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Power andWisdom That’s what rolls at Girl Power! Wise Guys! Conference


Nathan Eyestone eagerly anticipates his day at the “Wise Guys!” Conference in Chandler, Okla. Top right: Fifth graders enjoy a day of mentoring and workshops focused on their interests. Photos by Hayley Leatherwood


By Cindy Downes N


athan Eyestone hesitates as he enters the noisy auditorium, jammed- packed with hundreds of people wearing fluorescent yellow t-shirts that read, “My Future’s Bright.” Eyestone whisks his hand across his blond crew cut and looks for his friends. As a fifth grader, this is his first year at the “Girl Power! Wise Guys!” conference, and he’s excited to be here.


“I like to hang out with my friends,” Eyestone says when asked why he came,


“and I want to learn about the Army National Guard and game wardens. I want to be able to go hunting and learn about animals.” Eyestone is one of the 330 participants who attended Lincoln County’s 15th annual Girl Power! Wise Guys! conference on March 8, 2013, in Chandler, Okla. Lincoln County Health Department and Lincoln County Public Schools and communities sponsor the event each year, along with help from Oklahoma State University School of Veterinary Medicine and Gordon Cooper Technology Center.


Girl Power began in 1997 as an annual event in Lincoln County for girls in fifth grade. Elaine Imel, health educator for Lincoln County Health Department, coordinator of the event, and a member of Central Rural Electric Cooperative, says the goal of Girl Power is “to give the girls a network of


“You can do anything you want as long as you work hard for it and make the right choices in order to achieve those goals.”


- Alicia Clifton, former Miss Oklahoma and Girl Power! conference speaker


20 WWW.OK-LIVING.COOP


support as they develop the physical, emotional, and social skills necessary to make positive choices and leadership decisions in their own lives.” The Wise Guys program began in 2002 and follows the same format as Girl Power. The young men who attend Wise Guys explore career options, hob- bies, talents, and self-esteem building.


“It’s a wonderful opportunity for fifth-grade students, girls and boys, to get together, meet each other, make friends, and to get outside their box,” says Dana Kimble, Chandler Public Schools counselor and one of the more than 130 adult and teen conference volunteers. “It gives them an idea of careers or opportunities that are available to them that you can’t always get to as a class- room teacher.” The day starts with an opening assembly where teen mentors from Chandler High School put on an icebreaker skit to encourage the kids from different schools to come together as one. These teens are part of a group known as the PSI Team (Postponing Sexual Involvement).


“I like to watch the kids have fun as they see teenagers who are active, who actually care about them, and who are living a good life,” says Kayelee Howard, a PSI Team leader. “I like being a role model.” Many of these teen mentors attended Girl Power/Wise Guys as fifth graders themselves. Nathan Miller, a PSI Team member, says the conference helped him focus on dreams he hadn’t set yet. “It gave me the confidence to set goals,” Miller says. After the opening assembly, the students move on to individual workshops.


Each student attends three of the 27 different workshops available. Workshops for boys include such offerings as: A Day With an Oklahoma Game Warden, Discover the Artist in You, and Crime Scene Investigation. The girls choose from workshops with titles such as The Business of Baking, Mindstorm Robotics, and Squishy Circuits. “The workshop presenters are all professionals in their fields,” Imel says. “They take a day from work to volunteer their time. Each workshop is designed to be hands-on for the fifth grade level and limited to 15 or fewer participants to provide an atmosphere of mentoring and attention. The students are mixed


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