The Becoming a Loving, Optimistic, Open-Minded Me (BLOOM) initiative worked with adolescent females in Macon County to improve their social-emotional skills by allowing them to become emotionally intelligent and self aware while moving through life’s challenges. By providing weekly activities–such as journaling, expressive arts, and celebratory events–Kiaira and Maia created a safe space for the girls to learn how to identify their emotions and how those emotions affected their thoughts and actions. 

As a result of the project:

• • Twelve students attended twenty learning sessions where they gained an understanding of mental health and developed a plan on how to deal with emotions in a healthy way.

• • Notasulga High School faculty reported that that the program “helped to foster self-confidence and a strong sense of self-worth” for the participants, as observed by more motivation and other positive differences in the BLOOM participants’ mannerisms

• • Participants demonstrated self-confidence by being more vocal in sessions, and Kiaira and Maia observed that the students communicated their feelings more effectively, both in writing and verbally