Jenelle Neufeld, who has been working with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pembina Valley as the organization’s executive director for the past six years, says her favourite part of what she does is the impact it has on the community.
One of the groups that sees this impact is fifth- and sixth-grade girls, for whom the organization's women-led GROW youth workshop has been developed.
Following the success of last year’s workshop, which took place in October, the resource is returning for another year.
Its goal is to provide a supportive atmosphere for discussing topics that most girls face during a particularly formative time of life.
What is the GROW workshop?
According to Neufeld, GROW stands for Guidance, Resilience, Opportunity, and Wellness. The GROW workshop, which is led by certified facilitators, explores topics like physical wellness, balanced eating, self-esteem, and leadership.
Neufeld says that the workshop is a condensed version of the group programming the organization offers in schools.
“[It] was previously known as Go Girls, and we've kind of revamped it,” she says.
“It used to be seven weeks and we shortened it down to four weeks to make it more digestible, so we took that model with balanced eating, healthy lifestyle, leadership skills ... and then decided to kind of make it into more of a one-day workshop for kids that maybe don't need ongoing support, but could really benefit from targeted, one-day support.”
‘It was very well received’
Neufeld says that last year’s group got a lot out of the workshop.
“It was very well received .... Even during the day, the girls were saying, ‘You should do this every month,’” she says.
The executive director says that after receiving feedback, it was clear that parents particularly appreciated the healthy eating portion of the workshop.
“We had a tangible activity where they had to make a balanced plate out of different foods and then had a discussion around their choices,” she says. “Then they all made lunch together, and they got to take that recipe home, and a lot of girls wanted to make it for their family. It was just absolutely fantastic.”
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Another highlight of the day’s lessons features a visit from a wellness coordinator who is also a grade five teacher in Winkler.
“She comes and does a movement portion with the girls, and it's more surrounding celebrating your body through movement and not punishing your body because of something that you ate,” says Neufeld.
Building confidence in an important stage of life
Through the topics that will be covered at the GROW workshop, Neufeld says that there is one objective that underpins them all.
“Our goal ultimately is just building girls' confidence up because this is such a hard stage of life to have confidence in,” she says. “[We also try to] get in those leadership skills.”
Neufeld says that the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pembina Valley is excited to replicate last year's impactful workshop on July 7th.
To register, see the organization's website here.
- With files from Ty Hildebrand -