Stacking up the Connection!

Week 1 of Connect: P.O.W.E.R.

We are back in full swing with a brand new Connect group – Connect: POWER! We have run this group in the past and it went so well, we brought it back. This group is for Grade 7 girls and is intended to spread awareness about subjects like mental health, self-esteem, boundaries, and more! It runs for 2 hours a week for 14 weeks. Why is it called POWER? Well not only is this word used to teach young girls about their individual power, but it also stands for Passionate, Open, Worthy, Expressive, and Resilient! This group is volunteer-led by Big Sisters Jael (myself) and Melissa! We are both passionate about being there for our Little Sisters, and we are excited for what is to come in this group.

For week one, we focused on activities where we got to know each other a bit more. We went over some rules for the group, and then jumped into some fun games! First, we played a name-tag game. Each girl was instructed to write their name in the middle, their favourite colour in the top left corner, their favourite animal in the top right corner, then write where they want to travel to the most in the bottom left corner, and finally, a question of our choice in the bottom right corner. We chose “What is your favourite musical artist/band?” (spoiler alert: we have lots of Taylor Swift lovers!). After we wrote down each of our answers, we shared them with the group and talked about them a little bit with each other.

For our next activity, we played Icebreaker Jenga. Each Jenga piece had a fun question on it, and when pulled, the person would answer the prompted question. There were questions like “If you could meet one celebrity, who would you choose?” and “If you could live in the past or the future, which would you choose and why?” These questions sparked a lot of fun discussion in the group, and it helped us get to know each other a lot more!

Even though it was the first group, we had lots of really great discussions such as how the girls felt about going into high school next year. Melissa and I made it clear that this is a safe space for the girls to talk about anything that is on their minds. The 2 hours went by in a flash and before we knew it, it was time to say bye!

I am so excited to see what the next weeks will bring!

November 15, 2023

-Jael, BigsNBC Volunteer