Strong Girls will break glass ceilings. Strong Women will show them the ladder.

Throughout the year, our 5th grade girls have been participating in a special program called "Strong Women, Strong Girls." This program provides our girls with the opportunity to meet with college mentors from UMass Boston once a week to spend the afternoons talking about powerful women and their experiences. 

This past fall, the 5th grade girls took a trip with their mentors to UMass Boston’s campus where they participated in a full day of fun and empowering activities. They created crowns and capes, learned about self-defense and wellness, and toured the College of Engineering. UMass student and mentor Niara says what she enjoyed most about the program was the "the open-space and dialogue” that she and the other mentors created for the girls. Strong Women, Strong Girls is a place where our girls and their college mentors can feel comfortable enough to express their inner selves while also being able to get anything off their minds on a weekly basis. Niara explains, "It was a motivating experience for me personally because when I was their age I didn’t have an outlet where I could openly be myself and as a result my self-esteem suffered.” 

Shannice, a mentor new to the program this semester, explains that what she is excited for "the opportunity to inspire young girls, boost their level of confidence and build a life-long relationship with each of them.” She said that just after meeting with the St. Stephen’s 5th grade girls, she was blown away by how smart they were and impressed by their responses. Shannice believes "kids are the future of this world” and now every Tuesday she will have the chance to see first hand why this is true. 

Thank you Strong Women, Strong Girls for continuously working to empower young women! 

By Megan Doe, YLC Coordinator