Girls’ Stories, Girls’ Voices

Thrive’s Summer Camp for Middle School Girls

WRITTEN BY MAURA WATSON

Girls’ Stories, Girls’ Voices is a weeklong summer camp for girls entering grades six through eight, hosted by Thrive and created by Thrive’s longtime friend Nancy Nelson. The five days together are designed to inspire confidence, connection, imagination and self-expression in campers. The middle school years can often be a time of great transition for girls trying new skills, making friends and even attending new schools. Thrive aims to create a safe space for girls to find shared commonalities and connection with their peers to help them feel ready to boldly go into the world. The mission of Girls’ Stories, Girls’ Voices (GSGV) is for each girl to find her voice and use it to share her story.

At the start of every GSGV week, the staff says “hello” to a room full of middle school girls who are excited and smiling, but also a little bit nervous and shy. Five days later, they say “see you next time” to new friends. It is truly aweinspiring to see how much growth can happen in just one week of celebrating the unique qualities that make us special, powerful and ready to conquer any challenges we may face.

The theme of this year’s GSGV Camp is Girls are Creative! Their theme will guide exploration into different ways to be creative from artwork and writing to storytelling, movement, music and more. There are a million ways that girls can inspire the world around them, and Thrive’s goal is to help them find the ways they can be the truest versions of themselves while doing just that.

Throughout the week, community mentors will join GSGV daily to teach new activities and skills through workshops in STEM, personal development, art and movement. Some previous years’ activities have included self-defense, yoga and mindfulness, improv, creating mosaics, collaging, astronomy, sustainability and so much more. With such a variety of guests and workshops, each camper finds a way to shine and to bring out her individual passions and strengths.

Working from the inside out, the week will start with reflecting and looking introspectively into individual values, talents and “superpowers.” The next few days lead to examining friendships, family and relationships, and how we can best express ourselves to continue to build confidence and connection in a meaningful way. Each summer also brings a cultural component to camp, enabling girls to explore the world in a different way. In past years, Thrive has worked with MSU partners to write letters to (and learn about) girls growing up in Kenya, as well as having women and students from the International Programs join and share what life is like in their cultures.

By the end of the week, the girls’ takeaways speak for themselves: “I learned how to be myself…that us girls have a voice and we need to use it…I’m more confident…you shouldn’t be afraid to be yourself.” These quotes are some things our campers have gained through their week at Girls’ Stories, Girls’ Voices Summer Camp.

Thrive invites you to join them this summer at Girls’ Stories, Girls’ Voices Summer Camp during the week of July 17 to 21. You can register at allthrive.org, and scholarships are available. Reach out if you have any questions or want more information.

Maura Watson is the Youth Program Coordinator at Thrive.