Making it cool for girls to be confident

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Atlanta's East Lake community was a rough place to grow up in 1989, when murder, gangs, poverty, teen pregnancy and drug problems were common.

"There was a gang there that had practically taken over called Down by Law. This part of town was plagued with all types of crime and trouble," Atlanta attorney Dawn Smith said.

Smith and a small army of volunteers decided to do something to help young girls living in East Lake. Their solution was a support group called Cool Girls.

"The enthusiasm of the girls, my desire to give back and the fact that I was in the right place at the right time is how Cool Girls started." Watch how the program took off »

Today, the Cool Girls after-school program is staffed with hundreds of adult volunteer mentors who provide academic and emotional support to about 450 girls in third through eighth grades.

Nicole Samuels, who just completed the eighth grade, is grateful to be a part of the Cool Girls program.

"The best thing about it is it helps build your self-esteem. It helps you to be positive. If your mother is not there, you always have a mentor to help you," she said.

The Cool Girls learn conflict resolution, positive peer interaction, pregnancy prevention and how to boost their self-esteem.

Each summer, the Cool Girls camp offers experiences for young girls to learn financial literacy and leadership skills. There's also a new fitness program to combat childhood obesity.

Cynthia Tucker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is one of the best-known volunteers of the program.

"We do everything we can to help make these girls' lives as enriched as possible. We encourage them to stay in school, not to get pregnant and not to get obsessed with boys," Tucker said.

"Volunteers like me try to serve as positive role models and mentors. Many times, girls in this program do not have responsible caregivers in their homes to look up to."

And it appears that the program is paying off.

A 2007 study conducted by Georgia State University found that Cool Girl participants earned higher grades and performed better on standardized tests.

"Girls living in poverty need to know it is cool to go to school daily and uncool to skip school. Our program drives home these lessons and offers support," said Cynthia Moreland, executive director of Cool Girls.