lessons) include:
10- to 12-minute topical lesson and short review
5-minute discussion time introduced by a rap song
Top takeaway messages
10- to 15-minute engaging or fun learning activity with video instructions and timers
Sessions can be split into two 20-minute sessions or combined as desired.
Online printable program materials include:
Instructor guides
Student handouts
Activity sheets and game cards
Take-home materials for continued motivation and learning
The PowerUp Girls for Life Program
This ground-breaking, empowering curriculum for girls has been reproduced for online access, minimal prep and supplies, and enhanced flexibility to serve 1 student to entire classrooms and to fit time schedules.
Plug-and-play video lessons with documents are now available HERE for licensed international use and for free within Weld County courtesy of The Weld Trust.
Self-Esteem and Positive Body Image building
Welcome Session for Students and Instructors
Session 1: Self-Esteem and How to Build It
Session 2: Things that Can Break Down Self-Esteem if We Let Them
Session 3: How to Form Healthy Positive Body Images
Coping with Emotions and Stress, problem solving & Decision making
Session 4: Brain Development Basics
Session 5: Feelings, Actions, and Thoughts: Check Your Thoughts!
Session 6: Depression, Anxiety, and Why Self-Harm Happens
Session 7: PowerUp Your Coping Skills for Stress
Session 8: How Media and Substances Affect Coping and Decision-Making
Session 9: When and How to Get Help for Yourself or Others
Session 10: PowerUp Decision-Making and Problem Solving
Healthy Relationships, Conflict Solving, and Social Media Management
Session 11: Signs of Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
Session 12: Basics of Being a Good Friend
Session 13: PowerUp Your Friendship Making Skills
Session 14: How to Manage Social Media and Drama So They Don’t Manage You
Session 15: PowerUp Your Conflict Solving Skills
Session 16: Dating Myths and Reasons to Delay [For 6th grade and up, available spring 2024]
Bullying prevention and Defense & personal Safety
Session 17: The Who, What, Where, When, How, and Whys of Bullying
Session 18: Stopping Bullies When They Mess with You
Session 19: PowerUp Your Bully Bystander Actions [Available April 2024]
Session 20: Boundaries of Safe Touch [ For 6th grade and up, 5th graders at parent discretion]
Mindsets, learning, and habits for Academic AND LIFE Success
Session 21: Mindsets for Good Lives and Learning
Session 22: PowerUp Your Brain for Learning and Academic Success
Session 23: PowerUp Your Brain with Healthy Food and Habits
PowerUp Gender and diversity Equality
Session 24: Have Healthy Views of Being Female and Reject Being Sexualized (Valued Based on Looks and Sexiness) [For 6th grade and up, may be used with 5th graders as appropriate]
Session 25: Understanding Sexism and Sexual Harassment, Their Harms, and Ways to Defeat Them [For 6th grade and up, may be used with 5th graders as appropriate]
Session 26: Understanding and Celebrating Diversity
Notes about discussions involving sexual topics: Simple, limited descriptions of sexual topics are used in this curriculum. This is not a sexuality education program. To teach safety in terms of boundaries of safe touch and consent for sexual activity, sexual activity is defined in simple terms as the touching or sharing of private body areas between two people with permission. Delaying dating and sexual activity are encouraged, and ways to avoid and resist risky situations are covered but types of sexual activity, how pregnancy occurs, and birth control are not covered.
PILOT PROGRAM HISTORY
The evidence-based PowerUp Girls for Life curriculum was developed by Youth Empowerment Group team members and then piloted with the help of University of Northern Colorado psychology graduate students. Evaluations by team members, graduate students, parents, and student participants helped us evaluate and hone the program for maximal flexibility. During the early pandemic years when programs like ours were not in use, we developed our parallel PowerUp Co-Ed program.
In 2023, we completed a national film project published as a cover story and short film excerpt in Time Magazine interviewing youth around the nation regarding mental health and life and are incorporating clips from these courageous youth to maximize the effect of both of our curricula.
Early PowerUp Girls for Life PILOT PROGRAMS
SPRING, 2019
5th grade programs, Greeley Family FunPlex community center and Windsor’s Bethel Lutheran Church
JUNE, 2019
Aims Community College’s College for Kids program, 5th -8th graders, Greeley, CO
PowerUp for Middle School PILOT EVENTS ( Initial program name)
SEPTEMBER, 2018
6th grade program, Greeley Recreation Center
MARCH AND APRIL, 2018
5th grade program, Windsor Community Recreation Center
Thank you to all who participated in these fun, highly-rated programs that led us to incorporate as the nonprofit Youth Empowerment Group and expand our program under its new name.
Visit our Host Partner page to see programs in Weld County, CO from 2020 through 2022 many of which were limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic and staff shortages