SC Super Girlz: Summer day camp for girls grades 5-11

SC Super Girlz is a new summer program supporting girls’ health and success. It is one component of the Healthy Girls Santa Cruz (HGSC) Program, sponsored through the Student Support Services Department of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. HGSC offers programs that support girls in using their energy, intelligence and power in positive ways. HGSC was developed to empower young women during their transition from childhood into early adolescence. The program is structured to promote individual style and healthy development, with a focus on body image, healthy self- esteem, building healthy and trusting relationships, and self- care and leadership skill development.

Guest speakers inspire participants in the SC Super Girlz, grades 5-11, to feel confident and beautiful in their own skin and promote higher education and academic success as critical stepping stones in the fulfillment of their dreams and aspirations. Local celebrities and professionals in the community speak to the girls about their own experiences with adolescence, relationships, and growing into young adults.

At the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club, sitting in a room once called "boys only," a group of young girls met with Mayor Mike Rotkin at one session to talk about leadership and self-esteem.

Rotkin shared some of his life history with the roughly dozen tween and teen SC Super Girlz and reminded them that it took a lawsuit to get girls into what was once called the Boys Club of America. He then went on to describe his successes as a grassroots organizer and challenged the girls to think big. "You have to find a way to live your life, be yourself," he said. "It's about what you want to make yourself."



Other recent guest speakers have been Tamara Berg, the meteorologist for KION, who also filmed the SC Super Girlz for the morning show, the Santa Cruz Derby Girls, Naturopathic physician Dr. Audra Foster, and Letty B, KDON radio DJ.

HGSC provides school-based psycho-educational groups, workshops for educators and coaches, summer camps, and training consultations to achieve the goals of the program and help prevent unhealthy behaviors common among women who struggle with low self esteem and distorted body image.



One of these offerings is Full of Ourselves (FOO), a wellness program to advance girl power, health and leadership, which offers school-based groups for middle and high school females. FOO was developed at Harvard Medical School. The program addresses critical issues of body preoccupation and reduces risk for disordered eating in girls (grades 3–8). While the program aims to protect those who are “at risk” for issues related to food and body, its focus on health and leadership makes it helpful for all girls. The group emphasizes a girl’s personal power and overall mental and physical well-being and contains upbeat units that foster increased self and body acceptance, healthier eating and exercise habits, advanced leadership and media literacy skills, and a range of coping skills for resisting unhealthy peer and cultural pressures. The group uses art, group work, and games to stimulate learning and build trust among peers.

Another component of HGSC provides psycho-educational workshops for coaches and educators, called “Cross Terrain Coaching: Empowering girls on and off the field”.

Coaches have a lot of authority over and respect amongst their team players, and are oftentimes looked up to as role models. Their attitudes and philosophies can influence females who strive for attention, praise, and a sense of approval. Research reveals that while coaches are the crucial piece that can intervene and help players who struggle with a variety of issues, sports’ coaching isn’t oriented to detect and counsel a female athlete on issues occurring in her personal life. Cross Terrain coaching provides coaches, athletic directors, and educators with specific education and tools to build upon existing traditional coaching styles to encourage female athletes to approach challenges in their life the same way they do on the field—with courage, strength, and resilience.



When asked what they liked, why it was important, or what they will take away from the SC Super Girlz group, some participant responses were:

"I liked that we all got along and talked with each other and didn’t treat each other like girls do in school.”

“We learn about other women who are successful and liked and who didn’t let people treat them badly because they stood up for themselves. Now I feel like it is ok for me to stand up for myself”.

“Being a leader and making a difference, even in doing small things”.

“To stop wasting time trying to make everyone like me and just be me”.

“How to care for myself”.

Program leaders, Elizabeth Locatelli and Marisol Fernandez are both San Jose State social work graduate students.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Locatelli, (831) 466-5714, or JoAnn Allen, Student Support Services Coordinator, (831) 466-5703.