ROX groups from Westerville Central, Alcott Elementary connect
The Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) girls groups at Westerville Central High School and Alcott Elementary gathered for the first time on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to create ornaments and connect.
Advisors plan to host more meetings between the groups to foster mentorships between high school students and their younger peers.
The ROX program, which expanded to all schools this year, helps girls navigate the challenges of adolescence, learning how to feel confident in sharing their opinions, standing up for themselves and making good decisions for their futures.
WEC on board with ROX
Westerville Education Challenge in the fall of 2024 announced the adoption of ROX – the Ruling Our eXperiences program – as one of our supported initiatives in the Westerville City School District.
WEC’s goal with ROX is for every female student in the WCSD to be invited to participate in ROX programming before graduation, said WEC President Laura Hammer.
The program is open to all girls in grades 5-12. It’s expected that 300-400 girls in the Westerville district will participate in 2024-25.
About ROX
According to the ROX website, Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX) began in 2006 as a research study at The Ohio State University where Founder and CEO Dr. Lisa Hinkelman spent her career training graduate students in counselor education.
As a licensed counselor working with adults and students in school settings, Dr. Hinkelman recognized that the issues facing female students mirrored the experiences of the adult women she was working with in counseling. This connection sparked a research agenda that sought to understand the challenges facing girls and what interventions existed to help them navigate these challenges.
Dr. Hinkelman put research into practice and developed a comprehensive curriculum that could be delivered during the school day and that was available for any girl that expressed interest. She founded Ruling Our eXperiences, Inc. in 2011 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to create generations of confident girls who are in control of their own relationships, experiences, decisions and futures.
Since then, ROX has scaled nationally to grow programming across nearly 40 states with more than 7,500 girls participating annually.
Photos and news release courtesy of Charlie Boss and the Westerville City School District.
About WEC
Founded in 2007 to bring the Challenge Day program to Westerville City Schools, Westerville Education Challenge is a nonprofit, volunteer community organization that works to help create school cultures where every student feels safe, supported, and celebrated.
We do this through raising awareness and funds for Social Emotional Learning Initiatives in the Westerville Schools community. Our members are passionate about supporting innovative programming with the ability to touch all students in the Westerville City School District.
Read more here.
