This school year we had two full sessions. We worked with a group of sophomore girls in the fall and a group of freshmen in the spring. Each session had small group activities led by a teacher-mentor. For a six week session we met weekly to work through curriculum on topics like health, relationships, confidence, relational aggression, gratitude, "putting your best self forward" and goal setting. We also did weekly journaling and reflection. And lots of talking! Developing personal relationships with the girls was the most important and rewarding part of program. Throughout the entire year, I also had a small group of seniors that acted as mini-mentors and assistants to me. We did many of the same activities as the underclassmen but we also focused on their needs as seniors embarking on the next chapter of their lives.
In the fall, some of our special activities included:
- Volunteering at the IM3rdMeal Campaign. We made and packaged sack lunches for kids in our area who might not normally get a third meal of the day.
- Skyped with fashion photographer, author and philanthropist...Nigel Barker! He spoke with us on true beauty - INNER BEAUTY - and really made an impact on the girls.
- Thought Design! We spent a day learning at Thought Design in Rockford, MI. We took a yoga class, learned about healthy stress reduction (including "throwing away" the negative elements in our lives that we later burned in a barrel), had a groove dance session and cooked a full meal FROM SCRATCH. Some of the girls had never cooked natural food from scratch before. It was an amazing adventure.
- "Putting Your Best Self Forward" - We had experts from Genesis Salon and Day Spa come in and teach us how to take care of our skin, how to apply make up and create fun hair styles. Then we had the professional photographer, Beth Hallock, come in for a photo shoot. It was a good bonding afternoon and our experts made us feel like rock stars!
Spring Session was also great with the freshmen set!
- In order to team build and get to know each other we had an adventure at ARTengage where we took healthy risks (well, for the non artists anyway) and painted a Lotus Flower under the guidance of a pro.
- We had a great adventure at the GR downtown YMCA in May. We did a yoga session, some inner reflection activities, a groove session, had lunch, created art, at played in the pool. This was a great day to bond with our mentors and dig a little deeper into our best selves. Words can't express how amazing this was!
- During Health Week (both sessions) we had many guest speakers, including doctors, nutritionists, peer resistance professionals, and two sessions with Ms. Emily Smith, Miss Pride of the Peninsulas. She informed us about the importance of mental health and we even ended up raising some funds for the Stomp Out Stigma walk to bring awareness to mental health. (A few of us participated!) Our second session with her was about skin care, hair care, age appropriate make up and dressing for our body types. We also had games and samples. This second session really put some smiles on the girls faces.
Senior Girls!
- The seniors this year were able to do a little more volunteering. In the fall we traveled to a local elementary school and worked with little girls. We did esteem building activities and had a great time girl bonding! We also volunteered to help at the St. Mary's "Runway on the Rapids" which is a fashion show to help raise money and awareness for Muscular Dystrophy. We ended up being gifted tickets to the event and we donated our own money at our first (amazing) fashion show! We plan on contacting this group again for other volunteer opportunities.
Thanks for a great year ladies! Mentors, couldn't have done it without you! LP
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