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GIRLS' ADVENTURE CLUB OFFERED TO LOCAL 6TH TO 8TH GRADE GIRLS
Jenny Lapage and Denise Rowcroft want to help young girls appreciate being
girls. To do this, they've started the Girls' Adventure Club through the
Prescott YMCA. The program offers fun and challenging outdoor adventure activities,
writing, games and discussions about being girls.
Lapage and Rowcroft, both seniors at Prescott College have designed and
will facilitate the program. "Our goal is provide and opportunity for
girls to discover their self-worth through activities that foster personal
growth and exploration," said Lapage.
The Girls' Adventure Club is a twelve-week after school program for girls,
meeting once a week after school for two and a half hours, beginning February
14. Each session focuses upon a theme and includes games, discussion and
outdoor activities, such as mountain biking, running, ropes course and a
service project.
The club also includes three all-day Sunday trips in the Prescott area (two
rock climbing and one hiking) and one five-day backpacking trip during spring
break (March 20-24).
The outdoor adventure activities provide the girls a challenging and supportive
environment, said Rowcroft. "The activities help girls get in touch
with their strengths and other qualities and gives them confidence," she
said.
The club also gives participants an opportunity to connect with girls
from other schools and grades.
In addition to getting girls outdoors, Lapage and Rowcroft hope to address
issues of concern to adolescent girls, such as body image, health and stereotypes.
This will be done through writing and other activities. Upon entering the
club, each girl will receive a journal to record personal thoughts and ideas.
"At the end of each session, we'll part with a question, such as, "What
do you really like about being a girl?" Then at the next session, the
girls can share their work if they want," said Lapage.
The Girls's Adventure Club is an extension of a similar club Lapage and
Rowcroft initiated last year, which was highly successful. "The new
people I met were awesome," wrote one girl who participated. "I
liked getting outside, making things and talking."
Lapage said that girls who have participated in the program in the past
have become more excited about being girls. "They are a lot freer about
being themselves and they recognize their own courage and abilities," she
said.
Dana Carracciolo, the climbing wall supervisor at the Prescott YMCA said
the program will run as a pilot with no cost for participants. "I'm
always looking for new opportunities," she said. "I've worked with
Denise and Jenny before and know their abilities and know they are capable
and dependable. If this works out, we may look to turn it into a consistent
program."
No matter what the activity of the Girls' Club, safety is the first priority.
Lapage, a double major in adventure education and agroecology, is a Wilderness
First Responder and Heart Saver, and has experience leading rock climbing
and backpacking trips for summer camps. Rowcroft, an outdoor education and
ecopsychology major, also has experience with summer camps and has worked
with New York City Outward Bound. Both have volunteered at the Prescott YMCA,
teaching high school students to rock climb, and have worked with Prescott
College's Wilderness Orientation, a three-week backcountry expedition for
incoming freshman.
For more information about the Girls' Adventure Club, contact the YMCA at
445-7221 extension 35, or register at the YMCA main office. Participants
do not need to be YMCA members and all equipment will be provided at no cost.
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