❤️
All of Nia’s friends who usually come to group with her every week aren’t there because they have choir concert rehearsal. Lauren notices Nia is sitting alone during meal and invites her to sit next to her. They end up talking during meal and learn that they both like the same youtube channels!
No One Left Behind
Gabby shares during the icebreaker activity that she failed her math test this week and it’s going to bring her grade way down. The group was awkwardly quiet after she shared. Instead of just listening and not saying anything, Ashley, responded by saying “Gabby that really sucks. Math with Mr. Williams is really hard for me this year too. But it’s only the beginning of the trimester so we still have time to bring our grades back up. You got this girl!”
Encouragement
Sydney calls another student (Nia) the wrong name when playing the name game. Some people in group start giggling. Nia and Sydney both feel embarrassed about what happened. But then Nia says to the group, “It’s okay I’ve called people the wrong name before and I know we are still learning, my name is pronounced Nee-uh.” The game continues and no one laughs anymore when mistakes are made.
No Shame, No Blame
Lana was having a really crappy day because her baby brother was up all night sick and crying. On top of that she has a spanish test she’s nervous about later. Part of her really wants to just stay in her advisory class and take a nap instead of going to group. She comes to group anyways and that day the topic is self-care. Lana spent time talking to mentors and creating some self-care art. By the end of the session she was feeling more relaxed and ready to take on her test.
Commitment
The topic in girls group one day happens to be mental health. Vanessa is kind of nervous because she goes to therapy for her depression and anxiety, but she hasn’t told anyone in girls group about that before. At the beginning of the group that day mentors reminded everyone to only share what they feel comfortable sharing and that we will not judge each other for things shared. During the activity, Vanessa decided to be brave and share about her experience and how therapy has been helping. She was relieved when everyone in the group listened and seemed supportive. As the discussion went on, a few other girls even shared their stories about dealing with mental health too. Vanessa left group that day feeling really happy to have a place to talk about difficult topics.
No Disrespect
Everyone in girls group has a lot of energy and is being super talkative during the journaling activity. Savannah is having a really hard time concentrating on her journal response and it’s starting to make her really mad. Instead of yelling for everyone to stop talking - even though it would probably make her feel better. She takes a deep breath, stands up, and asks the mentors if she can make an announcement. Savannah tells her group members “Hey y’all, I know everyone wants to talk right now, but we are supposed to be journaling. It’s really hard for me to write when there’s all this noise. Please respect that I need quiet right now to finish this activity even if you don’t.” Many of the girls in group were surprised by the announcement, but a few nodded their heads when Savannah was talking. After that everyone was quiet until it was time to share out about their writing responses.
No Disrespect
Brooklyn’s locker is right next to Sarah and Saran. They aren’t all friends - they just know each other from class - but they are in girls group together each week. On days when girls group is meeting, Brooklyn always goes over to Sarah and Saran’s locker in the morning to say hello and remind them that it’s a girls group meeting day. As this goes on throughout the year they always at least say hi to each other in the halls, even if they don’t talk much outside of girls group.
No One Left Behind
During an activity where everyone is talking about their culture, Maria shares that her family is Mexican American. Amber blurts out “Wow, you don’t even look Mexican. Can you say something in Spanish?” The whole group exchanges awkward looks and some even laugh. Maria’s friend, Destiny, steps in and responds to the question saying, “Listen Amber, I know you didn’t mean offense, but what you just asked was kinda rude and hurtful. Not all Mexican-Americans speak spanish AND Mexico is just as diverse as the US. If you want to know more about Maria’s culture you could’ve said something like ‘I didn’t know that about you. I’d love to learn more about your family!’”
No Shame, No Blame