PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A city of Philadelphia program to help keep girls in school has been expanded to help more girls.

The Girls on Track program has been a positive influence on hundreds of girls since 1999 with workshops promoting sisterhood and bonding, conflict resolution, and an annual retreat that includes a ceremony called Burial of the ‘Tude after which they make a fresh start.

Cynthia Figueroa, a deputy commissioner at the Department of Human Services, says the program has been adding mentors and workshops and now is able to include more girls:

“What’s unique about it is that it pulls girls from all different schools so we have girls that attended public, charter and parochial and we have girls that attend from the magnet schools all the way to the consistently dangerous schools in the public school system. So there’s a broad array of girls.”

Reported By Karin Phillips, KYW Newsradio