WISDOM WELLNESS ACADEMY

Wisdom Wellness Academy in Partnership with The Boys and Girls Club of Northern IL

Healthy Lifestyle Program for Girls (Ages 10-14)

Program Duration: September 2025 - May 2026
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 3:00-5:00 PM
Target Age: 10-14 years old

Program Philosophy

Wisdom Wellness Academy is a comprehensive healthy lifestyle program that nurtures the whole person - body, mind and spirit - for girls in this important developmental stage. The purpose of this program is to build a foundation for lifelong wellness habits, much like how we carefully tend a garden to help it flourish. This program is designed like a garden where each girl can discover her unique way of blooming. Just as plants need different amounts of sunlight, water and nutrients, each participant will learn to understand what her body and mind need to thrive. We focus on building positive relationships with movement, food, rest and self-care rather than rigid rules or restrictions.

With a deep understanding of adolescent development and wellness principles, the program structure creates a safe space where girls can explore what health means for them individually, much like how a master gardener understands that each plant has unique needs while following universal growing principles.

This program utilizes an integration approach. Rather than treating physical fitness, nutrition and mental health as separate subjects, everything weaves together naturally. When girls are cooking healthy snacks on Tuesday, they are also practicing mindfulness, building friendships and learning about their bodies' needs. When they are journaling on Friday, they are processing their physical activities from the week and setting intentions for future growth.

Girls this age are forming their identity and relationship with their changing bodies. By focusing on what their bodies can do rather than how they look and by teaching stress management before high school pressures intensify, we're building protective factors that will serve them for decades.

Wisdom Wellness Academy recognizes that sustainable health habits must feel good and make sense to the individual. Rather than imposing external rules about "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts," girls learn to tune into their own bodies' signals and develop internal wisdom about what truly nourishes them.