Activism Log

1.      Activism: This week was an extremely successful week. We had two events at St. Mathew’s church. Our first event was on Saturday. At this event there were about 10-15 kids ranging from 3^rd grade to 7^th grade. We planned ice breakers, team building activities and communication activities. At Sunday’s event we talked to the middle school youth group about leadership and what it meant to be a leader. Over all this week was extremely successful. As a group our communication was on point and we worked together to completely all the tasks at hand. The events were also successful. While the activities focused on skills they were also a lot of fun. The children were begging the parents to stay longer. That was really rewarding. Also our magazine leadership activity was more successful them we could have imagined. The group really responded to the activity and picked out great words to describe leadership.

2.      Reflection: This week’s activism was an example of “share[d] power”(MacNeil 34). As the adults in the situation and we planned out the lesson and activities. We tried to balance of power. We gave choices of activities. A few activities reminded the children of other activities that they have played so we listen to their suggestion and adjusted the activities to the rule that they suggested. We tried to use teachable moments. For example the children were tasked with dividing us into teams, and they we all talking at once. We reminded them that they had to make a decision together. They made decisions are the activity began. We really focused on maintaining “collaborative leadership” by taking all of the children’s suggestions and having them make choices (MacNeil 36).  I think that this balance of power is crucial to teaching leadership.

3.      Reciprocity: The past week has completely changed my view of this project. At first I was more behind the scenes and the project seemed like a pain. My opinion was change with the success of the events at St. Mathews. It was so rewarding. I feel as though we actually made a difference. We taught this group about leadership. During the event on Sunday I had the opportunity to have a conversation with the children while they ate pizza. We talked about school, what the liked to do for fun, and we even discussed the holidays. We were talking about decorating Christmas trees and I told a story about my dogs getting into the tree. One of the girls made a suggestion for a solution and then the rest of the group started things of solutions. The group was problem solving and they were working as a team. Their final solution involved a pipe cleaner and a bell. The suggested to tie the pipe cleaner with the bell to my Christmas tree at the height of my dogs so it will jingle if they are rustling in the tree. I thought that was such a clever solution and it was nice to see the teamwork.

Word Count:501

Work Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generation: Applying “Adult” Leadership Theories to Youth

            Leadership Development”. 2006: 27-43. Print.

Activism log

1. This week has proven to be a trying week. Our final big event was canceled due to low attendance. So now we are scrambling to make arrangements for a new event. We have now added a new community partner, a church in the UCF area. I think it is more effective to begin with our pitfalls. The cancelation of the big event has greatly impacted our group. It has made us realize that we are having communication issues. I will say that a success this week was we had a meeting and discussed our communication. Since class was dismissed we have already made an improvement in our group communication. We also have a plan of action to complete the service learning project. Another success is that for the most part we all agree to start with a clean slate while working on this current event with the church youth group. We think that it is essential to having a successful event. So we will be leaving the canceled event and any communication issues in the past and start fresh. I think this is the key to getting things done. In this next week we will be having a conference call with our entire group. That will take place on Friday evening. Then we are also meeting with our new community partner to start preparation for the new events. Once obstacle that we will face this week is the group meeting during office hours, making sure everyone is in attendance will be our main focus.

2. The events of this past week have allowed me to make some personal connections with view on girls’ leadership. I realized that this project was about more the community service, it was about leadership. Our group dynamic and experiences have served as a hands on version of the articles that we have been reading in class. Our group has taken an almost passive role in leadership over the weeks leading up to the big event. I think we were all worried about stepping on each other’s toes. We fell into the trap of a hierarchy of leadership rather than developing a communal style that probably would have been more beneficial to our project. MacNeil discusses the concept of “share[d] power” in relation to girls and adults, but I think if our group had a better understanding of this theory we would have less individualistic leaders styles and more communal styles (34). The checks and balances would have been beneficial to our group. It would have required us to be more accountable.

3. This week has definitely been a learning experience. The struggles and disappointments resulting in the cancelation of our final event has been a major part of my concern. I have really learned a lot about my personal leadership skills and what areas I need to focus on developing. The guilt of the cancelation made me realize that I was not being as active in my leadership responsibilities that I could have been.

Word count 526

MacNeil, Carole A. "Bridging generations: Applying “adult” leadership theories to youth

            leadership development." New Directions for Youth Development. 2006.109 (2006): 27-

            43. Print.

Movie Quiz

This movie was great! I was so caught up in the stories of each of the girls and their camp experience that I did not even realize the connections that were made to the reading. That is how education is supposed to be, learning without even realizing it! The girls in the video have to opportunity to express themselves through music and they seemed to be completely enjoying themselves. Throughout the movie the joy and increase self esteem was evident.

When I sat down to do this assignment the first reading that jumped out at me was MacNeil’s article “Bridging Generations: Applying “adult” leadership theories to youth leadership development.” MacNeil discusses the concept of “share[d] power” (34) between adult and youth which was illustrated in the Girls Rock movie. The camp counselors allowed the camper to have control of their experience at camp. They allowed the campers to pick their band mates, genre, and band name. The counselors were having the campers make decisions that “have true impact and consequences” (33) on their bands progress throughout the camp. A great example of these decisions the campers were faced with is the process of naming the band. The older group of girls had to deal with the consequences and issues that follow making choices and putting them into action.  The counselors also treat the girls as “problem solvers, not problems to be solved”(31) especially when the younger girls were having a hard time getting along with Palace. The footage of the girls working through the problems the band were having and coming to a understanding is a great example of “share[d] power”(34). The counselors sit back and give the girls the opportunity to express themselves, to problem solve. They intervene only when the conversation strays away or becomes an attack on Palace. It was so awesome to see the connection to our reading that was woven throughout the movie.

Works Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generation: Applying “Adult” Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development”. 2006: 27-43. Print.

Word Count 335

SL Proposal

Service Learning Proposal for Girl Scouts of America

By: Erica H, Ashleigh A, Nichole R, Abi R, Candace T, Jacqui C, Valerie T, Anna S. and Esteffani C.

September 29, 2011

Meredith Tweed

WST4021-0001

Community Partner Profile:

Community Partner: Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Florida Citrus Council, Troop #331

Contact Information:   Judy Williamson, Troop Leader

                                   

Our Community partner for service learning is the Girl Scouts of the USA, particularly Troop #331 of the Florida Citrus Council. They are part of the Florida Citrus council branch of Girl Scouts of the USA. The Girl Scouts program was formed almost a century ago in 1912 by Juliette Low, whose goal was to give girls the opportunity to explore their communities and to get out of the confinements of their homes.  Today there are over two million girls participating in the Girl Scouts, with almost one million adults participating as volunteers. The mission of Girl Scouts is to “…build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place” (Girl Scouts of the United States of America). Through the numerous activities that the girls are able to participate in, ranging from field trips to community service, this organization aims to provide girls with the tools to develop themselves both socially and individually.

           

The organization gets their funding from an array of partners. These partners include individuals, corporations and government entities.  GSUSA acknowledges that girls have constantly changing needs. As a non-profit organization, the necessities in order to continue with their goals are to continue receiving funding and showing the world that they are making a difference in the lives of girls everywhere.

Second-Level Community Partner: SafeHouse of Seminole County

SafeHouse of Seminole is a shelter that provides a secure environment for women and children who have fallen victim to domestic violence. SafeHouse currently provides a variety of counseling and outreach programs for women coping with the trauma that domestic violence causes. SafeHouse also gives access to an emergency shelter, crisis hotline, and court advocacy for those who need it.

           

As the percentage of women who experience domestic violence continues to climb over 20%, establishments like SafeHouse have become a vital part of our society. SafeHouse not only operates to provide basic needs for the women and children at the shelter, but they also work in uplifting ways, such as hosting move nights and haunted houses.

           

Proposal:

Need for Action/Volunteerism

Girl Scouts of the USA Troop #331 needs assistance in planning and carrying out activities and events for community service. This includes not only smaller-scale service day activities for the girls in Troop #331, but also a larger-scale day of service for the entire Rainbow Lakes unit of Girl Scouts which Troop #331 belongs to. These service days must be appropriate for the age group of the girls, as well as addressing a specific community need, while also staying true to the fun spirit of the Girl Scouts.

           

Many women who are seeking refuge at SafeHouse do so without any material possessions, as well as a lack of resources to provide themselves with items such as hygiene projects. Similarly, the organization needs volunteers in assisting with gardening and other maintenance services.

Plan of Action Proposal:

We have several plans to help the girls understand the influence they can have on their community.  One of the events we are planning will be with the SafeHouse of Seminole. We will be doing direct service by performing any service needed by the organization. We are also going to be doing indirect service by making bags which will contain personal hygiene products. This will help the girls to understand that both indirect and direct service with organizations can be beneficial to themselves as well as the community on the whole.

The second, larger event is still in the planning stages. The tentative plan is to have a “Fun Day” that will join the girls from YWLP and the Rainbow Lakes Girl Scouts unit together to help the girls develop leadership. During this event, the Girl Scouts will collect cans and non perishable items to donate to a non-profit organization, and also participate in Fun Day activities at a local skating rink (or similar location). Each troop will be responsible for creating or bringing something to the event, such as a holiday basket for donation.

Rationale

We will be working with Girl Scout Troop #331 for our service learning project. According to the Girl Scout website, the program “builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”(Girl) These ideals go hand in hand with our studies in the Girls and Leadership course. By helping organize service activities for Troop #331 we will be giving the girls an opportunity to see how much they can make a difference and help them develop their leadership skills. Throughout this project we will focus on allowing the girls to be their own leaders and explore their own understanding of leadership through service and fun filled activities. Like Lyn Brown explained we do not want to “worry about or fix girls” (2) we want to create an environment or situation were they can “hone their critical thinking skills” (6)

Action Steps Taken Thus Far

Our team member Jacqui has already contacted Judy and Tracy, the GSUSA troop leaders regarding our interest in volunteering with their troops this semester. We have presented them with all of our possible volunteer opportunities, which they have confirmed their interest in. We are currently working out definite dates. We are making plans to contact several companies to solicit donations of sample products.  Erica has already acquired one case of face wash for these bags.

Each group member is responsible for an equal share of their time and work in order to accomplish both of these goals. We hope that each member of our team will be able to attend all of the events, but each member is required to help plan and coordinate at least one event.

Timeline for Action

October 1: Contact Judy Williamson with proposed dates

October 9: Possible meet and greet with Troop 331

October 29: Fun Day event

TBD: Volunteer Day at SafeHouse

TBD: Troop 331 event - Making care packages to be donated (Saturday in October)

Disclaimer: All dates are subject to change depending on the availability of Troop 331 and the approval of Troop leader, Judy Williamson.

Work Cited

Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Who We Are. 2011. 28
September 2011 <http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/>.GSUSA. 2010 Annual Report. Annual Report. New York: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2010.

Brown, Lyn Mikel. "The "Girls" in Girls' Studies." Girlhood Studies 1.1 (2008): 1-12. Print.

Introduction

Hi

My name is Ashleigh. I was born and raised in Ormond Beach, Florida. It is a small beach town about a hour away from UCF main campus. I am the oldest of three children. My two younger siblings are boys. A constant argument in our house is the double standards that are put on girls (aka me) in comparisons to my brothers. I am an elementary education major. After graduation I want to teach second or third grade. Eventually I want to teach high school science. When I was in high school my dance team coach was a huge role model to me. She was so active in our educations and our dance team; she also was a amazing mother and an overall inspiring individual. I hope to be a role model for my students once I become a teacher. I think that is the main reason that I am so interested in taking girls studies, my future as a teacher. I think that most teachers gender their classrooms without even realizing it. I want to take what I will learn in this class and make sure that I am not gendering my classroom and that I am giving everyone a truly equal opportunity to learn as much as I can teacher them. I am the officer in my sorority and that requires me to be a leader. In addition I have recently been asked to oversee the entire Hellenic Dance troupe at my church. The troupe is made up of group ranging from kindergarten all the way to college. Those are the two main things that I would consider myself as being in a leadership role. I believe that a leader is someone that guides a group to execute a goal. A leader should lead by example and be respectful. I want to learn about issues that directly affects girls. It is so common the girls get looped in with women or even with all children. But they are their own category. Young children are the future of society and if we focus on issues that girl’s face in their youth it may lead to changes in the issues that affect women. If we focus on issue that young girls face and understand them then we can set a solid foundation for these girls as they grow.

I have read and understand the terms and guidelines in the syllabus. I agree to follow them.

I am looking forward to this semester.