What is being strong, smart, and bold mean to you?

" To me being strong, smart, and bold means someone who is not scared of being their selves and to reach your goals, and to know whats right and whats wrong, and not being afraid of standing up for yourself and others."
- Mikaela, 11

Girls Doing Good in the Community

This summer and fall, members of our Berry Girls Inc. program will participate in SLANT 45, a program supported by the North Texas Superbowl XLV Host Committee, which seeks to raise awareness of the work done by nonprofits in the community.

The Girls Inc. Leadership Group at Berry brainstormed and came up with several ideas, finally deciding to remodel and update the playground at their school, Berry Elementary. Not only is the playground for their school, it is also a public play area for children in their neighborhood. There aren't any places in their neighborhood for them to play or be active except for the playground at the school.

The girls asked permission from the Berry Elementary Principal, Dr. Kathy Link, and she was so excited that they wanted to do something like this for the school. The girls are also hoping to get local businesses to donate supplies needed to complete this project.

The girls in the group will focus on teaching the younger girls problem-solving techniques and how to become active leaders within their school and community. This project will offer opportunities for girls to gain knowledge of what service-learning is all about.

We're so proud of these young girls for taking pride in their East Arlington neighborhood and encouraging their peers and neighbors to do the same! This is a great life-lesson for the girls and is really teaching them what it means to give back to the community.

The girls decided to do the following:

• Survey the park and make blueprints of any additions, changes, or repairs that the park needs


• Create a photo collage and presentation to showcase before and after progress


• Research the reasons why the project is necessary for this community


• Keep a journal of each phase of the project which will include their feelings, involvement and accomplishments


• Write a statement assessing how they feel the group did planning and executing this project

All of the girls who participate in this project receive a free workbook, t-shirt and a ticket to the year-end celebration at Cowboys Stadium in January 2011. The girls hope to have their project complete by August 2010.