Empowerment was the key message at Guelph and Wellington County’s first ever Power of Being a Girl conference.
“All of our little components today … are really about finding yourself and empowering yourself and believing in yourself,” said Sarah Robb, one of the event coordinators.
“At the end of the day, we want them to go home and feel really good.”
Power of Being a Girl is a Canada-wide YWCA event, but the Oct. 27 event at the Puslinch Community Centre in Aberfoyle was the first in the area.
“We’ve always been partnering up with Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener Ys and we thought ‘let’s give it a try, let’s bring it local,’” Robb said.
“Before we were bringing our girls to them and we thought if we stay … we can bring in more community supports, more local, so a lot of our speakers today are right from the Guelph community.”
The day was designed for Grade 7 and 8 girls and was open to all local schools.
“I think for Grade 7 and 8 girls they need to feel empowered and they need to be exposed to as much positive atmosphere as possible,” said Elora Public School child and youth worker Gayton Fairfield.
“It just gives them a day to have a girl day and sometimes girls need a little bit of freedom to feel empowered and to feel less judged and maybe, especially at this age, they may feel judged by boys.”
The event kicked off with keynote speaker and Wen-Do women’s self-defense instructor Shailagh Keaney.
She spoke to students about how important it is to have empowerment throughout their everyday lives.
“By knowing your power, you can be who you most truly are and who your community most needs you to be,” she said.
“When we each embody our power and we truly own it, we find the strength and courage to speak for ourselves and for each other – and in turn can inspire others.
“In this way and with each of us we are changing our little piece of the world in order to make it a better place for all the women and girls.”
Elora Public School Grade 7 student Kaitlyn Kaczmarczyk said Keaney’s speech was empowering.
“It was like we could feel her words,” she said. “It was like our inner girl was speaking up for itself.”
Kaczmarczyk’s first workshop was a kickboxing class.
“It shows you how powerful and strong you can really be,” she said.
“It felt like you could stand up for yourself.”
Kaczmarczyk noted she wasn’t at the conference just to feel empowered.
“I was hoping to find out who I really was inside,” she said. “To see if I really could do something amazing.”
She added she now feels she can do just that.
Kaczmarczyk’s kickboxing partner Gwen Millson-Currie, also a Grade 7 student at Elora Public School, said kickboxing felt like a good anger release.
“And you can show them that you can fight back,” she added.
Millson-Currie said she wanted to participate in Power of Being a Girl because she, “thought it was going to be fun and learn more things and how to defend yourself.”
The event consisted of rotations involving team building improv, healthy eating discussions, a talk with author Danielle Joworski about how mindfulness can help achieve goals, conflict resolution techniques and kickboxing.
At lunch the participants received free pizza and could talk to representatives from education and career paths.
“A lot of our lunchtime folks that are coming out are representing male dominated fields … giving the girls an opportunity to see themselves in a position that frequently is represented by men,” Robb said.
“Of course we’re talking about equality and we’re talking about empowerment but also talking about the fact that you can do this.
“Whether it be career or kickboxing or self-defense … really just trying to envision themselves in a role that society has typically labeled as a man’s position.”
