Remember when kid love letters consisted of will you go with me yes or no? That kind of innocence is long gone for many kids. Toni Cuttino says when her son was 14 he was coming home with sexually explicit letters written by female classmates. "I couldn't believe it. I was like what? I've never met girls who were so pushy, so aggressive," said Cuttino. Cuttino decided to start a mentoring program for middle school girls to instill self love and self worth. She calls it SISTA, Successful Individuals Striving Toward Achievement. The motto is you are worth more than that. The group is celebrating its one year anniversary this month.
Cuttino knew the letters spelled trouble--she was 17 when she had her son. Now Cuttino meets with the 18 girls in SISTA twice a month covering the themes no abuse, no dropouts, no babies, no drugs. A nurse talked to the girls about teen pregnancy during one session. A rape counselor spoke during another. Cuttino also teaches the girls how to behave properly. She held a glass slipper ball in Fayetteville in November. She said part of the lesson was showing the girls how to get dressed up and wear something besides jeans all the time.
Fayetteville Police Officer Anthony Kelly says his daughter started pushing herself in school after she got involved in SISTA. He says the program fills a big void. "These girls are now getting the opportunity for somebody to teach them how to be a lady or how to get into college and how to do a job interview, now they're getting those opportunities and if it weren't for her I don't know if they'd be getting them," said Kelly. If I can prevent one girl from getting pregnant, if I can help one girl complete high school without having the word mom attached to it, if I can help one girl go and get a career and do it because she wants to do it and not because a boy said she couldn't do it then I completed my mission," said Cuttino.
The program is all volunteer, and free to the girls. They've taken a trip to New York to see a Broadway show and a trip to Atlanta to visit a college campus.
If you would like to learn more about SISTA email Toni Cuttino founder-of-sista@hotmail.com