Together as One.

We were so motivated by all the athletes from Team USA that competed in the Olympics and Paralympics this summer in London.  Seeing them come together again at the White House inspired us all over again.

 

Real Girls, Real Leadership: 9.25.12

I am thrilled to share today's Real Girls, Real Leadership story with you.  My cousin Jess and her daughter Britt are true champions for kindness.  Britt, a student at local Twin Cities high school, took a stand to end cyberbullying at her school.  Her mom, Jess, supported her and together they made a real difference in their community!  Jess and Britt agreed to share their story with us in their own words.

Britt

When I first found out about the "Burn Book" my friend had posted a screenshot of the comment directed at her on Facebook. I was very upset to find out that there was a page targeting people and making them feel bad about themselves. The first comment that I saw was telling a girl that "she wasn't original, no one felt bad for her, and she should go kill herself". So I decided to create a twitter page to follow these terrible posts. After two days of reading the tagged posts I decided to look further into the page. It turns out there was a page before this one that said mean things about teachers and students called the "Washburn Troll", this page had a link that was sent to parents over the summer about the troll posts. The letter said that the district in fact had tried removing the pages but due to the First Amendment stating that you have freedom of speech, Twitter would not take it down.

I was very angry to find this out since both Twitter pages kept hurting people I knew really well. So I told my mom and she sent the links, background information, and the story to Kare11. After a few days of waiting and complaints from other students and parents, they ran the story on Kare11 and WCCO and the twitter pages were deleted.

I hope that what people realize from this is that if you something going on around you that isn't right, tell someone. Do things to stop it, and don't stand back and hope someone else will. Take a stand against bullying and cyber bullying because no one should have to feel threatened or unsafe in their community.

 Jess

Britt came to me and told me about this twitter page that had been started called the "Washburn Burn Book". She told me what it was about and that Twitter would not remove it because of the First Amendment. I felt that allowing this "Burn Book" to stay up was giving kids the ok to bully.

I feel that teenagers are so heavily influenced by their peers especially girls and negativity can affect someone’s self-esteem and confidence. Instead of bringing others down we need to support each other and help each other to become strong, confident individuals. As a mother I have always taught my children to treat others as you would want to be treated.

 Britt came to me because she knew it was wrong. She is very kind, caring and accepting of everyone and she could see that this person’s words were hurting others around her. We went to Kare11 together because we felt that media attention would help shut down this page , and it was just what we needed to get it shut down and bring attention to this issue and let these bully's know that it is not ok and it would be tolerated.

I hope this will make other students aware of what they say to each other, words can be hurtful and can really stick with someone, instead let’s come together and support each other, and find the good in others. 

 

 

Thank you, Britt and Jess, for being courageous and standing up to bullies!  To watch the Kare11 story, click here.

 

If you know a story that should be featured on Real Girls, Real Leadership, please email us at alexandra@centerforgirlsleadership.org.

Jake Rocks.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Be The Person 2012 in Chicago on behalf of Kappa Kappa Gamma, an organization dedicated to empowering women throughout their lives.  The event encouraged participants to not just talk about changing the world, but to actually go out and do it.  

The conference allowed us to explore the streets of Chicago.  On the last morning of the event, our final challenge was to chalk the town, spreading messages of love and inspiration.  We were each handed two pieces of chalk and sent off for two hours.  


Well, about thirty minutes in I was down to my last 1/2 stick of orange chalk.  I had struggled with my messages that morning, even telling a friend I wasn't feeling very inspirational.  It had been an intense conference and I was feeling a bit drained.

I was chalking, "Have a fabulous day!" on a street corner in front of a community garden when one of the facilitators called three of us over to the garden fence.  An older gentleman was standing there with his bike, the basket filled to the brim with gardening tools.  The gentleman asked if we would be willing to chalk inside the garden.

Of course!  I mean, that was the point of the conference, right?  Little did I know I know I was about to learn what it truly means to be the person for somebody else.

We met Lenny at the entrance to the garden.  He led us past well-kept orderly garden beds to one that had already caught my eye.  The garden was full of growing tomato and basil plants.  A sign stood proudly at one end, decorated with small American flags, proclaiming this was Jake's Garden.

Lenny explained to us that he had received this plot of land as a donation.  As you may have guessed, it had been Jake's Garden.  Jake was seven when he passed away from complications of a brain tumor.  Lenny felt compelled to create a garden that would honor Jake and the sunshine he brought to the community.  On the wooden garden bed, we chalked  "Jake Rocks," his slogan as he bravely battled cancer.

It was the most amazing moment to be able to give of ourselves in such a little way.  To chalk a few words, a couple suns and hearts.  But it moved Lenny to tears.

We took a group picture and through the convenience of modern technology, I emailed it to Lenny right away.  He told me he wanted to share the photo with Jake's parents and the local schools. I don't know if that will happen, but I do know that for five minutes, the six of us mattered.


Check out the first 52 seconds of the video below for my on-the-spot interview about Jake's Garden.

believe.

On Saturday, May 5, 2012, the Center for Girls' Leadership will be hosting the first ever Lead Today 5K, a fun run/walk to raise funds for our awesome programs!  This is our first big fundraising event for the Center and I am amazed by the generosity of people.

This past Sunday, the Board met to finalize our planning for the event and to decide what our worst case scenario would be.  See at that point, we only had 5 people registered for the event.  We had about 20 people indicate interest but our numbers weren't looking hot.

Here's where faith comes in.  I believe in the Center for Girls' Leadership, I believe in our Board, and I believe in the generosity of other people.  In less than two days, we have 50 people signed up for the 5K!! You just gotta believe and good things will happen!

If you haven't signed up yet, there's still time!  Click here to register! 

The Importance of Education

It has been a while since I've posted on the blog.  As much as I would love to devote all my time to building the CGL and advocating for issues that pertain to girls, sometimes I can't.  And this is one of those times.


Currently, our six board members are all in graduate school.  In less than a month, five of us will graduate from law school.  The past two months have been filled with reading assignments and final papers, all trying to wrap up what for most of us will be our last semester of school.  Ever.


This is crazy to me.  I've been in school for 20 of my 26 years.  It's a life I've come to know well.  While some days I ache for a normal life with a normal job, it is bittersweet to say goodbye to life as a student.  


For years my mother has instilled in me the power of education.  "School comes first," she used to say when I'd get busy with extracurricular activities.  That focus has served me well.  Right now, school comes first; CGL comes second.


My mother's other favorite saying is "No one can take away your education."  And she's right.  People come and go.  Fate changes the circumstances of life.  But my one constant will be my education.  I am so happy I went as far as I could with school.  No one can take away the fact that I am graduating law school.


These life lessons are ones that I will instill in my children some day, just as my mother taught me.  And I hope that each girl that the CGL reaches will learn that academics are the basic foundation for leadership.  School must always come first.

Crazy Dreams

We are now less than one week away to our first event for The Center for Girls' Leadership!  Up until now, it has seemed like a just crazy dream but on Saturday, it will be a reality.  We are so excited to finally share the CGL with the our first girls!


I heard this Carrie Underwood song this week and I was struck by how great of a song it is for the dreamers out there:  "Thank God even crazy dreams come true."  

Thank you to everyone who has given us their support over the past couple months.  This is just the beginning!

Pathways to Leadership: Women in the Law 2.25.12

The Center for Girls’ Leadership will host its first program, “Pathways to Leadership: Women in the Law,” on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. The event will include a panel presentation and short mock trial. The panel will feature at least five attorneys from the community.

Open to women in high school and college, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon (check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.) in the Frey Moot Courtroom, located in the School of Law on St. Thomas’ Minneapolis campus.

Through the Pathways to Leadership series, the Center for Girls’ Leadership, a nonprofit organization, teaches young women in high school and college about possible future career options in various industries. Each program features a panel with women from the community discussing their individual leadership journey, as well as small group discussions and activities.

Registration is free and available at the Center for Girls’ Leadership website; the program, a CGL gift and a snack are included.