Best Practices Research & Report

Journey 2006: A Residential Camp for Middle School Girls

Presented to
The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County
& The Horizon Foundation

by
Jessie Newburn
JN & Associates
443-794-7521
jessienewburn@gmail.com
www.jessienewburn.com

August 31, 2006

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Background
The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County (the WGC) has determined as a funding goal
to support middle-school age girls in the county. To this end, the WGC granted $16,750 to
develop and launch Journey 2006: A Residential Camp for Middle School Girls. Journey 2006
aims to help middle school girls to begin developing their sense of identity through three lenses:
self-awareness, relationships and community.

The WGC wishes its funds to support the best possible camp programs to help middle school
girls the most. Then, with this knowledge, the WGC wishes, in coming years, to expand its
camp program and/or other programs aimed at this target group to an even larger audience.

It is with these goals in mind that the WGC is requesting hired Jessie Newburn of JN &
Associates for a one-time project to research evidence-based best practices used at residential
camp programs for middle school girls.

Note: Journey 2006 ran from X to X date this year and was attended by a diverse group of 25 middle school
girls living in Howard County. Surveys and assessments from this camp session are available at YYYY.

Project Goals
The project goals outlined in the initial proposal were:

To research and identify evidence-based “best practices,” applicable to residential camp

programs for middle-school girls, which help girls combat the deleterious effects of mass culture.

To create an accessible, easily searched, annotated web-based data source highlighting the
research results, which can be added to and updated in the coming months and years.

To make recommendations as to which resources discovered in this process are most applicable
to the Journey camp program and to the goals of the Women’s Giving Circle, in general.

Research Process
The research process included three key elements –
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 1. interviewing key players holding an on-the-ground lens on middle school girls in the county,
2. collecting publicly available data about middle school girls in Howard County, and
3. conducting a broad internet scan of programs available to support middle school girls’ development,
with a focus on –
• evidence-based programs,
• programs applicable to residential camps, and
• programs for sale and/or license which are highly aligned with the WGC goals.

Interviews
The following individuals were interviewed in 20-30 minute long phone interviews.

Marcy Leonard
Principal, Atholton HS.
MLW, Treasurer and Member of Policy Board
Journey, Staff Member

Beth Singleton
Gifted and Talented Resource Teacher
Murray Hill Middles School
Mother of a middle school-age girl

Contobia Adams
Young Adult Coordinator
Howard County Library

Lisa Boarman
Facilitator for School Counseling
Howard County Public School System

Margaret (Peggy) E. Schultz

Office of Pupil Personnel
Ho. Co. Board of Education

(The notes taken during each interview are available in the Addendum of this report.)

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Each professional had her own lens, her own areas of concern and, of course, her own perspective on where
Howard County middle school girls stand and the best ways to support their development. The women
interviewed did not indicate a sense of decline and danger for our girls. There was, however, expressed –
intuitively, anecdotally and factually – the understanding that all middle school girls are “at risk” by mere fact of
their age and the knowledge that these are very challenging years for girls.

Overall, there was a sense that our girls are blessed to be growing up in a resource-rich, youth-attentive and
highly diverse school system and community.

Data on Middle School Girls in Howard County

To get a sense of where Howard County middle school girls are, and where they seem to be headed as
demographic group, we gathered data from these reports:

Anti-Bullying Task Force Report

Prepared for the Howard County Public School System
Results of the Bullying Questionnaire are included in this report..

2004 Maryland Adolescent Survey

Percent of Students Reporting Substance Use by Grade Level and Time Period
Results of Howard County students surveyed are included in this report..

Portrait of Philanthropy: Prepared for The Columbia Foundation

(To get a Census summary of Howard County)
The Capacity for Individual Giving in Howard County.

Howard County Public School System

Middle School Fact Sheets

All of this data can be found at the back of this report in the Addendum section.

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Internet Research
Some editorializing, some logic and, of course, “The Goods”

It is here, in this sentence, where I have found myself stuck each time I’ve approached the closing of this research
report. Normally, I’m a stellar researcher. I have an intuitive knack for following the right thread, getting
someone to give up in conversation a piece of data that makes a puzzle fit together, and finding the best of the
best sources for the task at hand. I do believe I’ve done that here for The Horizon Foundation and the Women’s
Giving Circle. Where I have found myself completely befuddled is in the delivery of my information.

See, I had visions of going out to the internet, finding really incredible resources, using a relatively new and very
cool social bookmarking tool for tracking, tagging and annotating internet research and delivering to my client a
vibrant, living, breathing, online, totally hip and user-friendly web-based tool.

The Challenges behind Us

In looking on the Internet for evidence-based programs which help develop middle school girls’ self-awareness
skills, there were many a challenge.
• The first big challenge is that camp marketing staff have become rather competitive and smart over the
years. Nowadays, most everyone claims that archery, hiking in the woods and swimming now build a
girls’ confidence and self-esteem.
• The second big challenge in finding good camp program resources is the once-dominant (hopefully
fading) definition that a girl could only develop true confidence by mastering boy skills: math, science,
engineering and such.
• The third challenge is that creating an “evidence-based” program requires strategy, time and money to
prove that one has such a program (with camp ownership not being generally known as the fastest route
to owning beachfront property on a lovely tropical island).
• And the fourth major challenge – no news here – is that the internet is practically sinking in information
overload.

Challenge #1: Savvy Camp Marketing

In a not too distant world, I could have typed into Google’s search box these words: “residential camp”
“middle school girls” “self-esteem” or any similar combination of words which would have lead me to 1)
residential camps for 2) middle school girls with 3) a program focused on developing self-esteem,
confidence, a positive body image and a host of other issues critical to middle school girls’ development.

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Nowadays, with the competition for summer camp attendance at an almost fierce level, every single
camp for girls touts the numerous other benefits one’s daughter will gain while learning archery, doing
outdoor adventures, developing relationships to support her personal development and so on. Nothing
wrong here, it’s just that using meaningful terms to get meaningful search engine results is becoming
more challenging because “self esteem” (among other things) is now considered a standard – and stated –
benefit of camps. The upside of this is that it appears those working with middle school girls understand
that addressing such subjects specifically is part and parcel of serving this particular population.

Challenge #2: Engineering Skills = Confidence

Someone, somewhere at sometime decided that in order for girls to have self-esteem, they needed to
master math, science and technology. I know the issue is deeper than this, and I know that girl-only
programs help girls explore subjects often dominated by boys in class. But I am being a intentionally
sarcastic about this because the plethora of camps that are designed to build a middle school girls’
confidence by immersing her math and engineering classes is astounding. You’d think that unless a sixth
grade girl can run calculus equations in her head, build a miniature robot and talk geek-talk, she has no
chance of “making it” in the world.

A simple stroll through a Target store communicates rather clearly that there is a big shift toward girls
wanting to be girls. They want to be Soccer Divas and to announce their status as such divas in pink
shirts with glittery silver lettering. They want to be girls AND be smart. To be pretty AND be athletic.
To be sweet AND geeky. Not either, or.

There is a growing body of evidence that girls grasp math, technology and geekiness when it is
contextualized into stories and relationships: things girls intuitively understand and orient toward. I’m
not saying these math and science camps should be abolished. I simply found the equation of Math Skills
+ Computer Awareness = Confidence to be a Zero.

Challenge #3: Evidence-based Research Claims Cost Money

As is known, the terms “evidence-based” and “research-based” are not arbitrary and light comments one
can sprinkle on marketing material. This is real. And much set up, study and tracking is involved to
make such claims. So is cost. And most camps are small ventures run by small businesses, with a handful
of them run by large national parent organizations, such Girl Scouts or Girls Incorporated.

There is more recognition of the need and desire for evidence-based programs, and the beginnings of this
are starting to show up, with the most specific example being a --
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 “Tool Kit for Measuring Outcomes of Girl Scout Resident Camp.” The new tools allow you to
enter data in predefined spreadsheets and to produce statistical results and charts at the push of a
button. … The new data analysis supplement will increase your capacity to measure the impact
of the resident camp experience on girls.” (See the Addendum for more information.)

Also, in my research and conversations, some groups selling licensed camp (and other) programs for
middle school girls mentioned recent pre- and post-program statistics that they’d tracked about girls
going through their programs. Still, as of yet, they were a long shot from being officially “evidence-
based” programs. It’s growing, though.

Challenge #4: Too Much of a Good Thing

Turns out – and it’s a good thing, I do believe – that middle school girls and developing self-awareness
skills is a hot topic for after-school programs, websites, parents, teachers, nonprofit groups, corporations
(interested in getting girls as customers now!) and a slew of other groups.

In other words, the number of individual, institutional, nonprofit and corporate websites replete with
resources, aggregated and/or created, to help middle school girls is, seemingly, endless. The internet, of
course, allows data to flow, flourish, multiply, spread, coalesce and pretty much anything else it wants to
do. But that’s the result: it’s all over the place.

So, my excitement in finding, for example, a really incredible corporate site with excellent pro-girl
information or an institution with a long list of resources for parents, teachers, community leaders, faith
leaders, girls, and so faded after several days of focused research. There’s good information out there.
There’s plenty of information out there, but I had to stop, regroup and re-strategize lest I just replicate
what everyone else is doing: aggregating data.

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Reaching Our Goal with GOAL

I found one source that I believe meets every single objective The Women’s Giving Circle and The Horizon
Foundation wish to achieve: it is GOAL, Inc., a 501(c)(3) that designs, field-tests and licenses its own
experiential, research-based curricula that addresses the social, emotional, intellectual and developmental needs of
girls in the 6th through 9th grades.

The most comprehensive way to present this group and their program is to copy directly their core material into
this document and highlight key information that can be scanned and read easily. Additional information about
GOAL’s licensing agreements, support materials and training opportunities can be found in the Addendum.

History of GOAL

GOAL is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization that, in 1997, began by sponsoring weeklong outdoor
experiences, and now provides curriculum and programs for girl-serving organizations and
institutions.

The organization grew from an idea that Marion Latham and Kaffie McCullough, colleagues in the
psychotherapeutic community, had to provide existing camps with a program that would address the
developmental and emotional issues facing young girls. Kaffie spent a week during the summer of 1996
as a counselor at the Wells College Outdoor Leadership Adventure in Aurora, NY. She came back
excited by the thought that a similar program could be offered to young girls in Atlanta, and she began
the process of creating a not-for-profit corporation to do just that.

The pilot program in the summer of 1998 included twenty-five girls from diverse socioeconomic and
ethnic backgrounds. Since that first program, GOAL has grown steadily. In addition to GOAL Week,
girls had the opportunity to reconnect with GOAL during the Saturday Leadership Program which
offered monthly day-long programming to supplement and build upon what was learned during the
summer. The Wilderness Program, which began in the Summer of 2000, provided a smaller group of
girls the opportunity for profound self-discovery as they confronted the challenges of backpacking for
five days in wilderness areas around Georgia. In the Summer of 2001, Girls LEAD, a pilot camp in
collaboration with Cool Girls, Inc., provided an entrepreneurial leadership experience for 45 girls and
gave them the opportunity to learn about the intricacies of money and business.

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In 2004, GOAL revised its program delivery model from direct programming for girls to providing
programs to girls at schools, camps and other venues as well as licensing its curriculum for use by
other girl-serving organizations and institutions. This change allows GOAL to serve more girls and
serve the parents and teachers who live and work with the girls in a more cost effective manner. As the
organization moves forward into the future, GOAL is committed to helping young girls develop a
strong, confident sense of themselves, and an open-minded, respectful attitude toward the differences
that exist in their peers and the world around them.

GOAL is for girls – the women of tomorrow. The world of the future will be stronger if today’s girls
learn how to value themselves and interact successfully in a diverse community.

GOAL Philosophy
Research from several disciplines defines the theoretical framework, which forms the backbone of the
GOAL Curriculum. The fields of –
• Multicultural Education,
• Youth Development and
• Female Adolescent Development
all contribute to an understanding of the adolescent girl’s developmental needs and were integrated
throughout the development of the GOAL Curriculum.

Multicultural Education
Multicultural Education seeks to provide students with balanced and inclusive curriculum and
instruction that values a wide range of experiences. One of the most essential goals of Multicultural
Education is to assist youth in developing the attitudes, skills and knowledge they will need to be
successful in an increasingly diverse, interdependent and global society.

At its very core, GOAL is about teaching girls to value and respect difference in its many forms. From its
origins in 1997, GOAL’s mission has been “to promote self-esteem, self-awareness and a respect for
individual differences in girls and young women.” GOAL believes this mission is best served through a
multifaceted approach to diversity, which addresses not only the content of specific activities but also the
overall philosophy that is inherent in the curriculum and its delivery.

The most obvious manifestation of GOAL’s commitment to diversity is the Appreciating & Respecting
Diversity module. These six activities engage girls in experiential activities that explore differences in
cultural values, socio-economic status, abilities, perspectives, viewpoints, ideas and group roles. GOAL
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believes that by embracing a broad definition of diversity, the girls will be better equipped to apply the
learning to their own lives and relationships.

All of GOAL’s six curriculum modules are formatted to encourage girls of diverse circumstances to
share their stories and their viewpoints. GOAL does not advocate or promote a certain value set but
allows room for all girls to contribute as they reflect on, and often share, their own life experiences. The
facilitator acts as a guide, rather than an expert and the learning and growth that occurs is reciprocal –
girls learn and teach from their own experience, which is central to all aspects of the curriculum.

GOAL utilizes a variety of techniques and methods to deliver the curriculum in a way that will address
the diverse learning styles that are present in every group. Role plays, simulations, craft activities,
improvisation, small group activities and time for individual reflection are combined to ensure that
the multiple ways in which girls learn are adequately addressed. Some girls will be comfortable
discussing their experiences with the entire group, some will express themselves through art projects,
songs or skits and all will experience a supportive learning environment that respects who they are and
how they learn.

Youth Development
Youth Development is a field of research, which examines the strategies, and environmental factors that
promote positive outcomes for youth. Many youth programs focus on “at-risk” youth living in poverty.
When it comes to girls; however, GOAL knows that pervasive media images and the
conflicting messages that society imposes on young girls puts all girls “at risk” of developing
behaviors and/or coping mechanisms that endanger their healthy development. Girls who have
the skills to sort through the quagmire of competing expectations and pressures are best situated to
navigate the often-difficult road to young adulthood.

Recent research in youth development suggests that there are three developmental indicators that
predict positive outcomes for youth. These include –
• being productive (e.g. grades, school engagement and extracurricular activities),
• being connected to peers and adults, and
• being able to navigate the challenges of life (e.g. problem-solving, low antisocial behavior).
Doing well in two of these areas puts youth in the optimal category.

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GOAL has utilized these three developmental criteria in formulating activities that build skills in each of
these areas. Being productive, or as GOAL reframes it, being active and engaged, is an essential
component of our curriculum. All GOAL activities are experiential and designed to promote maximum
engagement and participation from the girls. The experiential learning cycle of doing, reflecting,
generalizing and applying keeps the girls involved at each level and produces a profound learning based
on personal experience.

The second youth outcome, being connected, is especially relevant in working with adolescent girls, who
view the world in terms of their relationship to others. In addition to an entire module devoted to
Creating & Maintaining Effective Relationships, the very structure of the GOAL Curriculum is one that
promotes relationships among the girls as well as between the girls and the facilitator. Team building,
ongoing analysis of group dynamics as well as an atmosphere that promotes respect and appreciation for
differing points of view, all contribute to promoting connection among the girls.

The third youth outcome, being able to successfully deal with the challenges of adolescence is one that
GOAL reframes for girls as developing resiliency. This does not mean that girls are immune to the
influences of the world they live in. Rather, it highlights the importance of helping girls to develop the
skills they will need to handle the challenges, disappointments and obstacles in their lives. The GOAL
Curriculum utilizes role-plays and realistic scenarios to help girls develop skills that will promote healthy
problem-solving behavior. GOAL knows that working with girls during the critical middle school
years increases the likelihood that they will develop into engaged, connected and resilient young
women.

Female Adolescent Development

The field of Female Adolescent Development focuses on the experiences of girls as they move
developmentally from childhood to young adulthood. It specifically addresses the ways in which
adolescent girls view themselves in the world and in relation to others. Carol Gilligan was the first to
recognize the unique experience of girls and called the adolescent years “a time when girls are in danger
of drowning or disappearing” 1.

GOAL’s Curriculum developed out of the knowledge that girls experience adolescence in a manner
that highly specific to their gender. The statistics paint a startling picture; adolescent girls list far fewer
role models than boys, receive less attention from their teachers, attempt suicide twice as often as boys,
have the worst nutrition of any age group and suffer eating disorders at an astounding rate2.
Additionally, a girl’s self-esteem plummets at the same time that she is undergoing physical and
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hormonal changes that are often uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Girls at this age often pull away from
their mothers and assert their independence, yet still need to process what it means to be female in the
company of other girls and women.

In the development of the GOAL Curriculum, special consideration was paid to the theories of female
psychological development where attention and respect is given to the role of relationships, as opposed
to traditional psychology, which presupposes the necessity of a separate self before entering a
relationship. The curriculum promotes both self-awareness and teamwork and throughout the
curriculum, care is taken to acknowledge, both tacitly and subtly, the importance of connection to
others.

Recently, the work of Jo Anne Deak has examined educational settings that work for girls. She found
that “girls perform better and report more satisfaction and confidence in democratic, cooperative,
connected, inclusive, hands-on settings” 3. GOAL provides girls with a safe, girls-only environment
where connection and relationships are valued and where they can explore, experience, learn and reflect
on what it means to be a girl. GOAL simultaneously facilitates the development of skills and coping
mechanisms that will allow a girl to handle the often-difficult culture of adolescence and the conflicting
messages that girls are bombarded with in their lives.

Curriculum Modules
GOAL helps girls explore and develop the skills they will need to successfully navigate the uncertainties
of adolescence. GOAL’s curriculum contains six important and distinct modules that are designed for
this purpose.

Creating & Maintaining Effective Relationships

Girls experience the world through a frame of connection with others. GOAL’s Creating &
Maintaining Effective Relationships module helps girls understand the elements that are
necessary for a healthy relationship. Through fun and engaging activities, the girls examine the
concepts of communication, inclusion, conflict resolution and group dynamics, while
continually exploring how their own relationship skills can contribute to the development of
meaningful and positive connections with others.

Knowing & Expressing Your Voice

Research has consistently shown that girls tend to “lose their voices” as they approach and
experience adolescence. GOAL’s Knowing & Expressing Your Voice module encourages girls to
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identify and acknowledge their thoughts and feelings and to trust that what they think and feel
is worthy of attention and consideration. Activities in this module give girls an opportunity to
practice assertiveness in expressing their ideas, opinions and feelings by giving them the skills
to recognize their voice and communicate it in appropriate ways.

Identifying & Using Your Gifts and Talents

During adolescence, girls tend to focus exclusively on their flaws rather than taking time to
identify and celebrate the many talents they possess. Society tends to define gifts and talents only
in the narrowest terms – high levels of athleticism, extraordinary musical talent or top grades in
class. GOAL supports girls in finding and embracing those qualities they possess that are worthy
of acknowledgement. By defining gifts and talents in the broadest sense, girls recognize their
inherent value and self-worth by naming the positive qualities they bring to the various arenas
of their lives.

Valuing & Accepting Your Body

In today’s world of pervasive media imagery, girls are bombarded with messages that result in
the devaluing of their bodies with an emphasis on an unachievable model of beauty rather than
health and well-being. GOAL’s Valuing & Accepting Your Body module helps girls develop
skills that allow them to look critically at the media, value the body they have and sort
through the conflicting messages they receive about their bodies in order to make decisions
that reflect their values.

Respecting & Appreciating Diversity

Although girls today grow up in an increasingly diverse world, they often remain segregated
within their schools and communities. GOAL believes that it is essential that girls learn to
respect individual differences, and value the strengths that differences provide a group.
GOAL’s Respecting & Appreciating Diversity module uses experiential activities to demonstrate
the value of diversity and promote the concept of nonjudgmental acceptance.

Setting & Achieving Your Goals

All girls have dreams but they often lack the framework for turning these dreams into reality.
GOAL’s Setting & Achieving Your Goals module teaches girls how to set goals, overcome
obstacles and use their goals to promote growth in their lives. It emphasizes the importance of
seeking support in order to achieve goals. GOAL believes that in order for girls to be successful,

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 they need to have the skills to identify their goals, formulate goal statements and measure their
progress.

Methodology
All GOAL programs are predicated on the belief that the most profound learning begins with direct
experience. The GOAL Curriculum is structured in a way that moves girls through the “experiential
learning cycle” from direct experience, to reflection, to generalizing and finally to applying the
knowledge to their own lives. Experiential learning creates an environment where the girls’ experiences
and interpretations of those experiences are central to the educational process.

Developmentally, middle school girls have varying levels of abstract reasoning skills. For this reason,
GOAL facilitators are trained to guide the girls through the processing of the activity and to ask
questions that provide a bridge from the concrete experience to the abstract concept and, eventually, the
application of the learning to real life.

By limiting group size to 10-12 girls, GOAL groups provide a safe and supportive environment where
even the shyest girls are encouraged to speak up. Activities are varied and include small groups, pairs and
triads and individual work. Diverse methods are employed to vary the girls’ experience and include role-
plays, improvisation, craft activities, simulations, challenge activities and games. In this way, GOAL
ensures that the girls remain engaged and interested throughout the program.

Vision
By providing girl-specific, proactive programming that promotes self-esteem, self-awareness and
respect for individual differences to the girls of today, GOAL envisions a future generation of strong,
competent and resilient women, able to handle life’s challenges with flexibility and a solid grounding
in their own identity.

www.goalonline.org

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Other Programs of Note

Girls Empowered
In addition to the robust program and full-scale training, consulting, licensing and materials support offered by
GOAL, there are many other programs for “empowering girls.” One of the most delightful and cutting-edge
group’s is called Girls Empowered, and their target age is 5-12. They’ve been able to identify key issues for girls,
such as –
• Being My Best, which is supported by a workshop on setting goals and making a dream pillow;
• Healthy Relationships, which is accompanied by workshops on making new friends, developing social
skills, understanding cliques and “picking a stick” (relational aggression issues); and
• Looking Your Best, wherein girls do activities such as yoga, hip hop, cardioboxing and more.

Girls Empowered has taken a number of known issues and “girl-ified” them. Assertiveness training of the ‘80s
and ‘90s is now “civilized assertiveness” and how to be “polite and not pushy.” Some of the Girls Empowered
marketing materials are included in the back of this report in the Addendum and give a sense of the type of
programs they’ve developed. www.girlsempowered.com

Hardy Girls, Hardy Women

Another program that –
• teaches girls to think critically about media images,
• offers girls ways to respond to negative stereotypes (especially regarding bullying), and
• encourages girls to count on one another for support when the going gets tough
is called Hardy Girls, Healthy Women, and they address girl-specific relational aggression. They are offering free
curriculum and evaluation materials in exchange for an organization’s participating in and then evaluating their
program. Focused on building what they are calling “Girls Coalition Groups,” their program is titled “From
Adversaries to Allies: A Curriculum for Change.” www.hardygirlshealthywomen.org

The Ophelia Project

The A#1 source for information, insight and resources on relational aggression is The Ophelia Project with
resources categorized for parents, teachers, youth and community organizations and then by web and print
resources. As of the writing of this report, The Ophelia Project’s list of programs and resources for sale is in the
“coming soon” stage and slated for release in early fall. More information about their upcoming curriculum and
material can be found later at www.opheliaproject.org.
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Girls Incorporated
Formerly known as the Girls Clubs of America, Girls Inc. “is a national research, education, and direct advocacy
organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Programs based on research gathered at the Girls
Inc. National Resource Center encourage girls ages 6 to 18 to take risks and master physical, intellectual, and
emotional challenges. Programs are offered through a network of 1,000 sites nationwide and are facilitated by
trained professional staff.”

Note: Representatives from the Women’s Giving Circle visited the Maryland chapter of Girls Inc. before forming
the Journey 2006 camp. www.girlsinc.org

Girls Circle
“The Girls Circle model, a structured support group for girls from 9-18 years, integrates relational theory, resiliency
practices, and skills training in a specific format designed to increase positive connection, personal and collective
strengths, and competence in girls. It aims to counteract social and interpersonal forces that impede girls’ growth
and development by promoting an emotionally safe setting and structure within which girls can develop caring
relationships and use authentic voices.” Girls Circle is classified a “promising approach” program. Their
evaluation kit includes step-by-step instructions for program evaluation, consent forms, information sheets,
Spanish language survey and forms, and options for collaboration with a national GCA study. Materials about
this program and some early results of program participation can be found in the Addendum. www.girlscircle.com

Girls Leadership Institute

Girls Leadership Institute (GLI) is a residential summer camp for girls entering grades 7-12. The camp is two
weeks long, including 5 hours of workshops with Rachel Simmons every day; fitness and recreation; free time;
and a long-term project where girls practice the skills learned in the workshops.
“Our mission is to fight the crisis of confidence that often occurs in adolescent girls. When girls
disconnect from their true feelings, their relationships become fraudulent and they lose the ability to
communicate what they really think and feel. We believe this loss of voice leads to a lifelong compromise
of the quality of girls’ relationships and leadership potential. Our curriculum uses educational theater
and is grounded in the research on girls pioneered by psychologists Lyn Mikel Brown, Carol Gilligan,
and their colleagues. Our workshops empower girls to trace and resist the impact of “pleaser” behaviors
on their lives and relationships. We teach skills to increase emotional intelligence during conflict, admit
limitations and accept criticism, and connect the concept of "leadership" to everyday aspects of girls’
lives.”

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What’s interesting to note is that this camp – and many organizations which once offered just programming – are
starting to offering training, workshops, curriculum, professional development, women’s weekends, school
retreats, mother-daughter weekends and a host of services, material and programs to broadcast their material,
understanding and tools to a larger audience. This program is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. More
information about their program is found in the Addendum. www.girlsleadership.org

Incorporating Faith
Some nonprofit organizations are incorporating gentle beliefs about faith into programming for middle school
girls. Courage for Youth, in Canada, an Opheliate (an affiliate of the Ophelia Project, get it?) offers an interactive
three-part program for middle school girls with practical training for preventing relational aggression. They also
partnered with the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre “to offer GammaGirls, a program which empowers teenage
girls to make wise choices, to successfully navigate their teenage years, and to become all that God created them
to be.” www.courageforyouth.com

After-school Programs
The nationally acclaimed clubGEN, a weekly after-school program for middle school girls led by trained high
school girls promoting healthy self-esteem, confidence, and leadership skills. To support their program, they’ve
created a comprehensive speaker series for girls, teens, their parents and teachers; oriGENal voice, a public
awareness campaign educating girls on how to find their voices and to speak up and influence others through
advocacy and public policy; and a website, which features an online counselor.

Each clubGEN consists of a group of twelve to sixteen middle school girls and six to eight high school mentors.
The result is a dynamic program that promotes self-esteem, resilience, healthy development, and leadership skills
for middle school and high school girls alike. www.genaustin.org

On the Web
As expected, many organizations, municipalities, corporations and “concerned folk” are using the internet to
disseminate subject-focused information to ‘tweens, their parents, teachers, community leaders and professionals
working with middle school girls.

The resources vary quite a bit from --

Dove Soap’s “Campaign for Real Beauty,” which includes workshop materials and booklets for mothers
and daughters, and includes website language such as: “You can start fostering positive self-esteem in
yourself and others right now. The activities below are a fun way to explore how our ideas and
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 perceptions of body image and self-worth are developed and reflected in the media and popular culture.”
www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

PBS’s kid-oriented site “It’s My Life” with an entire section for kids on bullying.
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/

Smart Girl (dot com), a nonprofit organization owned and run by the University of Michigan, with a site
designed especially for girls. www.smartgirl.org

Girl Power! Part of the national public education campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services to encourage and motivate 9- to 13- year-old girls to make the most of their lives.
www.girlpower.gov

And on, and on, and on. Really. Data is to be had.

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Recommendation
As a curiosity, I would consider ordering the Tool Kit for Measuring Outcomes of Girl Scout Resident Camp (and
the supplement) just to see how applicable they are to Journey and its program.

If reaching a girl audience even younger than just middle school is desired, I believe the Girls Empowered program
holds great promise for resonating with the 5-12 year old girls and their parents. The Girls Empowered programs
are created, designed and marketed in a refreshing and age-appropriate manner and could, perhaps, be deemed
important enough to supercede the many other scheduled activities kids seem to have on their calendars.

Given this project’s research goals and both the short- and long-term goals of The Women’s Giving Circle and
The Horizon Foundation, I believe a serious inquiry into the GOAL program will produce the most fruitful
results. Interestingly, GOAL’s tagline is “A Girl’s Journey to Growth.” All data and science aside, and with a wee
smile, that’s what could easily be called “a sign.”

Personal Observations & Notes

On a completely personal note, where I felt the most energy and resonance, as a researcher, was with the GOAL
and Girls Empowered programs. My sense is that Howard County could – with a bit of strategy, resource
allocation and community-wide cooperation – become the most stellar example of a community caring for its
girls. The challenges with middle school girls are researched and documented. The challenges are also logical and
understood on both an intuitive and academic level. The programs to address these challenges are now available.
Perhaps they need a bit more data and proof to be “research-based,” but the programs do exist.

In fact, it could be Howard County that moves such programs from their small, almost unknown existence, into
a nationally recognized and proven program. Howard County, as we all know, is an almost magical concoction
for community super powers: we have wealth, a highly educated population, cultural resources and deeply
committed and caring citizens. If there were ever a community positioned to put promising new programs on the
map, it’s ours.

Though the initial goal of this research project was to find programs applicable to a residential camp for middle
school girls, my sense is that the true mission is to help our girls – as many as possible -- be resilient and capable.
If we, as a community, can show how it is done: how to work with the schools, which programs to bring in, at
what age to start working with the girls, how to track the data and show the results – then we, as a community,
can give this gift first to our girls, then to ourselves and then to the nation.

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No witty little saying comes to mind now … just basic knowledge proven again and again, across the globe:
When women do well, society does well. There is something magical and deep about helping women lead
healthy and glowing lives. The ripple effect from healthy girls and women is powerful and it impacts all of
society, economically, educationally, in health and in general life conditions.

I love my hometown for all that it’s been to me: 35 years, plus or minus a few trips elsewhere. I fill with a
glowing sense of possibility of Howard County becoming the national leader in this mightily important realm of
caring for our girls.

I believe a well-conceived partnership with GOAL, or one of these programs, will allow us to do just that.

My best,

Jessie Newburn
jessienewburn@gmail.com
www.jessienewburn.com
443-794-7521

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