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Senior GIRLtopia Companion Guide 11.22.11
Senior GIRLtopia Companion Guide 11.22.11
Senior GIRLtopia Companion Guide 11.22.11
...all girls have the clothing and shoes they need to attend school feeling proud, confident and ready to learn
Dont Forget...
... to check out My New Red Shoes guide for Girl Scout Seniors so you know what we do, why, and how Seniors can Discover, Connect and Take Action with My New Red Shoes!
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls thesewill accompany you on youricebreakers to get to know the girls on your Journey! Use who clothing and shoe-themed GIRLtopia Journey.
Icebreakers
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey. Envision a world where all girls have the clothing and shoes they need to attend school feeling proud, confident and ready to learn! My New Red Shoes is in need of creative visions of this GIRLtopia to enhance our warehouse and office space and inspire other Girl Scouts and community members to join our movement. Examples of possible Create it projects include: Paintings Videos Collages (Dont forget that you can earn your Collage Artist legacy badge Ideas? while youre at it!) Do you have other Create It, Murals Guide It, or Change It ideas that Poems Girl Scouts could do with My New Red Shoes? Email outreach@mynewredshoes.org and let us know!
Create It!
Guide It!
Consider the following topics for your Guide It activity:
June 2007
Vol 37 Issue 6
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey.
THE CLAWPRINT
CREEKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL CANTON, GA
Monday, October 17, 2011 By Emma Cook Online Exclusive
Not all parents of teenagers belong to the same background, culture or income group, but all teenagers want to look the same.
demanding. Along with the struggles that enter into the relationships between teens and parents, teenagers struggle with selfconflicting ideals. In the absence of strong parental control and with overexposure to celebrity images, teens today have started living borrowed lives. It is far easier to copy what your friends and celebrities are wearing then to craft your own style. Creekview student Hannah Swanson stated, One of the reasons why my friends and I wear the same kinds of clothes is because we all have the same personality and we all go shopping together. Teenagers today feel the pressure of conforming to a groups culture and the first way this allegiance manifests itself is
GIRLto-
THE CHARLES
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey.
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey. Your GIRLtopia Journey book describes the difference between service and action on page 69. Did you know that My New Red Shoes provides both service and action? Giving children in need new clothing and shoes for school is a direct service. But we also create longterm action. Read on to discover how.
Service or Action?
For homeless and low-income children, one of the root causes of failing to attend and do well in school is not having the supplies, clothing or shoes they need. One study showed that of the homeless children who did not attend school in Santa Clara County, California, 21% did not do so because they did not have any or the right school clothing. As a result, children from homeless and low-income families often do not attend school or they go to school day after day wearing ill-fitting, unseason-
Giving children school clothing and shoes for school not only solves their immediate need for warmth and comfort, it allows them to form a good first impression and gives them lasting confidence that has been proven to increase their odds of attending school, doing well in class, and participating in playground and afterschool activities. A heartfelt gift can have a spiral effect in the life of a child. By giving kids special, personalized back-to-school gift bags, My New Red Shoes helps them feel connected to a strong network of families who care about them in the community. Children are often surprised that someone they didnt know gave them such a wonderful gift for no apparent reason and then pay it forward by gifting kindness to someone else the next day or even years later!
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other Educating the community about chilgirlsdren whoaccompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey. who will don't have appropriate school clothing and shoes opens others eyes about the issue, which can have long-term consequences. One persons testimony can have a viral effect, leading to mass awareness and action.
Check out the article on the following page to see a real-life example of
how this can work.
Teaching kids that some children dont have appropriate clothing and shoes for school can help stop teasing and bullying about fashion and what is the right thing to wear.
Leonard Brzezinski, 2010
By providing clothing and shoes to families in homeless shelters, My New Red Shoes makes sure that these cash-strapped organizations need not spend their precious resources on outfitting their clients, freeing up their time and money to focus on providing tutoring, counseling, job training and other services that will help these families succeed in the long run.
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey.
Posted: Sep 26, 2011
Carrie Gelson, who teaches seven- and eight-year-old children at Admiral Seymour Elementary School on Keefer Street, has received thousands of dollars in donations after revealing in the letter that some of her students constantly arrive at school late, hungry, without socks and with shoes that are falling apart. Gelson said she wrote the letter after a particularly frustrating recent day in her Grade 2 classroom. "I think I was feeling a little overwhelmed, cause I have a little boy [student] who's like, 'Ms. Gelson you said you're getting me shoes right?' Because I said I could probably find them," she said. "Someone had promised me the right size of shoes for him and he'd asked me that morning and I hadn't them yet and it was raining." Gelson said she also feels she has to bring snacks for some of her students "When I have five kids who ask and four crackers each, you can see that my stack of five crackers doesn't go far," she said. She dips into the snack drawer for the students several times a day. The letter was written to raise awareness about the plight of inner city children, and originally was just circulated among her friends some of whom put it on the internet. It has since spread to blogs and other postings online. The impact quickly moved some people to try to help. "One person came to the school and handed my principal $1,500 cash," Gelson said. A woman brought Gelson some socks and a $1,000 cheque Monday. "I happened to be shopping [Sunday] and saw Carrie's call for help and just thought I'd drop [the socks] off, along with the cheque," said donor Linda Murray. Calls offering help have been flooding into the schools office are coming from as far away as Edmonton. With files from the CBC's Belle Puri Content downloaded from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/26/bc -poverty-kids-gelson-letter.html on 10/18/11.
Change It!
Below are just a few ideas about how you can complete your GIRLtopia Take Action project with My New Red Shoes. The sky is the limit!
Raise Awareness about the Need for School Clothing and Shoes and Organize a Shoe Drive: Let others know why its important for all children to have the resources they need to attend school feeling confident. Tap into the resources of your school, church, soccer team, and Girl Scout community to collect shoes for children in need. Sew Gift Bags or Decorate First Day Cards: Help My New Red Shoes provide a heartfelt gift with the potential of creating a spiral effect in the life of a child. For more information, visit the Girl Scouts page of www.mynewredshoes.org. Teach Younger Girl Scouts about the importance of My New Red Shoes work and empower them to Take Action in the community and help a child in need attend school feeling confident and ready to learn. Check out the leveled guides on the Girl Scout page of www.mynewredshoes.org for fun games and activities for younger girls. Its Your Story Tell It!: Have a lasting impact by inspiring others to support our cause. Lend your youth voice to our website by writing entries about your how you Discovered, Connected, and Took Action on your GIRLtopia Journey. Make My New Red Shoes Stronger: Help My New Red Shoes create a program that has the power to create a GIRLtopia. Survey the Girl Scout community to gather testimonials and statistics about their involvement with My New Red Shoes. We will use this information to inspire others to get involved and to make our program even better serving more children in need and making the world a better place! Create a compelling, compassionate Video or Multi-Media Presentation showcasing the work of My New Red Shoes and how it creates long-term change in the world.
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey. Twelve-year-old Veronica* became homeless when her family could no longer afford their rising rent. The quintessential middle child, Veronica focused on making sure everyone else was okay when she and her three siblings relocated to the homeless shelter. She never complained about wearing her big sisters hand-me-downs or spending her days after school babysitting her little sister. In fact, Veronica rarely drew any attention to herself. The day Veronica received her gift card from My New Red Shoes, she bubbled with excitement and immediately requested that her mother take her shopping. Lets do something fun for me, she said. When Veronica returned to the homeless shelter after her back-to-school shopping spree, this once quiet and reserved girl gave the shelter staff a fashion show. She was so proud of what she had chosen to wear for her first day of junior high. It was obvious that the new clothing made Veronica feel like she mattered, according to one staff member. When Veronica headed out the door later that week wearing her new outfit, her spirits were high, and she felt that no one mattered more than her.
Twelve-year-old Natalie* is living at a Santa Clara shelter for teens. Raised by her grandparents due to the incarceration of her mother and father, Natalie has a long record of arrests for petty theft and drug Leonard Brzezinski, 2011 use. Since Natalie has been at the shelter, shes been drug and alcohol free, but her case manager has noticed that Natalies adult-sized problems make it difficult for Natalie to feel and act like the child she is. Natalies behavior has changed dramatically since she went back-to-school shopping with My New Red Shoes clothing gift card. As her case manager watched Natalie choose and try on clothing that day, he was amazed to observe age-appropriate behavior from Natalie for the first time. This simple gift has freed Natalie to be twelve again as she started school this fall.
Choose from among these icebreaker games to get *, a 15-year-old girl whose family sufMichelle to know the other girls who will accompany you on your GIRLtopia Journey. fers from substance abuse problems, has been living in a group home since her release from juvenile hall where she was sent for fighting at school. Now Michelle is trying to turn the corner and have a positive high school experience. Michelle recently decided to try out for the volleyball team. With few clothes that fit (she had outgrown most of them since leaving home), Michelle arrived at volleyball tryouts dressed in her street clothes and a borrowed pair of shorts that were three sizes too big. She was embarrassed and uncomfortable. The back-to-school clothing Michelle bought with her gift card from My New Red Shoes has allowed her to play volleyball and participate in other school activities with pride and confidence. Most of all, Michelles new clothes have helped her imagine a better future for herself.
www.mynewredshoes.org 111 Anza Blvd. Suite 110 Burlingame, CA 94010 outreach@mynewredshoes.org (650) 375-2648 My New Red Shoes 2011