AUSTELL - More than 70 girls at South Cobb High School recently received a lesson in what it takes to reach their goals at the school's second Young Women's Conference.

South Cobb's Young Women's Conference was a two-day event aimed at encouraging, educating and nurturing young women to become women of destiny and promise, according to the school. March is Women's History Month.

The conference opened Friday with entertainment, door prizes and a guest speaker. The following Saturday was dedicated to class sessions, a professional women's panel and a question and answer forum. This year's theme was "A Woman's Worth."

Principal Ashley Hosey said he wanted to repeat the success the conference experienced last year, when it drew more than 150 girls from nearby high schools.

"I got the idea when I was working on mentoring groups for young men and we started one here," recalled Hosey, who came to South Cobb two years ago. "But as I started talking to young ladies, it came across my mind that we needed to do something strong for them."

Guest speaker Terri Robinson of Mableton, a success coach, provided a presentation that included a number of tips on how to set and achieve goals.

The sister-in-law of former NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper, Robinson used the game of football as a backdrop for her presentation, suggesting that students should have a game plan to map out their strategy to achieving their goals in life, just as professional athletes plan for each game.

"Do you know why most people don't reach their goals? It's because they don't set them," she told the audience of girls dressed in yellow conference T-shirts.

"The more specific it is, the better chance you have at achieving it. Vague goals get vague results or often not the results you're looking for."

Robinson said goals should be what she termed as SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and tangible.

Asked what goals they intend to set, one girl at the conference said she wanted to make straight A's, another said she wanted to earn a HOPE Scholarship, and another girl said she wanted to be wearing an honor cord at her graduation.

Some students also offered their career goals, which included becoming an anesthesiologist, architect, OB-GYN doctor, math teacher, professional basketball player and singer.

Friday's program included a dance performance by student Alona Jackson and solo performances by students Latoya Quattropani and Alexia Brookins, who sang "Open Up My Heart" and "Can't Give Up Now," respectively.

"I chose this sang because sometimes in life we go through things and feel like we really do want to give up," said Brookins. "But you can't give up, because there's always something better for you in your future."