AAUW Sister-to-Sister | Medina County (OH) Branch

SISTER TO SISTER, 2023, MIDDLE SCHOOL: STARTING A NEW CHAPTER!

We were very pleased to host the Sister-to-Sister Girls’ Conference, a forum for Medina County girls ages 11-14, on Sunday, March 19, 2023. Our theme this year was: Middle School: Starting a New Chapter.

This year’s program will be held at the Medina County University Center and will be supported by the teens from local high schools. The event will feature keynote speaker Katherine Baker followed by breakout sessions, an interactive exercise session by Brooke Kaylor-Wilson from BK Fitness in Medina and a Teen Q&A.

The original S2S project was initiated in 1997 by the National American Association of University Women in an effort to understand the concerns of our nation’s young women and how these concerns affect their educational experiences.

SISTER TO SISTER, 2022, POSITIVELY YOU!

It’s no secret that these past few years have been hard for everyone, and especially hard on our young people. In addition to the stress of navigating a pandemic, our young women are still faced with peer pressure, bodily changes and shifting relationships. How do we help our girls build confidence and embrace who they are? Sister to Sister seeks to help them do just this as they enter young adulthood.

Sister-to-Sister, (S2S), has been reaching out to young women for more than 20 years. The original S2S project was initiated in 1997 by the national American Association of University Women in an effort to understand the concerns of our nation’s young women and how these concerns affected their educational experiences.

Thirty-five middle schoolers joined in for a full day of activities. It was wonderful to gather in-person again! After some icebreakers, snacks, and a keynote speech, from Brooke Kaylor of BK Fitness, who talked about her experiences with health and wellness, the girls were divided into smaller groups to attend breakout sessions. This year’s overarching S2S theme is cultivating wellness and health at any size. Planned by young women for young women, this year’s conference entitled “Positively You” was held at the Medina County University Center.

Olivia Ortiz has been a teen mentor for several years. Reflecting on her experience in the program she writes: “Each of the past 5 years that I have been a teen mentor for the Sister to Sister conference I have learned something new. The lessons we teach resonate with the middle school girls because it’s not often that young women are surrounded by their peers with the sole purpose of empowering and supporting each other!” AAUW members Alanna Arnold and Pieri Levandofsky were part of the adult planning committee that met throughout the year to help the high school teens organize the event.

Sister-to-Sister is open to all Medina County young women, ages 11-14. There is no fee to attend. S2S is made possible by AAUW Medina, Cornerstone Psychological Services, Girl Scouts of America, Medina County District Library, The Medina County Health Department, The Children’s Center of Medina County and Ohio Guidestone.

A BIG thank you to AAUW members for being so supportive with donations to help fund the conference!

Another Successful Sister-to-Sister 2021, HOW TO BE RESILIENT

This year’s Sister to Sister event looked a little different as it took place virtually via Zoom. The event almost didn’t happen at all, but thanks to Buckeye Student and Junior Leader, Olivia Ortiz, the planning board was inspired to try a new format. This year’s theme was “How to be Resilient” and featured two guest speakers, Jessica Hazeltine, a Medina Council person, and Ashley Powell, AAUW Medina’s 2020 Excellence in Leadership Award. Hazeltine detailed her experience being bullied as a child and eventually developing the confidence to run for city council. Powell is a former Buckeye Local Schools student, and she discussed her experiences growing up as a black woman in a mostly white community. She discussed how she did not begin to have confidence in herself until her twenties, and she largely attributes that to the people who supported her no matter what. After listening to the two inspiring speakers, the girls were sent to a breakout room where they could interact and ask questions of high school mentors.

To go along with the virtual program, the participants were also able to collect a craft kit and create fun projects using instruction videos created by the teen leaders. We are grateful that we were able to have an event at all this year, and much of the credit goes to the teen leaders for being creative and providing young girls with the opportunity to be inspired and learn how to build resiliency.

Sister-to-Sister, (S2S), has been reaching out to young women for more than 20 years. The original S2S project was initiated in 1997 by the national American Association of University Women in an effort to understand the concerns of our nation’s young women and how these concerns affected their educational experiences.

Sister-to-Sister was open to all Medina County young women, ages 11-14, and there was no fee to attend. S2S is made possible by AAUW Medina, Cornerstone Psychological Services, Girl Scouts of America, ZONTA ABC, Medina County District Library, The Medina County Health Department and Cloverleaf schools.

Resilience means strength to cope with yesterday’s slights, courage to stand up to face today’s challenges, and hope for better things tomorrow. It is a skill that has made this last year bearable, but resilience is learned. Sister to Sister fosters relationships, and helps young women build resiliency in the face of life’s obstacles.

Sister-to-Sister 2020: BE TRUE TO YOU

21st Annual Sister-to-Sister Conference for Girls ages 11-14 was held at Medina Hospital, Sun., March 8, 2020. This free event has been totally funded by contributions from AAUW members and the community. The conference was the subject of an article in a recent Medina Gazette.

Keynote speaker, Stefanie Robinson addresses Sister-2-SIster.

This year’s program, ”Be the TRUE you,” focused on building self-esteem and confidence as it is influenced by peer pressure and relationships. The keynote speaker and featured presenter was Stefanie Robinson, Director of Hope Recovery Community. We welcomed Junior Leadership from Leadership Medina County this year to help on our planning board. Adult and teen coalition members coordinated the day’s activities including “chat rooms,” ice-breakers and a hands-on project. We also included a fun exercise component.

The original S2S project was initiated in 1997 by the national American Association of University Women in an effort to understand

The junior leaders get a selfie.

the concerns of our nation’s young women and how these concerns affected their educational experiences.

A separate program for parents reviewed concerns and ideas relating to the theme, held concurrently in an adjoining room during the last part of the S2S session.

An open letter to S2S Planning Board From a program alumna

I was a participant for 2 or 3 years of Sister-to- Sister back in 2004-2007ish. It has been so long since I have thought of this program and what it did for me, but it came up as I was helping a friend put together a presentation about female empowerment for a group of teens.

When I was growing up, my evangelical home with traditional gender roles followed closely along traditional rules and restrictions on female sexuality. As a young, adventurous, rambunctious teenager full of creativity and life, I was certainly born as the black sheep in my family.

Sister-to-Sister was my first experience of feminism, and the first time someone explained to me the functioning of my body, my freedom and autonomy in it. It was so powerful for me and helped me root down into who I was and what I wanted to do with my life.

I just wanted to share with you how grateful I am for my experience back then and how happy I am to see you all still doing this work for all these little girls! It makes my heart soar to think of all the girls walking away from the conferences feeling as elated as I did.

I’ve grown up to be a life-long feminist and pursued an education in political science from Kent State and now work in community service and democracy building in Cleveland. I wouldn’t be the strong woman I am now without the strong women back then!

I am grateful for all that this program inspired in me as a young girl and for all the little girls who continue to benefit from it! Just wanted to drop in and give a big thumbs up to you all.

—–LW

Editor’s note: This unsolicited letter from a S2S alumna was received by the registrar just before the 21st annual event. Testimonials like this strike a positive note for the program and make all the work and planning worthwhile!

SISTER-TO-SISTER 2019: “Confidence is Key,” OUR 20TH YEAR!

S2S celebrated its 20th year with this year’s conference, “Confidence is Key,” on Sunday, March 10 at Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital.

teen leaders

The program featured Kent State University sophomore Samantha Ponomarenko who shared information on how she started the Blanket Buddies project when she was a student at Buckeye High School. The project is run by students who buy fleecy material and make blankets which they fill with personal health items and toys for children who are transitioning to foster care or are at the Children’s Center. Also on the program was Susan Russell, a social work supervisor and counselor and certified personal trainer who led participants in a PiYo session. Ice breakers, blanket making, planning skits, networking with girls from different schools, problem solving — these activities were all a part of Sister-to-Sister. Snacks, beverages and a lunch, a free T-shirt, and swag bags to take home rounded out the afternoon.

hands on blanket making

high fives

Sister-to-Sister 2018: Be Your Best Selfie”

The 19th Sister-to-Sister Conference for and about girls was held March 11 at the Medina Hospital Conference Center.

This year’s theme, “Be Your Best Selfie,” incorporated presenters and activities that helped make girls aware of how to safely navigate the Internet and utilize social media. Keynote speaker was Deputy Sharon Centner, DARE representative at Highland Schools for the Medina County Sheriff’s Department.

Forty-three girls representing 14 area schools and homeschools participated this year thanks to the support of community contributors and AAUW members. Ten high school student facilitators assisted with the program and planning. All enjoyed icebreakers and hands-on activities, snacks and pizza and received free t-shirts and goodie bags to take home.

Sister-to-Sister 2017: ” Stay Strong on the Journey,” The 18th S2S Conference

This 2017 program,” Stay Strong on the Journey,” provided tips and strategies for girls to map their way through middle school, avoiding “road hazards” along the way. Presenters included Ashley Powell, founder of “So Now What”, an organization dedicated to the advancement of youth in all areas of life, and Brooke Kaylor, personal trainer and fitness coach.

Green and white were the colors this year – bright and cheery, as were our participants!