It was a day to celebrate the endless potential of each and every girl in the world, so what better way to ring in that message than with a morning full of positive conversations with positive female role models.
At least, that was the idea on Oct. 10 at the International Day of the Girl leadership conference, which gathered over 100 Grade 8 girls from Moose Jaw and Assiniboia at the Heritage Inn for a morning full of positive vibes.
International Day of the Girl is a project organized by Jenn Angus from Moose Jaw Transition House, Jocelyn MacLeod from the Student Well-being part of the Ministry of Education, and Deputy Chief Angela Sereda from Moose Jaw EMS.
The intent is to bolster confidence in young girls, encouraging them to support each other as equals, in order to reduce the barriers to success.
MacLeod explained that in the previous years, International Day of the Girl has run more like a classroom presentation, where female mentors would visit a school and speak to students. This is the first year they’ve expanded the program into a full-blown conference, bringing all those students together.
The conference gave the girls a chance to filter around the room and meet with six mentors, to hear their stories about what they do for the community and how they got where they are.
“[The message here is] that really anything that they want to pursue is possible,” said MacLeod. “It's just hearing that there's endless possibilities and it's for them to decide how they're going to navigate that.”
The mentorship aspect of the day is not only meant to be inspiring for the students, but to spark an idea of what they could accomplish in the future. It’s not always often that young girls get to sit down with a pediatric nurse, a police sergeant, or an aircraft maintenance technician and pick their brains about their career.
“What we were trying to do is find women who would connect with the girls on a personal level but also had successful careers as well, to spark an interest,” said MacLeod.
Affaf Kashif stepped away from her table for a moment to share how important girls supporting other girls is to her, as a leadership student at Central Collegiate.“We [brought in] those high school girls, who are going to be the leaders of tomorrow to connect with those Grade 8 girls,” said MacLeod. “That's really what we wanted to see happen, was that continuation of mentorship and leadership.”
Affaf Kashif, a Grade 11 leadership student from Central Collegiate, found the opportunity to be involved really important.
“I really wanted to support fellow girls, because it can be a tough time transitioning into high school,” said Kashif. “Girls are often faced with a lot of stereotypes or limitations. . . so it's just really nice to have role models. Growing up, I've had so many role models and I continue to do so at home and at school, and I just want to be the same thing for other girls.
Making the even bigger this year was an opportunity make possible by community donations from the Co-op and the Heritage Inn, and MacLeod hopes that they can bring this format back again next year.
“Stuff like that that you can't take for granted because this wouldn't be possible for all those young girls [without those donations],” said MacLeod. “And [it’s important because] we as women have to support each other. Young girls have to support each other, and this is the way that we can start getting that happen.”
1/3 Celebrating #IDG2019 in #citymj a day early this year! Thank You to ALL our #strongwomen Mentors for spending today w/ over 125 Grade 8 girls from @PrairieSouth @HolyTrinitySD MJ & Assiniboia schools! #girlsbelonghere #stronggirlsstrongworld #TransitionHouse #TruUnity pic.twitter.com/UXAk48wq3q
— Moose Jaw EMS (@MooseJawEMS) October 10, 2019
