This summer brought innovative twists to our core programming, enabling us to serve girls and young women even more effectively with greater focus on a youth-led, interdisciplinary approach.

For the first time in our history, the RISE Life Skills Education program was run by our Youth Program Assistant, Jah'Torri Bettis. After co-facilitating RISE and Girl 2 Girl for the past two years, Jah'Torri had the chance to give it a try all on her own. Although she experienced a few bumps in the road, we're proud to announce our 15 most recent graduates developed a variety of life skills, including a new College 101 workshop hosted by last year's Future Fund scholarship winners, Somia Shaihk, Runa Miah, and Leticia Zhao.

This summer's Young Women's Leadership Institute addressed the issue of self-esteem, utilizing a blog to allow participants to voice their thoughts and feelings on the issue. With this tool, they have created a venue for ongoing dialogue to engage previous, current, and future Oasis girls.

Arts Apprenticeship took the form of a first-ever collaboration between the RISE and the Leadership Institute programs; one day each week, participants from both programs gathered at Intersection for the Arts. Working with artist Nicole Repack, the girls used recycled materials to develop four large collages that are now on display at the 16th Street/Mission BART station as a part of Intersection's new exhibit, Recology. These collages offer youth-friendly slogans, such as "Every Tree Deserves a Say!" to encourage patrons to recycle.

All summer programming culminated in a graduation on Thursday, August 5th, where graduates received certificates of completion, RISE participants performed their spoken-word manifestos, and the Leadership Institute showcased their blog. A wonderful demonstration of the power of their work, the graduation was attended by friends, family, and alumni who celebrated the hard work and growth of this summer's Oasis girls.

Girls work on Manifestas of Self

Jah'Torri Loves to Lead!

Links:

• Oasis girls' blog about issues of self-esteem

Held at San Francisco's International Studies Academy,G2G took place during the school day as a 7th-period "pull-out" group to bring life-skills education to middle-school girls. With this approach, Oasis reaches girls who may not be able to get to Oasis's office on 11th Street in San Francisco, due to participation in other after-school activities or family obligations. So we take Oasis on the road to them! Through a collaboration with the International Studies Academy Counseling Department, Girl 2 Girl will also be offering a four-workshop series on Body Image, Self Esteem, and Goal Setting. Designed to reach quiet 6th grade girls who are oftentimes overlooked in today's overcrowded schools, these workshops allow Oasis to work with an under-served demographic identified through our Measure Up survey (see our website http://www.sfoasis.org/programs/leadership.php for the Measure Up result).

Girl 2 Girl picture 2

Links:

• Donate To Oasis For Girls Today

(excerpted from our January 2010 eNewsletter)

"The Mirror is Your Lens" was the latest project of our Girl 2 Girl (G2G) Program, providing seven girls an exceptional opportunity to investigate works by women-of-color authors and playwrights (Elizabeth Wong, Chinaka Hodge, Ntozake Shange) and consider themes including racism, sexism, and poverty in relation to their own personal experiences. "The Mirror" participants expressed their thoughts in writing through poems and monologues and performed their work at a professional theater, thanks to our partnership with Intersection for the Arts.

Many G2G participants had never been to a theater performance before, much less performed on stage. It was an eye-opener for them to see the behind the scenes operations including lighting and sound, and to think about how they would use theater technology in their own production.

On December 12th,2009, against a slide show of images from their own lives, the girls presented their work on the Intersection for the Arts stage to the delight of proud family, friends, and Oasis staff. Post-performance, girls gladly answered questions from the audience about their work. The evening concluded with a reception and a graduation ceremony during which staff publicly spoke of the ways each girl had grown through the project and honored the beaming participants with certificates and flowers.

"The Mirror" project included a small, close-knit group of girls ranging from the sixth through eighth grades: new friendships were formed and older girls gained confidence through mentoring of their younger "sisters." Given the safe and encouraging setting that is inherent in all of Oasis' programming, these young women had the freedom to find out more about themselves and others, as creative people and leaders. One girl summed it up, "I've been through a lot in my life... ["The Mirror" project] ...reassured me I will be able to overcome challenges."

G2G will begin another session at International Studies Academy in spring 2010.

G2G Mirror Project

In March, the Program Coordinator kicked off the Spring cycle of Girl 2 Girl hosted at Oasis’ new space! Girl 2 Girl had 14 participants, a few of whom were participants in previous iterations of Girl 2 Girl at other sites. Girl 2 Girl worskhops included Identity Exploration, Self Confidence by the Women's Community Clinic, Stereotyping by World Saavy, and Body Image and Self-Esteem featuring the film “A Girl Like Me”, Self-Defense, Peer Pressure, and a workshop led by a youth staff entitled, “Why Girls Fight”. The Girl 2 Girl program wrapped up in May with ice skating and an ice cream party! Girl 2 Girl will debut in the fall at International Studies Academy. Stay tuned for the next update!

Congratulations Girl 2 Girl at Francisco Middle School for a Job Well Done! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

The Girl 2 Girl Life Skills Education program put on an excellent show at the Little Theater of Francisco Middle School on Friday, January 16th. The girls truly showed their talent and expressed their opinions about teen pregnancy--a topic that they have seen or been touched by at their young age.

The night started off with tasty snacks and good company. Girl 2 Girl/Oasis staff Julia and Jah' Torri kicked things off. From the opening of the curtain to the catchy "clinic" song, the girls on stage showed how some girls have both things that work against them (in their show it was a clinic staff that wasn't supportive and friends) and those that work with them for success (again, friends and family and open communication). The show ended with each participant receiving flowers from both Oasis and Francisco Connect staff. Julia and Jah' Torri shared affirmations with each girls describing how each one is unique, special, and appreciated.

Way to Go Girl 2 Girl!

Girl 2 Girl will work with San Francisco's Bessie Carmichael School from March 2009 through June 2009. Stay tuned for more up news on up and coming talented leaders!

We are excited to bring Julia Ris on the staff to Oasis for Girls. Julia is an artist who has a background in community organizing around racial justice and LBGT issues, political education and youth development. She believes in the brilliance and creativity of all youth!

She will be joining a new group of girls in a multi-genre arts based, life skills program at Francisco Middle School in San Francisco. Oasis will also be at a 2nd middle school in the Spring semester. We are glad to expand the program to two school sites to serve more girls in the arts and life skills! Girl 2 Girl participants also come on site to our center for a Spring Break Week of Arts.

A group of Girl 2 Girl participants also had their artworks published in "Utopia/Eutopia" published by the Center for Creative Pedagogy in collaboration with Oasis. This was a special project in coordination with Anna novakov, Ph.D. and students from St. Mary's College of California.

Girl 2 Girl Valentine's Day