Girls are faced with a variety of complex an ever growing list of challenges at each stage in their lives.  Our workshops look to provide girls with the tools and knowledge to navigate through life, being true to themselves; knowing what their choices can lead to and to be comfortable with their decisions.

Lunch Program
Our lunch programs are one hour per week, for a period of 7 weeks.
The time is adaptable to your school’s lunch hour.
*Please note that registration forms will need to be filled out by parents in order to attend. 

The following topics will be covered: 

• Introduction and women in history
• Healthy friendships/relationships vs. bullying
• Coping with Stress
• Empowerment 
• Communication
• Developing relationships and impacting the world in a positive way

In-School Workshops
We offer 2 hour workshops such as our Grade 8 transition workshop, our Anti-Bullying workshop and our Self-Esteem workshop to only name a few.  We can accommodate up to 30 girls at a time.

Beginning with Media Literacy, we demonstrate to the girls the ever growing influence the media plays in our lives, and the affect on our behaviour, values, ethics and understanding of what right and wrong is.  Bullying and exclusion will be the thematic undertone to the workshops. Addressing the issues among girls using media awareness allows us to address the whole girl and her choices in developing positive friendships and female relationships.  Media serves as a tool to engage girls to explore their mental health and wellness, stress and its’ impact, as well as self-esteem, body image and relationships.

Through our workshops, we hope to develop the girls’ critical thinking skills and foster their confidence in their own decision making.  We want to encourage the girls to support other girls and learn to except support from others.  Exploring female friendships and relationships will bring awareness and hopefully decrease girl on girl violence.  This workshop is designed to develop skills and tools so the girls can navigate adolescence successfully.

Girls Will:

• Be able to recognize the danger level of situations and make judgments that work for their best interest.
• Identify female supports, and learn how to be a female support.
• Define mass media and identify its purpose.
• Question media messages and think critically about the entertainment, news, and advertising media they consume.
• Become aware of media ownership, regulation and financing issues and their effect on media content and media messages.
• Develop the tools and skills to make positive relationships and informed choices.
• Acquire the tools to find obvious and hidden media messages.
• Recognize how beauty is defined and lived in media and real life.
• Learn skills and develop the ability to say NO and mean it with confidence.
• Build leadership skills though acknowledging peer pressures and their impact on decision making.
• Learn about, practice and assess peer leadership and teaching techniques.
• Continue peer teaching and leadership.
• Increase confidence in their leadership abilities.
• Use assertive, effective communication in many appropriate situations.
• Utilize communications skills in teaching and in peer interactions.
• Adapt personal nonverbal communication to the situation and react appropriately to others’ nonverbal signals.
• Attend to their own nonverbal communication and that of persons with whom they are interacting.
• Increase awareness of nonverbal communications.
• Identify sources of stress in their own and others’ lives.
• Use and teach healthy strategies to manage everyday stress.
• Associate with positive peers; seek out positive influences and opportunities.
• Make strong, smart, and bold decisions, including in situations with serious or long term consequences.
• Recognize how to support other females in professional and personal capacities.
• Develop tools to foster and continue positive relationships with other females (regardless of age).

For more information on our workshops, please contact:
Jessica Gomez, RSW
Social Worker
jessicag@girlsincyork.org