Name: Hannah Jacobs
Year: Senior
Major: Psychology
Minors: Sociology and Administration of Justice
Her Campus: What is your position within Strong Women, Strong Girls?
Hannah Jacobs: This is my second year serving as one of the organization’s chapter directors. My co-chapter director is Ashanti McCormick.
HC: How did you first get involved with SWSG?
HJ: I became involved with Strong Women, Strong Girls after seeing the club at the Student Activities Fair. I was attracted to the opportunity it provided to work hands-on with children in the Pittsburgh area at their after school programs, while connecting with each other on the strength of the female community.
HC: Can you tell us a little bit about Strong Women Strong Girls?
HJ: Strong Women, Strong Girls was founded at Harvard University in 2000 by freshman student, Lindsay Hyde. She recognized the need for strong female role models in the lives of inner city girls in Boston, Massachusetts. She started with a single chapter at Harvard mentoring 30 girls. Since that time, requests from parents, schools and community partners have attributed to its rapid growth. In 2006, SWSG decided to expand their reach to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today the national non-profit serves over 2,000 girls in third to fifth grade in both Boston and Pittsburgh. Its mission is to empower girls to imagine a broader future through curriculum grounded on female role models delivered by college women mentors.
HC: What are the responsibilities of the mentors at SWSG?
HJ: The Pitt Chapter of SWSG has 60 mentors serving girls at 11 sites, that include public schools, charter schools and community centers in under-resourced areas. Mentors are assigned to one site for the semester that they travel to once a week to lead an hour and a half mentoring session. All of our sites are located in Allegheny County and extend to the North, South and East of the city. At the beginning of each semester, the six Pittsburgh chapters (Point Park, Duquesne, Carlow, Robert Morris, CMU and Pitt) come together for the biannual SWSG training. Mentors are trained and equipped with useful tools and techniques to maximize their weekly mentoring session and prepare them for unfamiliar or unanticipated situations. Mentors are trained in mandated reporting and receive clearances necessary to work with minors.
HC: How does a typical group mentoring session function?
HJ: At the biannual training, mentors are given a curriculum binder to guide their mentoring session. The format is similar to a lesson plan which offers consistency week-to-week, while also allowing modification for the individual preferences and skills of the group. Each lesson begins with Peaks and Valleys, an introduction for each girl to offer her best and worst moments from the past week. The girls look forward to this as a time to feel listened to and important. Mentors then engage the girls in a recap of the prior week’s lesson, to encourage skill-building and retention. Mentors serve the girls a snack while dividing the larger group into subdivisions to read the strong woman biography. The biography introduces a strong woman in history (some examples are: Michelle Obama and Emma Watson) that exemplify an important skill in living a productive and meaningful life. Following the biography, the curriculum proposes an activity, sometimes a community service project or art activity, that utilizes the skill of the week. Towards the end of the session, girls are given a writing prompt to write about in their journal. Mentors read and respond to these prompts for the next week of mentoring. Every session ends with the SWSG cheer.
HC: In your opinion, what is the impact of having a mentor for young girls?
HJ: The evidence-based curriculum supports the development of leadership skills, teamwork and a strong female community. The consistency of the program helps to establish meaningful bonds between college women mentors and third to fifth grade girls, which has been shown to exhibit increased college and career aspirations, a greater connectivity to the female community, and a more positive image of self-esteem.
Be sure to join us at our annual event, Her Campus Night Out, where we raise money for Strong Women, Strong Girls next Wednesday, November 2nd from 8-10 at Peter’s Pub!
Photo Credits: Provided by Hannah