Dear Friends,
April was a bi-coastal, jet-setting, action-packed month for GLI! We started in Brooklyn with our first free Day Camp. Even three days of torrential rain and asbestos removal couldn’t dampen the GLI spirit. Then as Julia Loonin flew west to run our after-school program in California, Simone Marean flew east to run our first-ever Girl Meets World Curriculum training with Rachel Simmons. We had a blast with 30 inspirational teachers from all over the US and Canada. The day after the training finished we joined forces on the west coast for another Spring Break Day Camp with 25 girls from the San Francisco Bay Area.
It is amazing to watch GLI grow, reaching more girls and families every month. But to do this well we need your help. Please read below about our survey to see how you can help shape our programs and communication.
Thank you for being a part of the GLI family!
Best,
Simone Marean & Julia Loonin
Tell Us Which GLI Programs Interest You!
We have begun planning for the next school year and we want to know what programs you are most interested in for yourself and your girls. Please take 5 minutes to complete our online survey so that we can get to know you and your girls better and offer programs that best meet your needs.
Tell us what you think!
Girl Meets World Meets the World: GLI’s First Teacher Training
The weekend of April 10th and 11th, GLI held its first teacher training, which took place at the beautiful Grace Church School in New York City. The sunny spring weather reflected the atmosphere in the school as educators from all over the country – and even Canada – came together for two days to play and learn.
Simone Marean and Rachel Simmons facilitated the training, presenting their gorgeous (if we do say so ourselves) new curriculum Girl Meets World. Over the course of the weekend, the group learned the philosophies and research behind GLI, played wicked fun games, applauded each other’s role-playing, and practiced teaching lessons from the curriculum. The group also shared lots of stories – stories about girls they know and stories from their own lives. As is often the case when adult women learn about our curriculum, the participants were just as enthusiastic about helping girls change their communication habits as they were about changing their own.
We were thrilled to see the product of our hard work come alive in the hands of such passionate educators. The group from this inaugural training will have the opportunity to participate in an online community so they can discuss how their teaching is going. Because of this training, GLI can affect a much larger population. We can’t wait to hear from and support these educators as they embark on their teaching.
Meet the 2010 Summer Residential Staff
We are thrilled to announce our all-star line up for summer camp, and wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to the team:
Lauren Herold grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her mom, her sisters, and her beagle Noah. She is currently a Women’s and Gender Studies major in her second year at Columbia University in New York City. In high school she was the co-president of her school’s Organization for Women and Gay-Straight Alliance. At Columbia, she works as a Peer Educator for the Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center and is the co-coordinator of the anti-sexual violence group Take Back the Night. Lauren is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of doughnuts and will go almost anywhere to find a better doughnut. She has recently rediscovered the chocolate chip cookie as well. Her favorite TV shows include Degrassi: The Next Generation, Glee, and RuPaul’s Drag Race. She also loves to write, to bake, and to dance like a crazy person. Lauren was a camper at GLI in 2006 and was a member of the Fab Four (a.k.a an intern) there in the summer of 2009.
Olivia Ahmadi is going into her junior at Wheaton College in Massachusetts and lives in the active Feminist House on campus. Olivia was a camper in 2005, returned as an intern in 2009 and is back for her third GLI summer. Olivia is majoring in education and history in hopes of becoming a teacher after she graduates. Olivia grew up in Maryland and loves to exercise and travel outside the U.S. to study other cultures. Olivia is planning to spend a semester abroad in Morocco. Some of her favorite TV shows are Glee, 24, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She is also secretly a fan of the Disney Channel and her favorite Disney movie is Mulan. Most of all Olivia loves being high energy and having fun. In terms of music, Olivia is currently obsessed with Iyaz, Jay Sean and B.O.B’s songs. Olivia can’t wait for another Game Show Night, where we can play Best of the Best!
Jess Rigel is a fun loving educator, baker, and life celebrator with a secondary teaching degree and a B.A. in English and Religion from Virginia’s Mary Washington College. Upon her graduation in 2007 she spent her first summer at GLI as the OI (Original Intern) where she became well versed in the joys of WHOOSH and Boppity Bop Bop Bop. Following GLI, Jess spent some time traveling and working in fair trade and sustainable agriculture before moving to Arizona to work on land stewardship projects through the Presbyterian Church USA’s Young Adult Volunteer program. When not occupied teaching or fulfilling her Master Gardener requirements, Jess can usually be found laughing (her favorite pastime) or reading. She particularly loves Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamott, and Judy Blume, but her favorite book of all time is “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand . She also is quite the cinephile, and could talk all day about a good film. Jess lives in a community known as “the rattlesnake” with her partner Robert, their dog Scout, 7 goats and 11 chickens, her favorite of which is called Buffo the Zombie Assassin based on the bird’s abundance of sass.
Girl of the Month: Jillian
This month we met Jillian, a 6th grader, Scottish dancer and girl who loves just being herself. We’re excited to share her insight with you:
GLI: What is the hardest part of being a 6th grade girl?
Jillian: The hardest part is all the drama and being caught in the middle of a fight and not knowing which side to go to.
GLI: What do you do when you are not in school?
Jillian: I play softball, and do Scottish dancing. I like Scottish dancing because of the competition. The judges rank you and you get placed and get a stamp . I’m at the second level called “novice.” It’s nerve wracking, but fun. When I get nervous I jump up and down back stage with my friends to get the anxiety and stress out.
GLI: What is the best part of GLI Day Camp ?
Jillian: The best part is bonding with new friends, taking risks and having a good time. On the second day we let all our coolness go, and became really enthusiastic and high energy. That was fun.
GLI: Why do you think you are able to be yourself at GLI?
Jillian: The fact that it is all girls helps. It helps get rid of the coolness and be our normal selves.
GLI: What did you take away from Day Camp that you would want to teach a fifth grader entering sixth grade?
Jillian: There is going to be a lot of drama. Make sure that you are okay, don’t worry about other people. You can’t control other people’s actions.
GLI: Here at GLI, we save our most important question for last. Ice cream or frozen yogurt?
Jillian: I would have to say frozen yogurt because of the toppings.
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