Senior Project Proposal

Research Question: Why is teaching self-esteem important for young girls?

Description of Project:
My Girls Group started my sophomore year of high school. I came up with the idea after
attending a summer program at Brown University called Young Women and Leadership. In that class we
learned about powerful women from all over the world and projects that we could create in our
community to make a change. In my sophomore year, I had an idea that I wanted to make an impact in
my community involving young women and self-esteem. Throughout Martis Action Research Paper and
also a Social Innovators class I was able to make my idea into a reality. After completing Social
Innovators and making a business plan I received government funding to run my first girls self-esteem
group at the Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket.
My first class was an eight week program with a curriculum that I created involving and
educating young girls. Some of my topics that I taught were Body Image, Friendship, and Self-
Perception. I measured my students progress by journals. Each class would begin with a question that
was answered in the journal and related to what was being discussed in class. After our entrance ticket,
there would be a lesson followed by an activity and an exit ticket. I would then take the journals and
activities home and give private feedback to the girls in their journals. The class was successful with my
first age group of 8-12 years old and still today my students come up to me and tell me how much of a
role model I was to them.
As a senior I wanted to expand and focus on something more specific. My goal for my senior
project was to target the importance of teaching and mentoring. I also shifted my focus on the
transitional age of high school freshman and sophomores. For my senior paper and research I
volunteered and observed at Segue Learning Institute in Central Falls. I chose Segue because the school
has a special class and curriculum dedicated to teaching young girls about self-esteem. The weekly class
is called Girls Talk and in that class a group of sixth graders talk about the importance of self-esteem
through lesson plans similar to my self-esteem group. Sitting in on the class helped me see how
important it is to teach self-esteem and how much the students understand what they were learning, I
am currently teaching high school girls at the Boys and Girls Club. The class is different from my service
learning project because I had to change my teaching style with a different audience. Younger students
were more engaged with writing and activities while my older students like more discussion based
classes. At the start of each class the students and I sit around in a circle and go around to say one good
event that happened during that week and one negative. I do this ice breaker in the beginning of the
class to transition from hanging out environment to classroom setting. Then I tell my students the goal
for the day, followed by a teacher lead mini lesson, and a student lead debrief. The style of the class is
both beneficial for me and my students because not only do I observe the changes and progress from
the girls but they learn how to trust each other and talk in a large group.


Name of the Off-Site Coach/Organization:
Michelle, Mike C, and Jeff: Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket
Mrs. Ortiz: Segue Learning Institute
Liz Newton: Blackstone Academy (outside coach)