5-9, Letters of Change

Last week we had one of our most inspirational meetings. We had never seen members so focused and passionate about an activity! The focus of the day was how we could write to make change in the world. We talked about the power of the written word and how our own words could get things done, help us achieve things, help us help others, and get "things" (like the donations we've been getting....anything we've gotten donated to us was the result of using words and letters to put our message out there!). We wanted the kids to find issues that they wanted to fight for and use their own words to make change.

To figure out what everyone was passionate about, we started out with the question: "What bothers you in your life?" The girls had a LOT to say, and they all listened with respect to everyone's ideas. Some of the issues girls brought up were things at home (miscommunication, wanting closer relationships with family members) and things at school (the way teachers talked "down" to them, the lack of care they've seen in some of their authorites, etc..). We talked about how to approach these issues productively and talked about possible avenues of change.

Tonight we picked up from last week's conversations and figured out a place to start. Several members suggested writing letters to teachers that have inspired them. We figured starting with the positive things in life was a good route, and so we wrote....Members wrote letters to past or present teachers, which we mailed as an end of the year gift! The more we talk about issues affecting the girls, we hope to find a collective cause that we can address....with our words, and down the road, our actions.