SOUTH BLOOMFIELD -The Teays Valley Educational Foundation recently awarded South Bloomfield Elementary school counselor Brooke Wright an $850 grant to start the ROX (Ruling Our eXperiences) program at South Bloomfield for fifth grade girls. The mission of ROX is to equip girls with the knowledge and skills necessary to live healthy, independent, productive and violence-free lives. It was started at Teays Valley High School last school year and will be starting at Teays Valley East Middle School this year as well.
ROX started as a research study in 2006 at Ohio University founder, Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, was a full-time faculty member in Counselor Education and wanted to create a program that helped girls successfully navigate the challenges that they face during their adolescent years. Years of research found that challenges in self-esteem like dealing with girl bullying, unhealthily dating relationships, and sexual violence, lack of strong friendships, support systems, and limited academic career expectations left girls at a disadvantage. The ROX system is based on equipping girls with skills they need to overcome these challenges.
“Thank you very much to the Foundation for their generosity in supporting the launch of this program at the elementary level. The younger we can reach girls and teach them these skills, the more our ROX program will grow and reach more students in our district. A girls’ program is something we feel passionate about implementing and encouraging at all grade levels,” Wright said.
TVEF vice president Nikki Gatens is pictured presenting the check to Wright.
