ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Colleen McGuinness talks to Elvisa Husidic and Dayanara Cabrera during the Empowering Girls Club.
By LEAH DEARBORN
LYNN — A weekly afterschool program at Thurgood Marshall Middle School is focused on empowering girls by developing friendships.
The program, started by Thurgood Marshall guidance counselor Colleen McGuinness and teacher Meghann Price, has gathered nearly a dozen regular attendees who meet every Tuesday since the club was first advertised at the school.
McGuinness said that in her work as a counselor, a common theme she witnessed among students were girls who found themselves in conflict with each other in some way. The Empowering Girls Club became a safe space for students to expand their personal world outlook and leave behind competition and hostility. Instead, the driving force behind the club is to lift one another up.
She said the young women who attend are excited about making big changes within the schools, and are open to seeing things from a new angle.
https://newitemlive.wpengine.com/news/burning-desire-for-new-fire-station-in-saugus/
“I think it’s a slow-moving process,” said McGuinness about the students, who are learning to consistently consider the perspectives of others. “We’ve done a lot of little activities to promote compassion and kindness.”
