T-Shirts and Smiles! — A Grow Girl’s Celebration
It was truly a sight to behold! The smiles that dotted the faces of the girls and mentors alike as they proudly received their first ever Grow Girl T-shirts. It was enough to make this grown man cry :)!
The trendy mint green shirts printed by Custom Ink prominently display the Grow Girls logo (created by Nicki Lin at Nicki Lin Designs) on the front, the Creekside Elementary School and Loving Community logos on the back, and the words of popular Texas and female novelist T.S. Grey, “She believed she could, so she did”.
This is the inaugural year of Grow Girls, a mentoring partnership between Loving Community and Creekside Elementary and it has been “nothing short of inspiring” according to Rod McGinnis, Principal at Creekside. This original mentoring concept and group pairs 4th and 5th grade girls with community mentors and emphasizes the development of both character and leadership.
It was developed by Jim Mustain, Executive Director of Loving Community in coordination with Erin Swiedom and Patience Leonard, Creekside faculty members and Debbie Psencik, retired LISD middle school teacher. It is the sister program of Boys2Men, Loving Community’s mentoring initiative for 4th and 5th grade boys that also operates at Creekside Elementary School and other Lewisville ISD campuses.
The Grow Girls mantra, “Girls Radiate Optimism and Wisdom” centers on monthly lessons that are presented by community mentors in a group “pizza party” setting. Each letter provides the road map of the “Grow Girls” character and leadership traits. The group luncheons and mentor/mentee relationships are bolstered by an additional monthly one-on-one lunch between the girls and their mentors. The program’s core character and leadership traits are:
G – Goal Oriented, R – Responsible, O – Optimistic, W – Wise, G – Generous, I – Image (Self-Image), R – Resilient, L – Loyal, S – Self Confident
Already year one outcomes are encouraging! The future looks bright as these young ladies embrace the the words of R.S. Grey, “She believed she could, so she did”. Keep smiling Grow Girls!
Encouraged and Inspired,
Jim
PS – To learn more about being a Grow Girl mentor or to bring the Grow Girls Mentoring Initiative to your school contact Jim Mustain at [email protected]
