Hello...Goodbye...Hello Again

Hello! My name is Lisanne and I am a new volunteer for Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, I started this past fall. As a Program Assistant for the Teen Center – Middle School Girls – I already have a lot of experiences to share. Being that we are at the door step of a new year it is a great time for reflection on 2009 and to say goodbye to another valuable year.

During my time at GIMD I have already helped with two classes, The Girls Action Project and Women in Film. I have also attended a vital Anti-Oppression training class that is being pioneered by GIMD! This training was a first of its kind and was thoughtfully put together by the staff. I found that having time set a side for volunteers to learn to identify oppression and tactics to combat such behaviors/environments made for an excellent space to become more connected with the other volunteers.

During the class time I participated in supporting the middle school girls in looking at their city and neighborhood, and even themselves, in new ways. The Girls Action Project was a class that focused on community activism – through identifying issues that matter to our girls and talking through pathways to help change those issues. Some of the pathways included political activism methods, as well as volunteering experiences like picking up trash and visiting a local shelter.

The second session I was involved in a class called Women In Film. This was a fun and relaxing class. Miss Lizzeth and I would try to have focus-questions for the girls to be thinking about while watching the films.
Is the main character realistic?
What is believable about her/him?
Are there stereotypes within the characters?

These were the types of questions we passionately discussed after each film. We also paired the movies with various ice-breaker activities like ‘Bowling for Myself’, where we all bowled-down the ‘pins’ of our insecurities, how liberating! Seeing the minds of these young women grow and hearing their independent thoughts on complicated issues was really inspiring.

I am not saying goodbye to anything in 2009 that wasn’t worth experiencing. In refection of this past year, and looking towards the next, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that EVERYONE can benefit from being strong enough to stand up to oppression, smart enough to identify and break down stereotypes, and bold enough to step out into our communities and give back some time and heart.

Thanks GIMD for a great 2009, and Hello 2010!

Other reflections welcome…What was your NUMBER 1 inspiring moment of 2009?

What do you with ten 6-year-old girls?

Sometimes in Sports and Adventure it's better to stay inside and Monsters, Inc. proved to be an excellent movie for the girls to watch one day.

Remember when you were little and were afraid there were monsters under your bed or in the closet?

That's the main story behind the movie, but life lessons were woven throughout the plot. For example, there are scarier things than monsters, that monsters have feelings too, meanness is worse than getting scared, and it's not nice to scare people.

One of the girls noted that the movie title was similar to Girls, Inc. (and there may be some instructors who feel like Girls, Inc. *is* Monsters, Inc. on some days). Just kidding!

Of course, it's hard to hold the interest of all 6-year olds for two hours, so those that tired of the movie drew pictures in their journals they had made earlier in the class.

The playground in Paco Sanchez Park is only two blocks from Girls, Inc. and the girls love the jungle bars, slide, and swings. It's a good place for them to work off some energy.

This Week! Sports and Adventure!

7/7/09 - Today, Miss Caroline and I took the fifth graders to a climbing wall in Littleton. Twelve girls put on harnesses at the Foothills Parks and Rec center and took their turns on the wall. Two center instructors gave them a quick overview of some climbing terms (what does "belay" mean?), hooked them up to a safety line, and up they went. The challenge was to make it to the top and ring the bell, which three girls (and Miss Caroline) did.

6/30/09 - Today the sixth-graders in Miss Caroline's Sports and Adventure class played tennis at nearby Sloan's Lake Park. Thirteen girls piled into the GI van and soon arrived at the park where they unloaded a big black bag full of tennis rackets and a lot of balls. A couple of girls and I brought our own racket. My relic is 35 years old, but it still works. The girls were interested in comparing it to the newer models which have been improved to have shorter handles and bigger faces.

It was a gorgeous day and Miss Amanda accompanied us after giving a short lesson in tennis court rules and scoring. She then led us in stretching exercises and chose four girls to play a doubles game, while lining up the others to play a game of "Jail." This is where I served the ball and the first girl in line would return it. If she missed or hit it out of bounds, she went to "jail" and had to retrieve balls for the rest of the game. If she hit it back in bounds, she could go to the end of the line to play again.

After practicing a bit (it's been a long time since I've played tennis), I was able to serve most balls to the right spot and I remembered how much I loved to play tennis. The girls seemed to enjoy it also and we spent the next two hours hitting and retrieving lots of balls, with other girls taking my place as server or switching out in the doubles match.
We cooled off in the shade and drank from our water bottles which Miss Caroline is always sure the girls bring with them for outside activities. Then we returned to the center.

Getting better all the time..

Only 1 week left of the last session of the year! This year has been so much fun, I feel like I’ve learned so much in these past few sessions, and I’m always amazed at how much more I learn with each passing week.

A few weeks ago, Liz - our stellar volunteer coordinator - organized a volunteer training for current volunteers, and I was able to really reflect on how much I’ve gained from my experience here over the past 3 years. I’ve improved my skills in being assertive yet friendly with the girls quite dramatically, which has actually helped me a lot in my non-Girls Inc. life, and I realized (after Liz asked our group this specifically) just how many successes and challenges I’ve encountered during my time here. We also set goals for ourselves for the rest of the school year, both of which I’m proud to say I’ll have completed by the end of the week. First, and this is huge, I learned all my 3rd grade girls’ names! Secondly, I wanted to meet with Lockheed-Martin at least once more before the school year ends so we can set some solid goals for planning Operation SMART for the fall, which we’re all set to do this Friday.

I’m so happy to be starting the summer knowing that my year at Girls Inc. was the most rewarding yet. It will be nice to have a few months off from the center, though I’m pretty sure that around July-ish I’ll start to miss my Monday routine.

So I have just one more blog entry before another school year wraps up. Any summer volunteers interested in picking up the slack for the summer months? ;-)

Streeeetch!

We’re in the middle of the last session of the year. Sadness! Fortunately, it’s also one of the most fun since it’s about sports. Last week the 3rd graders, Ms. Jessica and I learned some basic stretches, as well as exercises like the crab walk and something that had “worm” in the name; but alas it didn’t actually involving doing the Worm.

I must say the stretching was definitely my favorite part. After a day sitting at a computer, getting a chance to sprawl out on the floor and stretch was a perfect way to start and end a Girls Inc. session.

This Monday we took things to the gym where the girls participated in workout stations and honed their throwing and catching skills. Tennis balls were everywhere, but as a former softball player I was happy to see the girls giving their arms a workout. The best part though was a game Ms. Jessie put together at the end where the 3rd and 4th graders competed by racing around the gym relay-style trying to catch up with a girl from the other team. I think of it as extreme duck-duck-goose. It was a blast to cheer the girls on and watch how fast some of them can run!

I am loving the warmer weather (when it’s not snowing of course) and having a chance to do a different sports class this time around. Last year, I was in Ms. Lauren’s 5th/6th grade class, and I spent most of my days getting kicked and punched in a punching bag which I was asked to hold as the girls learned self-defense (an incredibly beneficial skill for the girls, but not always the most fun for the instructor!). I admit that this year working with the 3rd graders is significantly more fun… and notably less painful.

Knowledge is Power

Wow… I have to say that today was pretty intense, and not at all in a bad way. The current session is Will Power, Won’t Power with the 5th and 6th graders, which is all about knowing your body and your rights. This week I had the pleasure of sitting in on what amounted to a “birds and bees” talk between Ms. Jessie and the girls. I was pretty uneasy about it at first but I quickly decided that the discussion was incredibly beneficial. Ms. Jessie was very straightforward about everything we talked about, and encouraged the girls to ask lots of questions about anything they’d heard, seen on TV or in movies, or observed in their lives. Ms. Jessie even shared a lot of her experiences, which the girls really appreciated.

I was amazed at how respectful the girls acted and how relevant their questions were. They were so engaged in what we had to say, especially when it was clear that they were learning more about things they’d heard of but didn’t quite understand before. There is so much talk about sex and sexuality in the media, and even on the playground (we had a little chat on the phrase, “that’s so gay,” and discussed what it actually meant to be gay), that I felt like the girls gained an immense amount of wisdom from having the chance to have that discussion in such a safe and welcoming forum. Too many teen pregnancies and risky relationships occur because girls don’t know the facts, and the sooner our girls become knowledgeable about their rights and their voice, the more empowered they are for life. Days like these I’m reminded why I absolutely love being a part of Girls Inc.

On a side note, last week we learned about anatomy and pregnancies, which I always laugh about because since I never took biology (chemical engineering didn’t require it) I always manage to learn something new during those sessions. Ms. Jessie looks so shocked when she asks me a question (like, how do birds mate?) and I look at her with a blank stare. Aren’t I supposed to be the scientist in the room? Note to self, perhaps I should study up on this stuff before next year’s session…

Welcome Back!

After a nice few week break for the holidays I’m back at the Youth Center with a new and exciting challenge awaiting me: 1st and 2nd graders. This is the one age group I haven’t yet had the pleasure of working with in the Youth Center, which I always secretly thought was a good thing, since I’m much more accustomed to helping with the older girls. Hence, I arrived at the center this afternoon fully expecting to be a bit culture shocked with the group of little ones I had never met, although it was comforting knowing Ms. Jessie (she’s back!) would be there to lead the way.

To everyone’s surprise though, Ms. Jessie was nowhere to be found once classes were dismissed from daily announcements in the Multi-Purpose Room. (She was running late due to the snow storm!) Consequently, it was more or less up to me to escort the girls to Classroom B, introduce myself, get snack, take attendance, and run the first few activities, all with a class I was already nervous about! As intimidating as that might sound, I actually really enjoyed the experience and had a great time. Girls Inc. has given me plenty of opportunity to lead classes over the years; this just happened to be the first occasion it wasn’t planned ahead of time.

Thankfully the Girls Inc. staff was there to help out, which I very much appreciated, and Jessie did arrive soon after we got kicked off (with all the snow today we were just happy she made it in one piece!). And it turns out the 1st and 2nd graders are a ton of fun. This unit is called Allies in Action, which requires some adjustment in the materials to suit the younger girls, but overall it’s about sticking up for one another and treating people the way you want to be treated.

The girls had some really insightful discussion and creative skits, which really surprised me given their age. Sometimes I need to be reminded just how smart and perceptive even our youngest girls are. That little reality check makes me really excited to help out with this group… and hopefully I’ll be able to learn a thing or two from them as well!