Working Group on Girls

League of Women Voters^®
of Schenectady County

Working Group on Girls Report

Working Group on Girls. First Annual Girls' Day Out. 2008-2009 THE WORKING GROUP ON GIRLS ANNUAL REPORT. Save the Date:.

Working Group on Girls

Submitted by Joanne Tobiessen, President
The Schenectady County Working Group on Girls (SCWGG) is now in its sixth year (inspired by the International Working Group on Girls, an NGO under UNICEF, where the national League is represented). In Schenectady, the SCWGG (as at the international level) is a collaboration of representatives. Here it draws from over a dozen different agencies and organizations that work with and care about girls. During this past year, we added to our mission statement ʻfacilitate programs on their behalfʼ. We created Girlsʼ Day Out, a very successful community effort in conjunction with our member agencies and organizations, the City School District. We were fortunate to have many generous donors, and dozens of community volunteers who put on workshops on that day as well as other women who were trained to lead the follow-up Girlsʼ Circles as ʻMusesʼ in the City Middle Schools. One hundred fifty 7th and 8th grade City School girls attended the ʻFirst Annual Girlsʼ Day Out: Breaking Barriers/Building Relationshipsʼ on November 18th 2009 at the Glen Sanders Mansion. The girls were able to each choose two workshops on building relationship skills and one workshop in arts expression, and then share what they had done in a finale with lively dance, singing, drama, poetry, art, and drumming. The follow-up Girlsʼ Circles used a prepared curriculum focusing on the girlsʼ strengths, positive attributes, future goals, and women they admired, culminating in a Celebration supper at the high school with music, participant panelists, and a slide show of the girls. All shared with and honored a woman of their choice. (This was held just before Motherʼs Day). On May 12th, we held our ʻGirlsʼ Day Out: Report to the Communityʼ at the Libraryʼs McChesney Room. Our goal was to inform donors and the community about what we did this year and where we are going from here. The program also included two panels of participants (five women who had contributed to different aspects of the program, and a girl from each of the middle schools) as well as a slide show of the girls. In the discussion, two mothers spoke movingly about the very positive impact the program had on their daughters. We are now planning and raising funds for the coming yearʼs ʻSecond Annual Girlsʼ Day Out." We will be meeting the second Mondays of July and August at 3:30pm at the YWCA. All are welcome. In September, we will be advertising for Girlsʼ Circle leaders, whom we call ʻMuses,ʼ women who will inspire, encourage, support and challenge the 7th grade participants in small groups at their schools They will meet twice monthly after Girlsʼ Day Out. If you are interested, watch for more information, and/or contact Joanne at jtobiessen@hotmail.com for more information. LWV members who are on the SCWGG Include Maxine Borom, Karen Bradley, Maxine Brisport, Gwynne DeLong, Karen Draper, Betsy Forkas, Julia Helfman, Miranda Rand and Helga Schroeter. In addition, Lynda Nichols served as a muse and Shirley Readdean co-led several workshops.

First Annual Girls' Day Out

SCHENECTADY COUNTY WORKING GROUP ON GIRLS' "FIRST ANNUAL GIRLS' DAY OUT: BREAKING BARRIERS/BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS"
One hundred and fifty 7th and 8th grade girls were bussed from four Schenectady City Schools to the Glen Sanders Mansion, Wednesday, November 18th. They enjoyed a full school day off campus during National Education Week and participated in "The First Annual Girls' Day Out: Breaking Barriers/Building Relationships," facilitated by the Schenectady County Working Group on Girls (SCWGG). Women from over 15 agencies and organizations who work with and care about girls teamed to create a project to strengthen the girls' sense of self respect, to teach skills that would enable the girls to take responsible control of their lives and to open their minds to new options. The adult participants wished to show the girls that the community cares about them and to connect the girls with the community and with agencies that can meet their needs.
After a mini-breakfast, a plenary session featuring Sister Anne Bryan Smollin emphasized the importance and value of self-respect. Sister Anne starting her keynote by getting everyone up and hugging at least 12 others. She said that we need four hugs a day just to survive and to help us thrive. Girls then attended two pre-selected morning workshops (out of six) dealing with different aspects of forming and maintaining healthy relationships. They regrouped for lunch and met their 'muses'. Muses are adult women who will lead monthly "Girls' Circles" throughout the remainder of the school year.
Following a pre-selected choice of an afternoon arts expression workshop. We offered six other workshops from which to choose. Then the girls reconvened to share what they had accomplished. Girls displayed their visual art work, recited the poetry they had written, acted in a dramatic presentation, sang songs, performed yoga and step dance, played steel drums and performed African dance. All were developed during their afternoon workshops.
Before boarding buses to return to their respective schools, each girl received a soccer bag containing small gifts, resource materials, information about programs offered by agencies that serve girls, and a book, "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: the Real Deal."
The next day, one of the girls' school social workers reported "Our girls are talking about it--some have described it as the best thing that has ever happened to them."
The Schenectady County Working Group of Girls (SCWGG), modeled on the United Nations Working Group on Girls, an NGO under UNICEF, was initiated five years ago by the League of Women Voters of Schenectady County and the American Association of University Women of Schenectady County. The WGG is a truly collaborative venture with members from the LWV, the AAUW, as well as the City Middle Schools, the Schenectady Federation of Teachers (SFT), the NYS United Teachers (NYSUT), the Schenectady School Board, The Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), the Schenectady County Public Library, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Schenectady, the Sexual Assault Support Services/PPMH (Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson), Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), SAFE Inc., the YWCA, the Girl Scouts of NENY, Girls Inc., and the community. The SCWGG's mission statement is 'Working together to put the spotlight on girls, facilitate programs on their behalf, and educate the community about their needs, challenges, opportunities and successes.'
The SCWGG is a 501c3 under the sponsorship of the League of Women Voters of New York State's Education Foundation, enabling it to receive funding from numerous foundations, agencies, organizations, and individuals.
The Girls' Day Out was funded by donations from The Schenectady Foundation, The Carlilian Foundation, Soroptimist International of Schenectady, The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region's Standish Family Fund, The Henry M. Butzel Family Foundation, Stewart's Shops, Price Chopper (in-kind), also NYS United Teachers, Schenectady Federation of Teachers, LWV, AAUW, Zonta, Schenectady Permanent Firemen's Association,SAFE Inc., as well as businesses: Blown Away, Griffith Dardanelli Architects, M.A.L. Accounting and Tax Services, Miss Nikki's Tutoring Service (Athens, Greece), and individuals: Dr. N Balasubramanian, Jon and Nancy Tobiessen, David Humphrey, and Carole Merrill-Mazurek.
GIRLS' DAY OUT WORKSHOP LEADERS
Chrys Ballerano, Community Educator, NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault Karen Baum, Dir. of Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs at The Center for Community Justice Robin Boyd, SPOA Coordinator, Schenectady Co. Office of Community Services Laura Combs, Social Worker, BOCES/Schenectady CSD Nettie Crossman, retired school librarian, Schenectady CSD Gwynne De Long, LWV and retired teacher Schenectady SCD Gail Wilson-Giarratano, President/CEO, Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region Okenya Hickson, student SHS Maureen Johnson, Service Coordinator, SAFE Inc. Eileen Lawson, Education Team Manager, Planned Parenthood Mohawk-Hudson Mary Clare O'Connor, Schenectady Youth Build, SUNY/SCCC Nichelle Rivers, Ed.D., Asst. Superintendent, Troy CSD Karen Ferrer-Muniz, Dir. Multicultural Affairs, Union College Shirley Readdean, past president, YWCA NENY, and Schenectady CSD Board of Education Bernice Rivera, Social Studies Teacher, Schenectady CSD Latisia Rivera, SHS 2008 Angelique Williams, Founder of Girl Power Mentoring Michelle Williams, community volunteer.

2008-2009 THE WORKING GROUP ON GIRLS ANNUAL REPORT

Submitted by Joanne Tobiessen
The SCWGG is in its fifth year, having been started in 2004 by the AAUW and the LWV with the mission "Working together to put the spotlight on girls and educate the community about their needs, challenges, opportunities and successes." This coalition of representatives from various agencies and organizations that work with and care about girls is presently planning the `First Annual Girls' Day Out: Breaking Barriers/Building Relationships' to be held November 18th at the Glen Sanders for 150 seventh and eighth grade girls from Schenectady City Schools.
Grant writing has yielded contributions from Stewart's, Soroptimist International, the Schenectady Foundation, as well as individual donors. Women from over 15 different groups are working together to create a program that will increase the girls' appreciation for and trust in themselves, give them skills to use in building positive relationships with others, connect them with helpful resources in the community, give them an opportunity to express themselves through the arts, and provide follow-up sessions in their schools (after school) to focus on issues of concern to them. A community forum is planned for next May to share the results of this endeavor.

The website for the Working Group on Girls is: http://sites.google.com/site/schenectadycountyworkinggroupo/

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