LearnmoreMN Blog

Preparing young women for success

By Debra Pridgen, October guest blogger

My mother has repeatedly stated to me throughout my life that, “experience is the greatest teacher.” I have the privilege of working for an organization that provides a vast array of experiential learning opportunities for girls and women. Yes, it is the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout as a girl and then being a mother of four lovely daughters, my past Girl Scouting experience came full circle to be shared in my role as the leader for them and many of their girl friends. How time flies; I’ve been employed with the Girl Scouts for 12 years now.

Some people ask why there is a need for an all girl organization. Nearly a century ago, Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low recognized that developing girls’ leadership abilities was critical for ensuring they would be the positive change-makers of the future. Since Low’s time, the world has changed dramatically. This ever more complex and uncertain world clearly requires ongoing experience, education, and leadership of a new kind.

Recent research shows that girls want opportunities where they can learn by doing and have cooperative learning experiences. Girl Scouts provides these opportunities and helps girls develop skills and a strong sense of self. When coupled with academic learning and positive experiences in school, girls are well-prepared to succeed.

We know about the power of programs like Girl Scouts that support young people. I’d like to hear your thoughts about how we can do more:

—How do we expand opportunities to support kids beyond school?
—How can more volunteers and mentors get involved?

Focusing on the positive

By Jenny Wright, July guest blogger

When we challenge ourselves to take an approach to young people that builds on strengths and opportunities rather than focusing on problems and deficits, wonderful things can happen. Each year we take our Beacons youth from eight Minneapolis Public Schools out to a Citywide Youth Leadership Camp Retreat at YMCA Camp Iduhapi. Youth learn leadership skills, practice teamwork through high ropes course challenges, and plan service projects to complete back in their neighborhoods and schools. 

There is one story that we hear again and again. It goes something like this: 

The youth development workers from the Beacon Center always choose at least one young person for the Leadership Retreat who is not usually viewed as a “leader.”  These young people might struggle with academics and behavior in the classroom, but the Beacons staff has identified them as having leadership potential in the afterschool program setting.  Their teachers may ask, “Are you sure you want to bring that child up to a camp about leadership?” The Beacons staff insist that yes, they do, and the child attends the retreat. At camp the young person hears over an over again that they ARE a leader and they are given opportunities to practice. When the young person returns from camp, the teacher seeks out the Beacons staff days later to say, “What happened at that retreat? Something is totally different about the way this child is behaving in my classroom.”

We know from this annual experience that sometimes just the act of telling a child that they ARE a leader can open up a world of possibility. I believe the same is true of telling them that they can be learners. When I describe the work we do in our Beacon Centers in the Minneapolis Public Schools, I say we “engage youth as leaders and learners.” This is work that every one of us can contribute to. Young people need to have multiple people and places in their lives where these messages are reinforced and where they are given opportunities to practice and develop new skills. By setting high expectations for all young people starting with the belief that EVERY child has the capacity to lead and to learn, we can change the outcomes in our schools, neighborhoods, and society.