With the aim of empowering young women, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kitchener Waterloo are expanding their programs for girls.
The program has already seen success in Woolwich middle schools, with 95 girls having attended the organization’s Go Girl sessions. Now, they are starting a summer group at the Woolwich Memorial Centre for all girls in Grades 6 to 8.
Katie Krauss is the service delivery manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters Kitchener Waterloo, and she says there is a focus on health, both mental and physical, in Go Girl.
“It creates an appreciation for them, getting active and living a healthy lifestyle. We want them to treat this as an education around what constitutes healthy eating habits and that kind of thing,” she said, adding it isn’t just about physical health. “We want to teach the importance of regular physical activity, and the impact that can have on your life in terms of mental health and physical health, that kind of thing.”
The group gives girls a chance to meet with their peers and discuss different topics affecting them as young girls. It also allows them to teach others what they learn.
“It is also a great leadership opportunity for them to learn all of this information in a collaborative setting and to be able to take that information on and help teach their own friends and their family that information,” said Krauss. “It is a great way to, one, maybe meet some new people in a community setting, two, to learn some really important things about a healthy lifestyle, and it is a way that they can take on that role in their families and friends.”
The group sprung out of a grant from the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation in 2015, and after speaking with community members, a group like Go Girl was identified as a need. Now, they are expanding their scope.
“That was a two-year grant we received and we have already been able to hold 12 groups and serve 95 girls in Woolwich. It has been a really exciting partnership that we have been able to develop with the schools and that has been amazing,” said Krauss. “We thought that the spring would be another great time to hold it again. People are more willing to venture out and we knew it would be a nice opportunity to engage with the community in a different way.”
There are many activities planned by the Go Girl volunteers, all geared towards the young members and their self esteem, health and other facets of their lives.
“Each session is divided into an active living component, a healthy eating component and a feeling good component. In terms of active living, there are games like clothespin tag they do, which is always fun. There is a day where they do skipping. They do games like human knot and team building games as well that bring in problem solving when presented with a scenario and you have people on both sides of the issue sharing their thoughts and opinions about someone can go about addressing a certain issue or that problem that they encountering,” said Krauss, adding that the girls will also have an opportunity to reflect and ask questions. “Combined with that, there are some crafts, some activities about how the girls maybe saw each other at a certain age versus how they see themselves now – that kind of thing.”
The Go Girl group runs on Wednesday evenings at the Woolwich Memorial Centre. They have already had some sign-ups, but are looking for more participants. Registration is through the Woolwich Memorial Centre at 519-669-1647, ext. 7001, or online at www.woolwich.ca.
