What began as a project for an Issues in Education class for Hamilton College student Jessica Ambrose two years ago, has evolved into a formal journal-writing program geared to girls at six local middle schools.
The project is made possible through the generosity of the Women's Fund of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, and the Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society & Culture at Hamilton College. The Women's Fund recently presented Ambrose and The Kirkland Project with a check for $5000 to expand the program to the other schools.
In 1999, Ambrose, a senior at Hamilton College from Trumansburg, NY, started a group at Clinton Middle School to give middle school girls a comfortable environment in which they could talk and write about issues important to them. Ambrose suggested the project for an Issues in Education class she was taking with Susan Mason, director of the Teacher Education Program at Hamilton. The main focus of the writing and discussion centered around a "Who Am I " journal that explored identity formation based on key forces such as family, race, peers, school, gender, body image and the media.
Ambrose said that in the 1990s researchers became concerned with the social and emotional well being of adolescent girls. They've found that as young women are socialized to become feminine, they lose their sense of self in the process. Ambrose wanted to find a way to acknowledge the creativity, intelligence and insightful ideas that girls at that age can have, and recognize that they can make important contributions to society. Her project was a proposed solution to that.
As a result of the Clinton group's success, Ambrose has now trained six Hamilton women to act as facilitators for such groups in six area middle schools. The objective is to reach a variety of urban and rural girls of varying socio-economic backgrounds. "The program is meant to belong to the adolescent girls, with them leading the conversation and the facilitator there as a guide," Ambrose said. "The facilitators' job is not to be a psychologist or counselor but a mentor.
"Adolescent girls are susceptible to self-identity images that are less than healthy," she explained. "Girls at this age are crying out for an area in which they can feel comfortable expressing themselves. They need a place where they can find a voice."
The Women's Fund asked Ambrose to submit a proposal to expand the program and gave her funding to expand it to six other area schools. Middle School guidance offices will target the girls in their schools who they feel will benefit from the program. However, the program is open to any girls who are interested. The groups meet for an hour-and-a-half, once a week.
Mason said, "This is a case where theory, practice and community service come together. It's a powerful opportunity for our students to take theory and put it into practice to do something for other people. We're blessed to be in this community and this is one way to give back."
Cara Fenstemacher, chairman of the grants committee of the Women's Fund said, "The Women's Fund was established to develop resources to create opportunities for women and girls. The Journaling Class for Middle School Girls established by Jessica Ambrose is truly a wonderful resource for adolescent girls allowing them to network with each other and to be mentored by a college student acting as a facilitator.
"The nurturing of self-esteem is crucial to establishing self-confidence within this age group and this project certainly is accomplishing that purpose," she added. "The Women's Fund had selected middle school girls as our focus area for 2001 and we are pleased to be partnering with The Kirkland Project and Hamilton College on such an important and rewarding program."
