Girls voices matter in Chicago and abroad

Global Girls spent the summer with 80 youth in our 8^th annual Youth Performance camp. Now we are looking forward to working with another 800 during the upcoming school year in our community and nine school-based programs. Girls and a few boys ages 5 to 18 will engage in intensive, sequential communication, collaboration and critical-thinking skill development which helps them become excellent performers and engaged, focused and high achieving students at their respective schools. We are rolling out an improved curriculum to best our impressive impact from last year. 80% of our youth participants were on the honor rolls at the end of the 2017-18 school year, 100% progressed to the next grade level, 78% participated in other extra-curricular activities and 92% reported that they applied skills learned in Global Girls session when collaborating or resolving conflicts with others.

Global Girls student outcomes include increasing participant social/emotional skill development through mindfulness training which we began during the summer youth performance camp with very impressive results. Youth remembered 80% of the terms, used the terms in their interactions with others and, in their exit reports, said that the mindfulness training was one of the highlights of their summer. All said that they used the practice outside of Global Girls and had talked about mindfulness with their parents at least once.

The youth also partnered with a local senior residence other the summer to share thier passion for theatre with the "young at heart" and help others rediscover uninhibited fun. During five weekly rehearsals, they created and practiced a play based on senior stories. 12 seniors started the project, eight performed in the finale before thier peers, family members and community supporters. "I haven't had this much fun since I wa a child," said an 82-year old actress after the show as she hugged one of the girls who had played her daugher in the skit. We'll conintue that relationship in the fall. How could we not?

In the culminating event, summer camp youth took the stage and lit it up with nearly 100 points of light Thursday, August 2nd at the annual Youth Performance Camp Showcase. The audience of nearly 300 laughed, applauded and cheered as the campers sang, danced and acted displaying all the skills they had mastered in our “Summer of Mindfulness” themed sessions. Youth as young as four and as old as 18 were nervous backstage, but once they stepped in front of the lights and the audience, they shined brightly like diamonds. Parents, friends and community members lavished praise on all of the performers. Thanks to tour many supporters, Global Girls is taking pride in Chicago’s south side by building assets – our youth.