As college students, we sometimes don't realize the ability we have to help the community, especially the younger girls who often look up to us. It isn’t a secret that once girls hit puberty, their self-esteem begins to plummet.
"Seventy-five percent of girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities like cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking or disordered eating."
At SUNY Plattsburgh, we are fortunate enough to have a program that allows female students to reach out and help grade school girls in the community. Shine On! believes that helping young girls develop self-esteem and resiliency will better equip them with the coping skills they need to resist the societal pressures they will face in middle school and beyond.
The program was created by Public Relations Assistant Professor Colleen Lemza after witnessing countless women battle with their self-worth. The inaugural Shine On! conference was held in 2011 on the Clinton Community College campus. It was a full day of workshops for the 90 attending fourth and fifth grade girls and the 30 SUNY Plattsburgh female student mentors.
Since then, Shine On! has grown, thanks to the generous contributions from local sponsors and partners. The conference is now held overnight in Memorial Hall on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus. There are 200 third to fifth grade girls who attend as well as 50 female student mentors.
Shine On! has 12 workshops that focus around the three main themes:
1. Media marketing literacy
"Over 70 percent of girls age 15 to 17 avoid normal daily activities, such as attending school, when they feel bad about their looks."
Shine On! has a magazine workshop that helps foster a more positive self-image in girls by showing them that the models in magazines do not actually look like they do in real life.
You often see advertisements that show women wearing bikinis or being half-naked, even if it has nothing to do with the product being sold. The Mis(s)representation Workshop allows girls to get a more in-depth understanding of how the media, marketing and society sets unrealistic goals and expectations for females.
2. Communication skills
"The top wish among all teen girls is for their parents to communicate better with them."
How often does someone say something that offends your ethnicity or beliefs? The diversity workshop focuses on how what you say can be hurtful to others.
It's easy for everyone to be a bystander, but it takes strength and courage to be an up-stander. In the Communication Tools and Tips Workshop, the girls interact with each other and role-play different situations that could realistically happen. This helps the girls with how to handle different situations like peer-pressure and standing up to bullies.
3. Character strengths
Grit ~ zest ~ optimism ~ willpower ~ gratitude ~ social intelligence ~ curiosity
These seven KIPP character strengths are not only important to have the girls know, but it's also important to help them fully understand what each trait means and how to demonstrate each one. Exposing them to these traits in the character strengths workshop will ultimately help them overcome struggles and become more successful.
Sometimes it's difficult to eat healthy, especially when you're busy. Having the willpower to make time to prepare a healthy meal instead of getting fast food is often hard. The healthy eating workshop educates girls about the food they consume. This workshop aims to show girls that there are healthy snacks and meal choices that are delicious and quick to make.
Girls should never be in a situation where they feel helpless or threatened. In case they ever are, Shine On! incorporated a self-defense workshop that provides information and tips on safety. They also learn useful beginner self-defense skills.
Many girls are afraid to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. The Rock Your Confidence Workshop is fairly new to Shine On! and has girls truly "climbing out of their comfort zone." This workshop shows the girls how to rock climb and although they might be scared at first, after the workshop they learn that it's possible to conquer their fears and have some fun!
"Nationally, women now earn close to 60 percent of bachelor's degrees overall, but only 20 percent of the degrees in computer science, 20 percent of those in physics and 18 percent of those in engineering."
Another new workshop to Shine On! is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). During this workshop, girls learn that STEM isn't just a male field, and that it can be a female career path! They get to work hands-on with computer-controlled Lego robots and see how fun STEM can be.
Each workshop is not only informational but fun for all the girls who attend. Each year, Shine On! strives to incorporate different activities or crafts to make sure the message sticks with the girls.
This year, the Shine On! conference runs from April 9 at 9 a.m. until the following morning. We have two new workshops, Aqua Jazz and Nighttime Yoga and Thai Massage. Aqua Jazz is designed to show the girls it's OK to let loose and have fun! There are Zumba instructors who are going to lead the group and show the girls how much fun exercising in the water can be. Nighttime Yoga and Thai Massage is to help the girls relax, especially after a long, but fun day of their workshops. Yoga is soothing and very calming to do at night.
