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| Angelica Tello | Anita Mennucci | Emma Trester-Wilson |
Angelica Tello, a senior at McCallum High School was honored by Fox 7 KTBC Austin. They awarded her the Central Texas Leadership Award for her "outstanding community service leadership, community service and Academic Excellence in 2004". This is the second time Angelica has been honored for being a leader in her community; she received the same award in 2003. Her uncle nominated her for the award which recognizes her community service and active participation in clubs and organizations in which she got involved through her high school. She is involved with GENaustin, National Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society, Spanish Club and SAAD (Students Against Drunk Driving). Just this year, she co-founded a LULAC Youth chapter at her high school. LULAC stands for League of United Latin American Citizens. She also has done volunteer work for Coats for Kids and Habitat for Humanity. In 2001, she participated in a Work-Based Learning Youth Program that aided 1st and 2nd grade students in learning math and science at the Extend-A-Care Program at Heart Elementary. She was also recognized since her freshman year as a Trustee Scholar by the Austin Independent School District for being within the top ten percent of her class. Her future plans included attending college somewhere in Texas, hopefully at the University of Texas at Austin. Although she is not sure of her major, she knows she would like to have a profession that allows her to help others on a daily basis.
Emma Trester-Wilson, a clubGEN high school facilitator from McCallum High School, was recently recognized as one of Austin’s Outstanding
Central Texas High School Leaders by Fox 7. Wilson was recognized for her work with clubGEN and as well as other organizations. She will be
featured in an upcoming public service announcement on Fox 7 during June and July. The goal of this public service announcement is to
hopefully inspire and encourage other kids within the Community to become volunteers and to seek out leadership roles at their own high schools.
Wilson received the Outstanding Leader award for her exceptional dedication to her clubGEN at Lamar Middle School, a club referred to as
"little sis's". Her award is also for her efforts bringing SafePlace and SafeTeens volunteer program to McCallum High this year. The SafePlace
and SafeTeens programs work in collaboration with the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program there that is already in place at McCallum High and
is another group in which Emma actively participates. In addition to receiving the Outstanding Central Texas High School Leader award, Emma
has also been awarded the highest achievement possible in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award. This award is equivalent to the Eagle Scout award in
Boy Scouts.
We are so very proud of what Emma brings to clubGEN and the community at large and are thankful she is a part of our organization.
She has already touched so many lives through her volunteer work and will continue to be an example for other high schoolers to follow.
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Ladyfest Texas is a community-based arts festival in Austin, Texas.
Their mission is to provide a forum in which all members of the
community can celebrate, showcase and encourage the artistic, organizational
and political talents of women. This participatory festival will
feature performances by bands, spoken word artists, authors, visual
artists and filmmakers, as well as workshops and panel discussions.
While the primary organizers of Ladyfest Texas are women, everyone
is welcome and encouraged to attend and volunteer at this community
festival.
LadyFest is under the non-profit umbrella of GENaustin and proceeds
will benefit GENaustin. Ladyfest Texas will take place May 27 -
30, 2004 at various music venues and art spaces in Austin, TX. The
venues will be in the centrally located areas of downtown Austin
and the University of Texas. All will be accessible via Capital
Metro bus, and they are dedicated to ensuring that all Ladyfest
venues and events are all ages.
For more information on LadyFest, including volunteering, performing,
participating or sponsoring, please visit www.ladyfesttx.org. |
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(by Rachel Proctor May)
Ah, those idyllic girlhood days. Who doesn't harbor
fond memories of slumber parties, soccer matches, and leaving nasty
notes in the unpopular girl's locker? Author Rachel Simmons' 2002
bestseller Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
documented the myriad ways the fairer sex behaves dreadfully toward
each other. In December, she followed it up with Odd Girl Speaks Out:
Girls Write About Bullies, Cliques, Popularity, and Jealousy. As the
title suggests, the book gave real girls a chance to sound off about
their own experiences. As a guest of GENaustin, a nonprofit that focuses
on girls' empowerment issues, Simmons will speak tonight, Thursday,
about her findings with a panel of highly qualified experts -- local
girls -- and discuss how girls and the adults in their lives can address
female bullying. |
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Rachel Simmons |
Austin Chronicle: What inspired Odd Girl Speaks Out?
Rachel Simmons: While I wanted Odd Girl Out to be readable, it
was marketed to parents and simply wasn't accessible for many girls.
So, it was important to me that this book would be something all
girls could read. Also, from the letters I received, I realized
there was a real longing for advice. Not only did girls say, "Here's
this story in my own voice," but also, "Please tell me
what can I do about it." It reminded me that there's very little
practical information available to girls on how to deal with specific
issues. So I've also included original writing of my own that gives
girls advice.
AC: What kind of advice?
RS: One of most common kinds of questions involves either outgrowing
a friend or having a friend outgrow you. For example, you and I
are real tight, but then I start hanging out with this other girl
who's maybe a little more popular. Either you feel upset and abandoned,
or I feel you're clinging to me. These are situations for which
there's no standard rule of how to proceed, which is the case with
the lion's share of girls' relational problems. One of the main
points in Odd Girl Out is that we fail to validate what goes on
when girls have problems, and we don't communicate to them how to
manage relational conflicts, so there's a huge blank space for girls
on how to proceed.
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AC: How did you find girls to contribute to the book?
RS: It wasn't that easy. I did a huge mailing to hundreds of schools,
and reached out to educators that I've met along the way. I have
a pretty busy speaking schedule, so I also distributed flyers wherever
I went.
AC: Was there anything in the responses that surprised you?
RS: I was surprised by the number of girls who described depression.
... I was also surprised how many wrote about being aggressive.
At first, most of what came in was about being a victim. But then
I started asking for stories about being mean, because I wasn't
getting any. And that's a common symptom -- girls are fearful of
identifying themselves as aggressive, because, of course, girls
are supposed to be nice. Another thing I did was in my speeches,
I always talk about my own cruelty. It creates an environment where
all bets are off, and it's OK to say, "I was mean." That
helps a lot. Especially when adults typically present aggression
as something to hide, so the girls don't take responsibility for
their behavior and keep hiding it. But once I started asking for
it, I was surprised how many wrote to me, saying, "This is
what I did," or, "This is why I'm embarrassed."
AC: Why did you decide to include panels of local girls?
RS: It's important for girls to recognize that older girls can
be terrific resources for moral support, guidance, and advice. I
wanted the event to be as community-based as possible, so it's not
like I'm just coming in and then leaving. It begins a dialogue,
and lets older girls see how much of a resource they can be to younger
girls. There's a tremendous amount of support and fulfillment that
can be gained on both sides.
originally appeared in The Austin Chronicle January 28, 2004
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Tara is thirteen. She likes to go to the mall. .
.and she wrestles boys. On her journey to the national championships,
she battles critics who believe girls shouldn't wrestle boys; she
struggles with her father' s drive for her to succeed; and she fights
with her own body to control her weight.
GIRL WRESTLER is an hour-long documentary by Austin director and
producer Diane Zander that follows Tara Neal, a Texas teenager who
challenges cultural expectations of what sport she, as a girl, should
compete in and with whom she should wrestle. It follows a crucial
period in Tara's wrestling career - the last year that she is allowed
to wrestle boys. When Tara enters high school, her opportunities
to compete will virtually disappear under state guidelines because
so few girls wrestle.
From allegations of referee bias against girl wrestlers to coaches
who proclaim their vehement hatred of Title IX, the federal statute
that grants women's athletics proportionality in public schools,
GIRL WRESTLER personalizes the clash of gender and sports in American
culture and, in particular, the current policy debates over Title
IX. Tara navigates the same environment of hostility that produced
the recent lawsuit by the National Wrestling Coaches Association
against the Department of Education to repeal Title IX.
Over the course of the season, Tara confronts personal struggles
that range from her family to controlling her weight. Ultimately,
Tara's story highlights the universal nature of such conflicts,
as well as illuminating such broader social issues as the social
construction of masculinity and femininity, athleticism and eating
disorders, gender discrimination in organized athletics, and the
meaning and value of sport in American culture.
GIRL WRESTLER will have its world premiere in the upcoming South
By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, before touring in documentary
and video festivals nationwide. The schedule for the documentary
at South By Southwest is as follows:
11 a.m. Sunday, March 9 at the Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress
Avenue (between 7th and 8th). Screening will be followed by a Q&A
with director-producer Diane Zander. Single tickets available for
$6 one hour prior to the screening at the Paramount box office,
713 Congress Avenue, 512-476-6064.
7 p.m. Wednesday, March 12 at the Paramount Theatre (address above)
as part of the Texas Documentary Tour, co-sponsored by the Austin
Film Society. Screening will be open captioned for deaf and hearing-impaired
audiences. To be followed by a Q&Amp;A with Diane Zander. Single tickets
will be available for $6 one hour prior to the screening at the
Paramount box office, information above.
4 p.m. Saturday, March 15 at the Austin Convention Center, 4th
Street at Trinity. Screening will be open captioned for deaf and
hearing-impaired audiences. To be followed by a Q&A with Diane Zander.
Single tickets available for $6 one hour prior to screening at the
ticket window.
GIRL WRESTLER is the latest project of Diane Zander, a lecturer
in media production at the University of Texas at Austin who previously
worked on the Emmy award-winning documentary MOVING STORIES. Her
film and video work has been shown at festivals across the country
and she also has lectured at international conferences on feminist
documentary practice.
For more information, please contact Mary Beltrán at (512) 912-9571
or mcbeltran@earthlink.net,
or Diane Zander at 512/471-4952 or d-zander@mail.utexas.edu.
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This site was last updated on 1/04/2005.
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