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GIRLS' ADVENTURE CLUB
BUILDS FRIENDSHIP, CONFIDENCE AND KNOWLEDGE
Water splashes loudly over rocks in Indian Creek and frog calls echo through
the boulders. Five young women sit in a circle near the clear water, making
baskets out of Cottonwood branches and vines.
"Basket making is something women have done for centuries," Denise
Rowcroft explains. "In hunting and gathering societies, women would
collect the materials and make baskets to carry the food."
 The young women gathered today are not part of a hunting and gathering society
but rather a group called the "Girls' Adventure Club." The club,
run by Prescott College students Jenny Lepage and Denise Rowcroft and sponsored
by the Prescott YMCA, offers fun and challenging outdoor adventure activities
for middle school girls.
Girls' Adventure Club members show the baskets they made during their afternoon
at Indian Creek From left: Denise Rowcroft, Prescott College student/facilitator;
sixth-grader Mandi Lopez from Prescott Mile High Middle School; seventh-grader
Lauren Russillo from Prescott Mile High Middle School; sixth-grader Shinay
Tredeau from Painted Pony Charter School; and Prescott College student/facilitator
Jenny Lepage.
"Our goal is to provide a girls' after school club to mentor middle
school girls and provide them with opportunities to grow through adventures
in the outdoors and other activities that foster personal growth and exploration," said
Lepage. "This is the toughest place in life for girls to be. When I
was that age, I wanted a place to go and have fun and not pay attention to
social pressures. We want this to be that place for them."
Since starting in February, the seven girls from local middle schools have
been rock climbing, running, hiking, learned yoga, made pottery at Girl Talk
Studio and backpacked and camped for four days along the Verde River. In
addition to getting the girls outdoors, Lepage and Rowcroft have also addressed
issues of concern to adolescent girls, such as body image, health and stereotypes
through writing and other activities. Along the way, each girl has kept a
personal journal for writing exercises and to record her personal thoughts
and experiences.
As their baskets take shape, the group tells tales about the women in their
families, an assignment they were given last week. Shinay Tredeau, a sixth-grader
from Painted Pony Charter School has found that everyone on her mother's
side, except for her and her sister, was born in New Jersey City, New Jersey.
Lauren Russillo, a seventh-grader from Prescott Mile High Middle School explains
that her grandmother was a nurse for the Red Cross.
The Girls' Adventure Club is an extension of a similar club Lepage and Rowcroft
initiated last year. After this 12-week run of the program, the YMCA will
be holding a Girls' Adventure Club mini-camp this summer.
Dana Carracciolo, the climbing wall supervisor at the Prescott YMCA said
the camp will be modeled after Rowcroft and Lepage's program, consisting
of adventure activities, such as climbing and hiking, and writing, drawing
and crafts.
The YMCA hopes to continue the Girls Adventure Club through the fall with
grants so that it continues to be free for participants and is looking for
students or others interested to help facilitate the program.
"The program has been great. The girls have enjoyed themselves and
the parents are impressed with everything. We still have people calling to
join," said Carracciolo.
Mandi Lopez, a Prescott Mile High Middle School eighth-grader joined the
club because it sounded like fun. Her favorite activity so far she said,
was the four-day camping trip. "We camped every night and hiked about
eight miles near the Verde River," she said. "And I made new friends."
During the camping trip, each girl spent a half-day by herself writing and
was given a letter of support and love from her parents, which Rowcroft and
Lepage had requested beforehand.
"That was one of the highlights of the trip for all of the girls," said
Rowcroft. "They all really appreciated receiving those letters of support
from their parents."
Rowcroft and Lepage have found that completing adventure activities like
the four-day backpacking trip reaffirms girls' confidence.
"We're planting little seeds that I think they'll look back upon and
appreciate. From my own experiences, I feel it's having a positive affect
on them - we're giving them little gems to treasure," said Rowcroft.
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