By Kafi Robinson
Courtesy of the Carrboro Commons
Though the program is only in its first full year, Esteemed Little Sisters has already had an impact on the lives of young girls at McDougle Middle School.
Esteemed Little Sisters is a mentoring program for at-risk girls founded by the UNC campus organization Encouraging Sisters Through Empowerment Education and Motivation (ESTEEM). Working in cooperation with McDougle Middle’s after-school program, the mentors help with homework and studying. They also host talk sessions, plan games and do arts and crafts and many other hands-on activities that educate the girls about their lives.
“Last semester, we had them decorate their writing journals and we also had a Spa Day,†said Dawn Sankary, ESTEEM’s co-president. “We made smoothies, painted the girls’ nails and let them lead an open discussion.â€
The program was founded when members of ESTEEM felt the need to share the skills they have learned with a younger group of girls. In response, ESTEEM teamed up with McDougle Middle’s guidance counselors to create a group for the younger students, based on ESTEEM’s guiding principles.
“We work with a group of sixth and seventh graders and teach them life lessons: how to be a lady, body image issues, staying focused in school, how to deal with different types of relationships,†said Sankary. “We just teach them how to be well rounded.â€
Sankary says that the primary goal of the program is to teach the girls lessons in a fun and active environment, something they might not otherwise get.
“The girls are really receptive to the mentors’ help and they appreciate when we come,†said Sankary.
For many of the girls, Esteemed Little Sisters is an outlet. It gives them a chance to receive assistance with homework and find a “big sister†who they can look up to. The mentors said that sometimes these girls just need someone outside of a school or home setting with whom they can talk.
“We saw some positive changes in these girls and hope that we see more this year as well,†said Sankary.
Kafi Robinson is a UNC student writing for the Carrboro Commons, a bi-weekly online lab newspaper for Jock Lauterer’s Community Journalism class at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.