CURRENT EVENTS
Girls Compete in Volley Ball Camp & On Foot
Girls will improve their skills on the volleyball court and compete in a walking challenge to see who can log the most steps over three days Jul 26-28.
Dual in the Desert Volleyball Camp is joining with Girls Inc. of Southern Arizona for the competitive walking challenge to encourage girls to take charge of their own health. The sports campers will receive pedometers from Girls Inc. of Southern Arizona to measure every step they take.
This camp will be held the week of July 25 to 29 at St. Gregory’s College Preparatory School at 2131 N. Craycroft Rd. The walking challenge will be from July 26 to 28. The winning team and prize will be announced at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the school.
Three levels of summer volleyball camps for girls are co-sponsored by Academy of Tucson, Green Fields Country Day School and St. Gregory’s College Preparatory School. All sessions are held on the St. Gregory campus and are open to all girls in the community.
The walking challenge is the kick off a new Girls Inc. initiative called Mind + Body, according to Lori Foster, executive director of Girls Inc. for Southern Arizona. She said the not-for-profit organization serving Pima County is all about girls, delivering an array of programs designed to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold.
“Girls need access to information, resources and skills to be effective partners in promoting their own total physical, mental and emotional wellness,” Foster said. “We offer a variety of outreach programs, including this new initiative.” Girls Inc. serves 150,000 girls ages six to 18 at 1,400 sites in 350 cities in the United States and Canada. For more information, call 520-623-2661 or visit www.girlsincsoaz.org
Duel in the Desert Volleyball Camp offers hands-on experience in separate sessions for lower, middle and high school students. The camps are offered twice – from July 18 through 22 and July 25 through 29. Grades 3 to 5 will play from 8 to 9:30 a.m., grades 6 to 8 play from 10 a.m. to noon and high school students play from 1 to 4 pm. The cost is $60, $80 and id="mce_marker"00 respectively. For more information or to register, contact Vande Mheen at Green Fields 297-2288 or <a href="mailto:
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.Registration forms also are available online at <a href="http://www.greenfields.org.">www.greenfields.org.
"This is the first year that we are offering a camp for grades 3 to 5," Vande Mheen said. "We'll use lighter volleyballs and shorter courts in order to accommodate younger players. In most cases, kids tend to grow up playing soccer or tee ball and volleyball seems to be a new sport for them as they enter middle school. We want to change that and get the girls involved now!"
Programming News
During the spring 2011 semester, Girls Incorporated® of Southern Arizona (GISA) collaborated with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson by offering Action for SafetySM, a Project Bold® program for ages 9 – 11 that helps girls develop strategies for self-defense and to live safer lives, to girls at the Steve Daru Clubhouse; Living Safe & StrongSM, a Project Bold® program for ages 12-14, to girls at the Frank and Edith Morton Clubhouse and Media SmartsSM, a Media Literacy® program for ages 9-11 that encourages girls to think critically about media messages and its effect on girls, at the Holmes Tuttle Clubhouse.
GISA continued to collaborate with Lawrence Intermediate School in offering Action for SafetySM, the Project Bold® program for girls ages 9-11. During the 2010-2011 school year, we offered programming to over 77 girls. We also had fun with our trip to the new Tucson Museum of Miniatures in March.
PAST EVENTS
May 5, 2011
End of Semester Celebrations Held
On May 5, 2011 Lawrence Intermediate held an Open House for LEAP participants and their families. While Site Facilitator Diana Johnson described Girls Inc.® and the Action for SafetySM program to guests, the girls demonstrated examples of some of the blocks, hits, and kicks learned over the semester. During this demonstration the girls completed the “breaking of the board”, or the foot stomp exercise. According to the Action for SafetySM curriculum, the essential element of board breaking, besides using correct form, is helping the girls “believe they can do it”. Each girl was provided with a 9 by 12 inch board, which was raised on supports. During a countdown by the facilitator, all of the girls brought their foot down with full force and power on the count of three. The girls signed each other’s boards as a memento of the event. The boards are a reminder of all the strength each girl holds within herself. In addition to the signed boards, the girls who completed the Action for SafetySM program received a Girls Inc.® “Strong, Smart, and Boldsm” bracelet to help them remember their participation and reinforce their belief that they are “Strong, Smart and BoldSM”.
Also in May, celebration ceremonies were held at the Boys & Girls Clubhouses. GISA presented the Girls Inc. ® Media Literacy®: Media Smartssm program for girls 9-11 at the Holmes Tuttle Clubhouse. Girls Inc. ® Media Smartssm program encourages girls to examine how media messages are constructed, how these messages reflect social values, and how girls’ active participation can influence the messages-and the values. In addition, girls are encouraged to craft and communicate their own messages using a variety of techniques to create and design media on their own while exploring diverse media careers and tools. At their celebration, the clubhouse provided sandwiches and slush from Eegee’s – just what the girls requested.
At the Steve Daru Clubhouse celebration, the girls who participated in Action for Safetysm completed their “breaking of the board” demonstration followed by pizza and cupcakes (also the girls’ request) and at the Frank and Edith Morton Clubhouse, the girls enjoyed their choice of cupcakes and Eeegee’s as they celebrated the completion of Living Safe & Strongsm, a program that continues the topics and self-defense techniques/strategies from Action for Safetysm, while incorporating self-awareness, challenge, and team-building activities. During the celebration they showed their their Public Service Announcement regarding girls being treated with respect and gave a demonstration of the techniques they learned. The girls also received “strong, smart, and boldsm” bracelets.
March 2011
A Day at The Miniature Museum
In an effort to share supplementary opportunities and outside activities with GISA program participants, GISA hosted the Lawrence Intermediate Action for SafetySM girls and staff to a day at The Mini-Time Machine, The Museum of Miniatures on March 5, 2011.
The girls, staff and chaperones were able to tour the Museum with docents who explained many of the wonderful exhibits of miniatures, including model houses. GISA board member Zofia Wosinska and Designer Jeremy Picker, CEO of www.Amb3r.com, led the girls in a workshop where they broke into teams and designed their own tee-shirts. The objective was to create messages and designs that represented what Action for Safetysm meant to them. GISA board members Karen McWhirter and Pat Wallace and Lawrence Program Facilitator Diana Johnston helped make the day a fun and successful event. Jack in the Box generously donated box lunches.
The girls were very excited to create a tee-shirt. Zofia Wosinska and Jeremy Picker donated the designed shirts which were delivered to the girls at the end of the school year.
