Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 10, 2010
Girls Inc. announces adult contestants for upcoming Blast Off event
David Laprad
On October 8, Girls Inc. of Chattanooga will bring back last year’s popular “Are You Smarter than a Girls Inc. Girl?” competition at the Sixth Annual Blast Off fundraiser, to be held at The Mill from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. This year’s adult contestants will include four prominent Chattanooga couples, bringing a “Battle of the Sexes” twist to the competition.
- Photo provided
They look harmless, but their appearance is deceiving. They smile to lure their victims into a false sense of security, and then they attack, leaving behind a whimpering mass. There’s no escaping them, either, because they’re everywhere. When an adult encounters one, his or her best bet is to avoid discussing science, technology, engineering or math, because they’re smart, and they’re out to prove it.
They are the girls of Girls Inc. of Chattanooga, and their collective knowledge will be on display October 8 at The Mill throughout a competition to be held during the organization’s annual fundraiser. Dubbed “Are You Smarter than a Girls Inc. Girl?”, the contest will pit adolescents and adults against each other in a test of scholastic know-how.
To avoid creating a citywide panic, the girls have selected their opponents (aka victims) in advance. This year’s adult contestants will include four prominent Chattanooga couples: Carolyn Thompson and Roger Brown; Patti and Jim Frierson; Donna and Bill Killian; and Donna and Howard Roddy. When the dust clears, there will be two winning teams: a winner in the girls vs. adults category and a winner in the showdown between women and men.
The event, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will include a silent auction featuring local art and themed gifts along with hors d’oeuvres and an open wine and beer bar. A table for eight is $400; individual tickets are $50. Ticket prices will increase after September 30.
Bea Lurie, president and CEO of Girls Inc., promises a fun evening.
“People will get to listen to music, network with friends and meet new people. And the girls will get to shine,” she says.
The proceeds will fund operations at Girls Inc., which has been providing afterschool and seasonal break programs since 1961. While the organization has always offered activities that are age appropriate, gender specific and relevant, the core programs have changed in nature over time Lurie explains:
“The Chattanooga Business and Professional Women’s Club started Girls Inc. to help girls become successful housewives. Girls were taught etiquette, for example. As women’s liberation developed and the role of women in society began to evolve, our mission changed. We’re now focused on getting girls into college.
“We want girls to know they should be pursuing their dreams. When you talk with 6-, 7-, or 8-year-olds, they have all these ideas about what they want to be, whether it’s an engineer or a dentist. But when you talk with many high school students, those dreams have been eliminated from their lives. Our goal is to help girls get to the highest place they can achieve.”
While Girls Inc. aims to serve all girls throughout Hamilton County, the majority of the girls are from communities of color. In addition, roughly 35 percent of the girls live in families making $20,000 or less a year. Of the over 400 girls Girls Inc. served in 2009, 56 percent were in elementary or middle school, while 44 percent were of high school or early college age. Also, 44 percent of the girls live in downtown neighborhoods, 40 percent live in East Ridge or Brainerd and the rest live in Harrison, Hixson, or elsewhere.
Lurie says Girls Inc. is proud of its diversity. “If girls are living in communities of girls just like themselves, and that’s who their friends are, it will be hard for them to understand and accept people from a different background when they get out in the world.”
In addition to afterschool programming at Harrison United Methodist Church and Hardy Elementary, Girls Inc. offers spring, summer and fall break camps as well as Career Academies. During the afterschool programs, paid staff members teach a national curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and math. The camps offer hands on educational activities, while the Career Academies provide girls with opportunities to learn about different jobs through field trips to places such as a 911 call center and Comcast.
The current afterschool programming at Girls Inc. is focused on media literacy, which Lurie hopes will teach the girls to cast a critical eye on how they are portrayed on television and through other forms of mass communication.
“We want girls to understand they shouldn’t have someone telling them how they should look, think and act,” she says.
Also, during the upcoming HERstory Fall Break Camp in October, Girls Inc. girls will be learning about women in four different cultures and looking at their success stories. “This will help them to envision what their story will look like and how they will make a difference in the world,” Lurie says.
It will also give the girls more ammunition for next year’s “Are You Smarter than a Girls Inc. Girl?” competition, assuming anyone is brave enough to take them on.
For more information about Girls Inc., visit www.girlsincofchattanooga.org.
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