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Community Bridges is important to girls because... "...it gives Latina girls the opportunity to support one another, build confidence, and increase leadership skills." |
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Programs | Special Projects | Program Highlights
A Jump Start Tree Takes Root at White Oak Middle School
The Jump Start Girls of White Oak Middle School had the opportunity to create a beautiful mural in collaboration with Color Me Mine in downtown Silver Spring. Deidre Lee, the owner of the Silver Spring store, came to work with the girls to create the mural, which will be installed at the school. As young women, the girls of Jump Start represent the seeds that will grow into strong women. The leaves of the tree represent the qualities they hope to have as they get older. On the trunk of the tree is a poem of inspiration to all written by the White Oak Crew. Below is the original poem, that was written as a group by the girls- it will be published in a newsletter by the After School Institute as a featured after school program.
Who We Are!
By the Jump Start Girls at White Oak Middle School
I was a young girl that had dreams of growing and being a lovely, respectful woman with strength that knew that one day my dreams would become reality.
As young women, we know that love is like a seed that grows and sprouts as they achieve. Since seeds give life, I am like a seed that grows higher, stronger, and wiser each day.
We are young and loved. Beautiful and bold. This love will lead us to our dreams and to succeed.
We are all powerful!
The mural before it was fired.
The mural once it has been fired
Youth Empowerment and Skills Program (YES): Dream Catchers, Pyramid Atlantic, Maryland Department of Juvenile Service, and Montgomery County Department of Recreation are teaming up to provide The Youth Empowerment and Skills Program during the month of January. The girls will have the opportunity to do the following:
-Learn information about their dream job or career
-Create art to be displayed at an exhibit
-Create a resume
-Learn about different careers in the arts and other fields
-Work with accomplished and fabulous artists
All participants may receive up to $100 for attending all sessions and completing all components.
Girls create their collage pieces representative of a story about personal growth.
Gandhi Brigade: partnered with Community Bridges to create public service announcements. Staff members from Gandhi Brigade met with the Eastern 7 girls as they tackled the traditional concepts of beauty. The Eastern 7 girls were able to write, film, and direct their PSAs. The final work was presented at the media festival and at our Phenomenal Women Event held at Long Branch Community Center.
Shadow Puppet Workshop: This spring, the elementary school girls of Jump Start Girls! Adelante Niñas (JSGAN) will collaborate with Daniel Barash of The Shadow Puppet Workshop to bring stories to life using the ancient Asian art form of shadow puppetry. Each JSGAN class will have two sessions with Mr. Barash, exploring stories that emphasize the specific topics we are working on at that time. Mr. Barash holds a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from New York University and has led arts-in-education workshops for more than ten years. We are delighted to be working with him and are excited to see how our girls will be enriched by this magical experience.
The Writer's Center:The “Telling Your Own Story” project will pair the LUNA Project, a program of Community Bridges, and the Writing Center, in a collaborative bilingual creative writing project that will service 30 immigrant Latina girls enrolled in the ESOL and/or METS (interrupted learning) programs in MCPS schools. The project will engage the girls’ bilingualism and varied educational backgrounds by exploring popular language and idioms in Spanish and reflecting on how those words, and all the cultural, identity, and social meanings that go along with them, can or cannot be translated into English. These exercises will require the girls to really investigate their native tongues and the words and expressions that hold strong and unique meanings to them. The translation element will then guide them through a process in which they will have to grapple with and explore their feelings and experiences of being “trans”-national, -cultural, -lingual.