Leave it to Jessica Ambrose to take a simple class project and turn it into something much bigger.
Several semesters ago, for a project in an education studies class, Jessica organized a few after-school discussion sessions for six female students at a local middle school. "In class, we had been talking a lot about issues that girls face growing up, such as body image and peer pressure," she said. "My goal was to help some girls work through those issues by expressing the creativity, intelligence, and insightful ideas they had."
Jessica focused the initial discussions on the way young women are portrayed in popular media such as teen magazines, but the project grew quickly as Jessica found how much the girls were benefiting from the sessions. "After just a few weeks, it was clear that they wanted to continue," she said. "They were thriving in the environment we had created, so we extended the project to a second semester and added more participants."
Since then, the project has evolved into a formal mentoring program helping nearly 100 girls in six area middle schools, and, through Jessica's tutelage, several more Hamilton students help facilitate the groups. All the participants gathered on Hamilton's campus for last year's "Girls Speak Out" conference, a day of discussion and activities about individuality and group identity.
"I'm really grateful that I could take this idea and create a real, lasting program," said Jessica, "and the support I've had from the community has been tremendous. After all, I remember what it feels like to be a 13-year-old girl -- it's so difficult to express yourself and feel confident about who you are. Girls at that age are crying out for an arena in which they can feel comfortable expressing themselves -- they need a place where they can find a voice."
