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One of the camps running last week at Young Americans Center was Girls Can—a camp just for GIRLS! In addition to running Young AmeriTowne at the end of the week, the 5th and 6th graders in this camp learn about leadership and economics, and they explore different career possibilities by listening to female guest speakers who are prominent leaders in the Denver area. I sat down with Senior Towne Director and Girls Can Director Debbie Shaller to see how camp went this year and to ask about her favorites!
Janet Redwine: What is your favorite lesson in Girls Can?
Debbie Shaller: My favorite lesson is Consumer Awareness. The girls learn about advertising and what a target audience is. They recognize that companies will often go to great and sometimes extreme lengths to advertise in a way that will make people (especially teens) think that they need a certain product in order to be successful.
JR: There’s so many activities going on during the week it’s probably hard to choose just one that you like! But could you tell me about an activity that you particularly enjoy?
DS: My favorite activity is the Inspiration Stations. The girls start by writing down who their role model is, and then they use an index card to write down information about themselves and their role model. We take a picture of them and they post their cards in Towne so that throughout the week they can walk around and read everyone’s story. The girls get really into this activity and will often go into great detail when describing who they are.
JR: What is your favorite story from Girls Can 2015?
DS: We had a camper this year in GC that started off the week not knowing anyone in the camp but had made several new friends by the end. This age group can be challenging to get girls to connect with each other and stray out of their comfort zone and talk to someone new, so it was encouraging to hear that the campers were making new friends.
Even though Girls Can is over this summer, there’s still lots of fun happening at Young Americans as camps continue through July. Interested in signing up for Girls Can next summer? Be sure to visit our website in early 2016 when Summer Camp registration begins!
