My mentee is Amya, a very sweet 10-year-old girl. I would have to say what makes our relationship so easy is the fact that Amya attends Girls Inc. so we are able to see each other daily.  Also, it helps that Amya and I live 10 minutes apart from one another, which allows us to get together more often.  Another thing that enables us to have a close relationship is that Amya has a cell phone so we communicate daily and set up plans with one another via text or with a phone call. Amya has a younger sister, Asia which can be a tricky situation but whenever her sister has accompanied us it has always been Amya's choice.  I make it a point to spend time with Amya as much as I can and when the time and situation allows her little sister Asia comes with us.
 
Amya and I have gone to the movies.  We went to Transformers 3, which was her choice J.  We’ve gone  to a relative’s birthday party; we’ve gone shopping at the Westroads or Oak View Mall.  We’ve played Bocci Ball; gone to church together; gone to my mom's house to hang out; listened to music; and had a water gun fight. We’ve gone out to eat at Red Robins, Burger King, Jimmy Johns, etc... One of the places we like to go is Sonics because we can sit in the car and just chat. 

 
One thing I like about Amya is that even though at times she is an old soul she can still be a kid and play with younger children and let herself have fun.  She is an awesome big sister - always looking out for her little sister Asia.  We don’t have to be doing anything just hanging out and that is just fine with her.  Amya just enjoys spending time with me even if that means sitting outside together talking, or watching her shows on Disney Channel like So Random, Good Luck Charlie, My Babysitter’s a Vampire or Shake it Up!   

Amya is a such a sweet, thoughtful, loving, kind, funny, caring, young lady and I am blessed to have her as my mentee.
 
I am so glad that I became a Pathfinders Mentor - it has added such wonderful experiences and memories to my life.  - Stephanie Lewis
                                                                                                                                                                            Girls Inc. staff member and Pathfinders Mentor

Ebony and Ellionsai, Girls Inc. of Omaha basketball players, think it's great to be girl athletes and have athletic role models. As athletes, they'll tell you that good grades, paying attention in school, and staying away from negative behavior is as important as practice. Ellionsai says, "It's important to know that when I graduate from high school, I have opportunities for sports scholarships too."

"I'm really excited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX and looking forward to making the next 40 years even better!" says Girls Inc. of Omaha Program Director Emily Mwaja.

Using a sheet of cardstock, a takeout box, popsicle sticks, 2 skewers, 3 washers, Dixie cups, and a small glass bowl, the girls made their very own gumball machines in Techbridge. This activity was listed as a "favorite" of many of the girls.  They loved using the tools - rulers, scissors, tape, X-acto knives, glue guns, and snips to put all of the pieces together and create a machine that actually works.

Check out our Girls Inc. of Omaha facebook page to see an album of photos from this activity.

Give Girls Inc. GIRLStart program a huge kudos. I went to Taylor's parent teacher conference and came out in tears. Taylor's report card was outstanding. I want to especially point out the Student Criterion reading assessments scores from last semester she advanced in all areas with a proficient in vowel clusters. Again thank you Ms. Kim, Ms. Mara, Ms. Tess as well as the Girls Inc. staff.

- Precious McKesson

The girls write about their ideal teachers.

"I want my ideal teacher to be nice and do more math and [sic] sicince and [sic] sousho stades and more class and more play time.  And she can give us..." - here the Girls Inc. member runs out of space.  Turn the paper over to read what the ideal teacher gives her students: "[sic] mony.

Page 1 (above) and turned over for page 2 (below).

From Wikipedia:  A Rube Goldberg machine, device, or apparatus is a deliberately over-engineered or overdone machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883-1970).

The girls designed elaborate, comical machines using pulleys, levers, dropping marbles, planes, inclines, fulcrums - you name it and they used it!

Step 1:  The girls looked at the pictures.
Step 2:  They read the words on the page.
Step 3:  They wrote their questions on post it notes to put on the "Question Tree" on the board.
Step 4:  They discussed their questions and suggested answers in a discussion format which encouraged
            the girls to make inferences based upon what they saw and read.
Step 5:  They read the book a second time.

The book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, also led to some good discussion about fact vs. fiction, reality vs. fantasy.

As part of the STEM program Build IT, the girls are creating message boards and blog accounts where they are able to chat live  with each other. During this session they learned how to develop a clear theme for a blog, making it easy to navigate and including at least four images and four links to external sources.

One of the summer field trips for Build IT.  Tour guide:  Ms. Angel Martin

I went to UNO with Ms. Candice and the girls from the 11-12 year old age group.  Our tour guide Ms. Angel (she used to work at Girls Inc.) took us inside this room where they do interviews and edit what people say.  We got to play around recording our voices and playing them back to hear what we sound like….I had a really nice time at UNO and learned a lot about technology.  After today, I think this is something I may go to college for! - Jasmine 

…I got to record my voice and do a phone call interview.  I sounded horrible but I was new to it so that’s OK.  As I sat down and actually recorded my voice – when I heard it, I realized that is was really soft.  The closer you are to the mic, the better.  It was really cool. Ms. Angel talked about how back in the day when they made a tape or recording they had to cut the tapes and put them together.  If you cut a tape too short, then they were messed up and it was too bad because when you’re physically cutting something, it’s hard to redo it.  There was no back button or delete button.   Now there is better technology to use when recording and interviewing people as well as editing things.  The deadlines for interviews are very important.  If you miss a deadline, it made the flow of everything go back a little and if you miss a deadline too often you could get fired from your job.  I learned a lot.  Thanks Ms. Angel – you did great! - Dae

We talked about how you can’t cuss on live air. – Ty’Auna

The field trip around UNO studios was totally amazing…They even let us speak into the mic.  We learned how they make their broadcasts and how they made them in the olden days.  We learned how they cut the film and how they pieced it together like a big technical puzzle.  We even heard one of Ms. Angel’s broadcasts.  She was talking about the arts (poetry).  She was talking about kids and their problems and how they settled them with their poems.  After we left that room we went to another room and saw and talked about how they call people to interview them and what questions to ask.  While in that room we met Robyn and “The Voice” (Josh)…Overall I loved the tour and would love to go and do the whole thing all over again. - Victoria

I learned that to put a person on air you first have to interview them to get your topic and the information; then make different paragraphs or parts; and then put it all together.  Then you have a story.  To put it on the air you would have to edit it; then log on to your account on the computer and go to the editing page and type in your topic and information.  Then turn your radio station to you and then do your thing! - Taleah

I loved the field trip because I love technology and we got to see the new and old technology they use.  KVNO 90.7 is the radio broadcast.  We got to do a radio interview with Ms. Crystal and I got ecorded and I sounded really weird.  She hung up and we didn’t know and everyone started to laugh.  We listened to an arts broadcast by Ms. Angel called Louder than a Bomb…We also did a recording and Ms. Angel cut some things and made a real broadcast.  We also talked to some interns named Lindsey and Robyn about their schedule.  Ms. Angel showed us the room they use for 3 or 4-person interviews.  It was really fun and taught us a lot.  Thank you Ms. Angel.  – Aviera

Now ready to finish her degree in psychology and dance this fall semester at Stephens College, Ms. Antianna was a Girls Inc. member herself when she was a girl.  She spent this summer teaching the Girls Inc. kindergarten class and teaching dance classes.  When she was a teen at Girls Inc., Antianna expressed an interest in clothing design and making her own clothes.  A board member donated a sewing machine.  Ms. Antianna is now using that very same sewing machine to make tutu's for the ballet girls dancing in the annual talent show this Friday (5:30 pm at the North Omaha Center - 2811 North 45th St).  Full circle!

We are thrilled to have Ms. Antianna with us this summer - reflecting upon what she was given at Girls Inc. and giving back to the next generation of girls.  Soon we'll be posting Ms. Antianna's college graduation photos!