Go Girls! Theater Project
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Activating Empathy: Transforming Schools To Teach What Matters competition.
This project also has a Project where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Project: Go Girls! Camp.
We teach social/emotional skills through theater and expressive arts. Girls make and perform plays about standing up for themselves and each other.
A propos de vous
A propos de vous
Prénom
Lynn
Nom
Johnson
URL Twitter
URL Facebook
A propos de votre organisation
Nom
Glitter & Razz Productions
Site Web
Pays
États Unis, CA, Oakland
Pays dans lesquels ce projet crée un impact social
États Unis, CA, San Francisco Bay Area
Votre organisation est-elle une
Entreprise
Votre rôle dans l’éducation : [case à cocher]
Prestataire intervenant après l’école, Autre.
Le type d’école(s) à laquelle votre solution est destinée :
Publique (pas de frais de scolarité)
Depuis combien de temps votre organisation opère-t-elle ?
Plus 5 années
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Innovation
Sélectionnez la phase qui s'applique le mieux à votre solution
Stabilité (le projet a dépassé les premières étapes et obtient de bons résultats)
Depuis combien de temps votre solution est-elle en vigueur?
En place depuis 1 à 5 ans
Le besoin : quel problème tentez-vous de résoudre ?
Many of us believe that the "mean girl" phenomenon exists only in middle and high schools. However, the problem is bigger and more impactful than we think. American girls as young as kindergarten are experiencing a serious compassion deficit in their schools. This compassion deficit in elementary school-aged girls manifests in multiple behaviors: bullying and relational aggression among girls and between girls and boys; paralyzing perfectionism and a fear of making mistakes which erodes self-confidence and seriously impedes learning and academic success; a lack of understanding of how to make and keep good friendships; an intolerance of any type of difference; and an inability to label, manage and regulate feelings especially those feelings associated with challenge and conflict.
La solution: quelle solution proposez-vous ? Soyez précis !
Our bold and brave belief: Girls are the superheroes who will lead the world in a compassion revolution. Go Girls! was founded by me and my partner, Allison Kenny. The girls work together to create and perform original plays with pro-social themes that express their feelings, ideas, and experiences. The process gives the girls space to practice the social/emotional skills that will improve their lives, their relationships, and bring their collective vision for a more compassionate community to life. Rooted in best practice in youth development, arts education, and drama and expressive arts therapies, Go Girls! consists of summer camps, afterschool clubs, day-long retreats, and learning supports for parents and professionals. We are now expanding to include a series of books, journals, activity cards, and original music. These products will work hand-in-hand with our programming, putting the lessons of Go Girls! in the hands of elementary school-aged girls throughout the U.S.
Le système : décrivez un exemple spécifique montrant de quelle façon votre initiative fonctionne ; indiquez vos principales activités.
In their plays, girls decide their characters, the location, and brainstorm problems and solutions based on the theme of that session. The theme is a thread woven throughout the whole process through discussion, posters in the room, and performing and visual art activities. Our themes are directly related to the key challenges girls face such as “Confronting Bullying,” “Imperfectly Me,” and “The Brand New Play: Trying New Things.”
We bridge art with what science knows works to improve the social/emotional lives of girls. We use the Kidpower curriculum, among other influences, to integrate practical skills into the process and the script itself. For example, last year, Ava chose to be a teacher who led the “bravery class.” Ava was rather shy and we loved how she decided to challenge herself in this way. Her first line in the play was: “Okay Class. Before you prepare to graduate, it is important to learn how to speak up and advocate for yourself and others. But this takes a lot of bravery and it takes a lot of practice. So, let’s practice some things we can say to try to stop putdowns.”
A parent once shared: “After camp, we moved and the kids had to go to a new school. I was nervous about my daughter making new friends. But, when I asked her about it, she said, ‘I’m not scared, we practiced how to make friends in Go Girls!. I know what to do.’”
Now, our programs have inspired a series of chapter books that tell the story of a fictional group of girls, who, like real Go Girls! make and perform plays that they believe will change the world.
Le marché : qui sont vos collègues et vos concurrents ? Identifiez les autres personnes qui travaillent à répondre au même besoin et indiquez ce qui vous différencie d'elles. Comment ces concurrents pourraient-ils influencer votre réussite ou votre croissance ?
As an arts program, we have more flexibility to reach families who might resist more traditional mental health interventions. However, although we have proof of impact, our success is vulnerable to clinical-based programs that are on an “approved list of evidence-based practice.”
Large companies focused on teaching life lessons, like American Girl, definitely pose a threat. However, at our smaller size, we are in a better position to make and measure the impact of our lessons. Girl Scouts and Girls Inc. are great examples of national brands making an impact at the local level. Since our niche is the arts, this may help us collaborate instead of compete with these groups. In fact, we are already talking with the Alameda chapter of Girls Inc. about this very possibility.
Maintenant que vous avez bien réfléchi à votre participation, aidez-nous à la présenter.
décrivez votre organisation, votre programme ainsi que les services ou les produits proposés (1 ou 2 phrases brèves). [136 caractères/25 mots]
We teach social/emotional skills through theater and expressive arts. Girls make plays about standing up for themselves and each other.
expliquez le caractère innovant de votre initiative (1 ou 2 phrases brèves). [136 caractères/25 mots]
Science teaches us what girls need to become empathetic. Art gives girls space to practice and integrate these skills into their lives.
Impact social
This Entry is about (Issues)
Jusqu'à ce jour, quels résultats a obtenu votre projet ?
We have reached over 300 girls in our camps and classes since 2008. A mother, who is about to move away, told me recently, with tears in her eyes, “We are really going to miss Go Girls!. This program has had a profound effect on my entire family.”
Go Girls! is also having a positive effect on the school climate of Glenview Elementary. Over 200 girls have taken on a Go Girl! identity. They are proud compassion leaders, saying they value “teaching other kids what we’ve learned.” Girls run up to us with stories of how they have integrated the skills into real-life situations. One parent told us, “Even though my daughter hasn’t participated in your programs, I can tell you are making a difference. She used to come home crying everyday last year because of friendship drama and, this year, she comes home happy.” Our room on campus has become so popular that the boys have made it clear that they want in. As a result of Go Girls!, programs for boys at Glenview have also started.
Quelles sont vos prévisions en termes d'impact au cours des trois prochaines années?
Our goal is to bring Go Girls! to scale through the creation of our book series. With the popularity of books such as Judy Moody and Ivy & Bean, there is a proven market of girl readers and we expect that, within 3 years, Go Girls! will be in the hands of thousands of girls in the U.S.
Through the related products – journals, activity cards, etc. – the lessons will jump from the pages of the books into the lives of the girls. This is where change happens. We will continue to make an impact at the local level modeled after our ongoing Glenview partnership. Through partnerships with arts education organizations throughout the U.S., teaching artists will lead Go Girls! programs and help schools measure the impact of these programs on increasing empathy and compassion in the community.
Les meilleures propositions possèdent un programme solide détaillant leurs prévisions pour atteindre et suivre leurs objectifs de croissance. Identifiez vos objectifs à 6 mois pour accroître vos résultats
By October 2012, Glitter & Razz will have re-invented ourselves as a social venture committed to scaling Go Girls!
Définissez les trois tâches principales à accomplir pour atteindre ces objectifs à six mois
Tâche 1
Securing the financing and making the shift in business structure from partnership to corporation. (June 2012)
Tâche 2
Hiring the strong team of professionals to get us to our 12-month milestone. (August 2012)
Tâche 3
Re-building our website to engage, provide resources, and grow a buzz in anticipation of the book release. (September 2012)
Et maintenant, voyez les choses en plus grand ! Identifiez vos objectifs à 12 mois
By April 2013, Go Girls! books and products are in the hands of 5000 girls in the Bay Area and throughout the United States.
Définissez les trois tâches principales à accomplir pour atteindre vos objectifs à 12 mois
Tâche 1
Build on the strength of current Go Girls! program participants and fans to generate pre-sales of 1000 books (by December 2012).
Tâche 2
The first book of the series is released along with the journal, the activity cards, and the first CD. (January 2013)
Tâche 3
Build partnerships with at least 3 local arts education organizations to implement programs in approx. 10 schools (April 2013).
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]
Go Girls! began by accident in 2008. That summer, only girls signed up for our camp where we were already teaching social/emotional skills through theater. We knew that this play had to be special. It had to celebrate the magic and power of being a girl. At the end of the summer, when we asked girls if they would come back to a girls-only camp, they screamed a resounding “Yes!”
Since that first summer, the camp has grown from 17 girls to approximately 120 girls in 5 different camp sessions in three different locations. For years, we operated as an enrichment program for families who have the means to enroll their daughters in specialty camps and afterschool classes. However, we always had a vision of being able to serve girls from diverse communities.
Then, last spring, Natalie Walchuk, the principal of Glenview Elementary, identified Go Girls! as the program that was going to help increase compassion in their public school. That’s when we knew we were on to something.
Viabilité
Quels sont vos différents partenariats ?
Our partnership with Glenview provides the best model of how to access the Go Girls! programs to make and measure change at a systems-level. Our partnership with Kidpower International, a non-profit leader in personal safety skills for kids, allows us to integrate research-based, practical skills into our process. We also partner with non-profits like the JCC of the East Bay (Berkeley) and the Children’s Creativity Museum (San Francisco) to offer our summer camps. We plan to offer more programs through these kinds of partnerships in the future.
Avec quelle équipe (employés, bénévoles, etc.) pensez-vous atteindre vos objectifs de croissance définis dans la section sur l'impact social? [75 mots]
The strong staff that we will need to achieve our milestones will include a small team of teaching artists to assist Allison and me in creating the content for our books and products and supporting the related programs. In addition, we will need a web development team, a project manager/editor for the publication of the books and products, and a project manager/musician for the production of the CD. We will also need a skilled manager to build partnerships with arts education organizations and work with them and a grant writer to secure the funding for these programs at the school level.
Expliquez plus en détails les besoins et les offres indiqués ci-dessus ou proposez un type d'aide non mentionné dans la liste
In terms of needs, we could primarily use assistance in the area of organizational development and legal counsel that will help our currently small team grow to a larger company that can grow our revenue while making change at a larger scale. In terms of offers, we would love to share our expertise with professionals in the use of art and play in building compassionate classrooms and communities.
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