Girl Up welcomed the school year with various changes for both Middle and High School including leadership summits, new members, fundraisers, and collaborations with other groups.

This year, Girl-Up mentors and participants want to make a comeback from the pandemic, which obligated the youth-centered program to shift its focus and lose members back in 2020.

“With the chaotic and extended period of the pandemic it became harder to sustain interest and harder for people to handle their mental health and put in energy for other things so Girl-Up ended up taking a natural hiatus,” Alyssa Jodoin, Girl-Up Advisor, said.

Traditionally having a leadership hierarchy, Girl-Up members decided to reform the club’s structure by transitioning into an open program rather than having a designated leader.

“We said anyone who wants to come is welcome, we felt that was a good thing because appointing a leader to a club that hadn’t done anything for a year and a half seemed silly because we didn’t see anybody’s involvement,” Jodoin, said.

Although High School has always been the core group, Girl-Up believes that by including Middle School and Elementary students, the club’s legacy would continue to impact younger generations.

“Letting our legacy remain is what will make the difference, having younger kids get involved will give the club longevity.– integrating valuable principles is also very important for future generations,” Ilana Garza, Girl Up Member, said.

Reintroducing leadership summits will also be a significant part of the program this year, both at an internal and regional level.

“Hopefully this semester we are able to make a leadership summit within the school… It will be the kick-start of the school year so that next semester we can go to a regional level. We also want to get scholarships, so we can get girls from public schools to attend,” Garza said.

These summits will open the door for future collaborations both inside and outside TCS.  Girl-Up will start by sharing projects with student clubs specifically from TCS to later expand said projects with programs and charity foundations outside the school.     

“Continuing with education programs, I think that Girl Up is not going to be an isolation of these clubs and that DEIJ, Girl Up, and GSA are going to be able to work on similar issues to see real change instead of all focusing on initiatives, hopefully eventually we can all unite,” Jodoin said.