By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

A grant made possible by the Michigan Gateway Community Foundation is giving female students at Southside School in Niles a chance for a makeover – inside and out.

Christina Frank applied for the $1,500 grant in order to institute a new program at the school.
The program, Promoting and Recognizing an Individually Driven Education (PRIDE), applies to each female student at Southside, 24 students in all, and focuses on areas of personal growth and development.

“It’s a gender-specific program,” Frank said. “You’re teaching life skills to the female population specifically.”

Life skills include manners, appearance, how to manage a household, apply for a job and support oneself, among others.

Frank explained it can be taken for granted those basic life skills are automatically taught to young girls at home.

PRIDE allows for students at Southside to get an education they might not get outside of the classroom.
The idea began with simple makeovers. Teachers at Southside thought it would be nice to give their female students a day to feel good about themselves.

At the same time, Frank said, there was quite a “buzz” going on about grants. So she wrote one for a more extensive version of the initial idea.

“Let’s really take it and focus on what that means,” Frank said. “And what it can do for self-esteem.”
The program is broken down into four core focus areas: self-pride, growing healthy and growing strong, path to the future and head-heart-hope. Through those four core areas, students learn everything from aspects of body image and positive self-image through clothing choices, etiquette and self defense to budgeting for a household, saving money, domestic skills, resume writing, job searching applying to college, diet and nutrition, fitness and hygiene.

Southside works with students of various ages; girls taking part in PRIDE range from ages 12-20, with emotional and cognitive challenges.

The program not only provides those students with important life skills but promotes a sense of empowerment that can raise self-esteem.

Members of the community have volunteered their time to the program including Michigan State Police Trooper Rob Herbstreith, who provided a self-defense presentation to the girls, and Lakeland Hospital, which provided materials for a “Baby Think It Over” program for students to use baby dolls to understand what it means to be responsible for a child.

Michiana Beauty College provided discounted makeovers for the students and Beth Westrick, an independent beauty consultant, provided a make-up and application presentation.
Frank said she and other teachers involved in the program have worked hard to stretch the $1,500 they were awarded through the grant while saving it to build upon. The PRIDE program runs throughout the year and the hope is to build on it annually, as well as developing a PRIDE program for male students.
So far, the feedback from students is positive.

“They love it,” Frank said. “They’ve all been very excited.

“I think it not only impacts our students,” she added. “But overall it will impact our community.”