Girls First! 2011 - You are Invited to a REUNION!

Calling all Girls First! 2011 staff and campers!


We are having a reunion! 


Sunday, January 8 from 3 - 5 pm. Mark your calendar now and plan on attending to meet up with friends and staff from last summer. There will be fun and merriment so we encourage you to bring along a friend. Stay tuned for more details and ways you can join the fun even if you can not make it to campus!


To RSVP, send a note to Cathy at girlsfirst@madeira.org. See you soon!

Looking for a Gift for Your Child? Send them to Camp!

I know, that sounds pretty self serving, coming from a camp director...but its true. For many children, camp can be life defining. It gives them time away from parents and the ability to stretch their wings. It can be joyous, and it can be frightening, and sometimes both on the same day! Learning to navigate in a new situation can be powerful and isn't that what we want for our children - the ability to overcome fears and to feel proud of thier accomplishments in doing so? Here is a great article that speaks to the wonderful gift that camp can be:


http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/11/best_gift_for_kids_send_them_t.html

What are we planning?

A new idea for us...curious? Then check out our last FaceBook page...

Registration is NOW OPEN!

Registration is now open for summer 2012 - visit us at www.madeira.org/girlsfirst to view our 11 class descriptions and videos from last summer!

Happy National Girls Day!

The Madeira campus is decorated in ballons as we cellebrate National Girls Day. Celebrate the girls in your life today by telling your camp friends how much they mean to you!

NEW - Multimedia Journalism & Loving Literature

We love changing things up at camp and this year we have TWO new classes for you - Multimedia Journalism and Loving Literature. We just posted class descriptions on the web page so check them out!

Plans for 2012

Girls First! 2011 was our best summer yet and we have a fantastic staff and an awesome set of girls to thank for that! THANK YOU one and all!

Remembering how great last summer was helps motivate us in the cold months ahead as we begin to plan for next summer...OK, truth be told we actually started planning for 2012 the day after the girls left in July with evaluations from staff and students and end-of-camp reporting. We are always striving to improve what we do to give the girls that attend Girls First! the best possible summer experience.

DATE  - June 24 - July 6, 2012

NEW - We are adding two new classes: Loving Literature and Multimedia Journalism

ACTIVITY into CLASS - Girls had a lot of fun making their own short camp films in our afternoon film class so now we are turning it into a class, Acting and Directing for Film

KENNEDY CENTER - An optional trip, this summer girls will have the opportunity to return to the Kennedy Center for the hilarious whodunit, "Shear Madness"

Stay tuned here for more 2012 updates!

Where in the world are our girls from?

Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Canada, China, Spain, Pakistan, and the Dominican Republic are all represented at Girls First! this summer. Girls also call many US states home, too: Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., New York, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Colorado, South Carolina, and California! In these photos, Judith from Spain and Vanessa from the Dominican Republic enjoy games on the lawn.

Sydney helps a friend

This week our Vet students learned how to bandage hurt animals. Lucky for this cow, Sydney came along!

How Do You Spell Fun? B-O-L-T!

Another Madeira tradition was passed along to the girls Wednesday night when we took them on a bolt which is Madeira speak for a trip to the local 7-11 store for snacks, beverages and magazines. Fun? Oh yes!! (Note to parents: girls were well mannered, let customers in front of them, and managed not to buy too much junk food!)

Friends at camp

Sometimes are friends come to camp - this is Gatsby's third time at Girls First! and we are lucky he brings his owner Gracie to teach Vet Science. Gracie's co-teacher Rachel also brought a friend, Mr. Bones who has been a big help in the Vet classroom as they learn anatomy.

South Dorm: Under The Sea

The girls of South take pride in their "Under the Sea" theme and as I write the girls are headed to the pool for their dorm-sponsored "Luau at the pool" evening activity tonight. They are not alone - a variety of pool-themed inflatible animals are accompanied them - a whale, shark, dolphin, octopus and more. If you were here you would be enjoying the fruit smoothies, hoola hoop contest, biggest splash contest, and get a lesson on hula dancing!

West Dorm: The Wild West

Each dorm has been decorated according to a theme. For West, it's the Wild West and last night the dorm hosted a campus-wide activity called "Miner 49'er" where the girls from all dorms went on a wild hunt to find nuggets of gold. It wasn't easy - they had to be on the look out for bandits!

Archery

By Jaedra

Girls had a chance to knock their bows and take aim at the archery class. Some girls were surprised at the significant amount of strength it takes to pull back the string but everyone managed to try to shoot. There is no 'bulls eye' in archery instead some girls managed to hit the gold!

Yoga Fun!

By Jaedra

Find a comfortable seat with a long tall spine. Close your eyes and begin to concentrate on your breath. Gentle inhalation and exhalation through the nose. This begins your yoga lesson. In class girls learned the meaning of ahimsa (kindness in word, thought, and deed) while practicing postures including the sun salute and warrior poses.

Deep Relaxation

Deep Relaxation: Girls started the deep relaxation exercise with a walk in silence from the main campus area down to the Hurd dance studio. Once in the class room girls took off shoes and placed yoga mats on the floor. We took a seat and closed their eyes. To the sound of  Om, Om, Om we started to go inwards and find our inner peace. After a guided relaxation including a full body scan and a meditation exercise girls felt relaxed, soothed, and calm. 

Tuesday Tidbits

As mentioned in the earlier post, the girls really enjoyed the camp speaker. Several classes continued the discussion about relationships in their classrooms. We can never talk about self care too much.

In the afternoon, girls had their first dip in the pool, more film making, a dance class (all levels welcome) and lanyard making. In the evening, girls enjoyed an annual Madeira tradition, "Inner Child Night" and our first class activity. This year, teachers are working in groups of two to offer the girls a wonderful opportunity to get to know their disciplines in a new way. On Tuesday our Fashion Design and Creative Writing teachers challenged the girls to work in groups where everyone had a role - fashion designer, stylist, model and fashion writer. The girls had to come up with a look using the clothes they were wearing, yards of fabric, and straight pins. They had to write about their design and advertise it as their model walked the run way. A great time was had by all! Afterwards, a little free time...perhaps the letters your daughter has been writing has reached you?

Facebook High School: How to Take Care of Ourselves and One Another

By Tracie Epes, Director of Residential Life


On Tuesday, Girls First! campers and staff had the pleasure of hearing Shanterra McBride speak about relational aggression, cyber bullying, and creating more positive relationships with each other. Ms. McBride’s engaging and interactive presentation focused on how girls treat each other, and specifically, the tendency for girls to want to “destroy” each other’s lives and gain power through negative and hurtful behavior.


Ms. McBride believes that all students “attend” what she calls “Facebook High School,” which complicates and intensifies relational aggression and often prevents students from finding a safe haven and/or escaping damaging information posted by others. Students today can no longer start fresh or redeem themselves by changing schools because their socially-created reputation follows them wherever they go through internet creations like Facebook.


Ms. McBride encouraged the girls to use their power to support others and placed importance on receiving validation from friends for positive behaviors. She emphasized each girl’s fundamental propensity to be “marvelous” and the need to find friends who support you in being “better.” Students left the presentation chatting about their own experiences with friends and Facebook, and several commented that they appreciated how Ms. McBride easily related to them.


About the Presenter:
Shanterra McBride is the founder and director of PLOT- Preparing Leaders Of Today, a company committed to inspiring young people to be more than what’s expected, more than what’s required, and more than what’s modeled. She is a sought-after speaker on youth leadership and youth issues, such as cliques, friendships, and teen relationships and how they relate to gender aggression.


Ms. McBride speaks throughout the country at universities, corporations, schools, churches, and associations, including DC Public Schools, Syracuse University, Washington Association of Independent Schools and the United States Department of Education. She has been interviewed by various media outlets, including National Public Radio, Essence magazine, and various CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates. Ms. McBride is also the spokesperson for Unicel‘s StandUp! Program, which draws attention to the issue of cyber bullying, educating students and parents about this type of bullying and giving them tools to prevent it.


Originally from Dallas, Texas, Ms. McBride received a B.A. in Sociology and a B.A. in Public Affairs and Corporate Communications from Southern Methodist University. She has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.


Ms. McBride is a facilitator for LeaderShape, an organization that works to improve society by inspiring, developing, and supporting more people to lead with integrity. Selected as a “Person to Watch” by Washingtonian Magazine, her life’s purpose is to mend, motivate, and empower young women to believe they are fearless and wonderfully made.

Girls First! 2011 is off and running!

It has been a whirlwind of activity since Sunday afternoon when we welcomed the girls to Madeira and to Girls First! After the speediest and most successful check-in ever, parents met with the Director of Summer Programs and the camp director to have their questions answered while girls met with their teachers. Community rules were next. Many of the girls were familiar with these rules, so we would like to thank those parents who read through them with their daughter before camp!


After a review of the schedules - Opening Day, Academic and activities and the new cell phone and Internet rules, the girls were ready to jump into their first activity, a photo challenge that had them learning each other's names and the important locations around campus! This was followed by a BBQ, an ice cream social, and ice breakers (we had to practically pull the day girls away for their departure)!


Wait - we weren't finished. Residents met with the Director of Residential Life and then had dorm activities and a dorm meeting. Only then was it time for bed and a well-deserved rest after the first day at camp!

Girls First! 2011 - Monday Musings

Walking around campus on Monday, it was hard to tell who was more excited - the girls or the staff! After spending so many days preparing for the girls, the staff and I have really enjoyed getting to know the girls over the last few days. The girls are bright, energetic and passionate and they have impressed us with their inclusiveness. On Monday we helped Ellie celebrate her birthday by singing her Happy Birthday and placing the "birthday crown" on her head. At night her dorm mates helped her celebrate with cake.

By the amount of work that had already been done by Monday afternoon, one would have thought the girls had been in classes for days! I enjoyed peeking in at each class to see what they were doing. OK, well, I didn't exactly peek in on the Equine Management class. I tried being quiet as I approached the paddock but my unannounced presence started the horses. The girls and animals recovered quickly and the teacher thanked me for the "real world" situation and complimented the girls on their reactions and control over the horses.

In Interior Design the girls made self collages as introductions and reviewed the basics of design and drawing with a scale. This week they will measure a dorm room and begin drawing to scale.


A crime had already been committed in Forensic Science before the girls even arrived and the girls quickly learned crime scene protocol.


Veterinary Science students had a 4 month old chocolate lab named Julie visit the classroom as students learned what to look for when examining animals. They heard examples of both healthy and diseased heartbeats and lungs.


Creative Writing students wrote poetry and and did collaborative writing with similes and metaphors on topics like ice cream, camp life and Justin Bieber. Would you believe they even enjoyed the "grammar tip of the day" on subjective and objective pronouns?!


Our Psychology students were enthusiastic - even about statistics and research methodology! The girls practiced turning research questions they came up with into experimental designs and possible experiments. Does age effect perception? Does peer pressure influence a child's choice of toys?


The Digital Photography students divided their time between taking photos and discussing their pre-camp assignment of taking photographs of family and things in the home both new (during their time) and old (in their grandparent's time.) The girls also saw some of their teacher's work and learned what it was like to photograph a subject over many weeks.


Brightly colored animal-shaped fly swatters were used to draw inspiration from as Fashion Design students sketched garments based in some way on the fly swatter - color, pattern, animal shape, the girls had some very creative designs!


And after class? The girls just napped....just kidding! Activities like yoga, film making, bead work and an evening game of Jeopardy completed the day.

Girls First! 2011 Staff - Who Are They?

The staff of Girls First! 2011 consists of 22 women: 7 returning staff, 4 Madeira employees, 5 Madeira alumna, 2 current Madeira students, 1 Director, 1 Director of Residence Life (Tracie), 1 Program Office Manager (Katie), 9 teachers, 6 Resident Advisors (RAs) and 4 Junior RAs. In our group are also 2 full time professionals teaching their craft, 3 mothers, 5 married women, and we live in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. , North Carolina, and Indiana (or that is where the driver’s licenses came from!) And while not in the official count of 22 staff, we must also add the important presence of 2 dogs and 1 preschooler!

It is not all work and no play at Girls First! as Ebbie, our Forensic Science teacher demonstrates during spa night!

Returners Welcome!

We are so excited to report that we already have 10% of last year's campers signed up again for this summer! What does that mean? Familiar student faces and girls who enjoyed thier experience so much last year that they are returning for more this year! What a great chance to try a new class with some of our amazing new and returning teachers...stayed tuned for bio updates here!

We offer 9 classes - but you have the chance to "taste" them all!

Mini Classes - During the second week of camp, our teachers will a 25-minute mini class for girls taking other classes. This allows girls in one classes to preview two other classes taught at Girls First! this summer.

Evening Activity - Our teachers each plan one evening activity for girls enrolled in any class. These activities help answer the questions about what the girls in other classes are learning about and doing. that, and they are a lot of fun, too!

Getting ready for summer? We are too!

The warm days are coming (no really they are, even though though they say we may see snow this weekend)...and we are getting ready! How? Glad you asked! Below are just a few of the many activities we are planning for the summer:

* Inner Quest - a ropes challenge course
* Wicked - see this musical at the Kennedy Center!
* Red Cross Pet First Aid - open to all campers!

Stay tuned for more!