GEN's Voice

Issue 33
March 2004

In This Issue:

Here's what's going on in March:

Engineering and High Tech Careers: From Dreams to Reality, Join young Austin women who've "made it" in the high-tech and engineering fields for a look at the relationship between self-and math and science, and how experiences in middle school can make or break career opportunities for girls. Speakers will help de-mystify these fields and offer advice about what parents and educators can do to encourage girls in math and science.

For girls and their parents. Thursday, March 4th, 11:00 – 12:30 p.m., Burnet Middle School

Me Behind the Wheel: Finding Your Inner Rock Star on the Road to Success.

Thinking of following your dreams? Whatever they may be, the road to success can be a wild ride. Find out what to bring with you, how to make a road map, even what to do if you get lost. Best of all, find out how to start packing your bags now! Austin songwriter/recording artist Trish Murphy has been a Texas favorite since the release of her first record in 1997. She tours the U.S. and Europe and is currently working on her fourth album.

For girls. Wednesday, March 24th, 11:30 – 12:30 p.m., Redeemer Lutheran School

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: It's Just a Little Extra Are you ordinary? Extraordinary? Does extraordinary mean to do better or to be the best? Open conversation about what makes a person successful and talk about examples of some extraordinary people and situations. Learn how a little extra effort in school, friends or health can make a big difference in how you live and enjoy life—even how that effort makes you fun to be around and helps attract positive experiences. Who has been extraordinary in your life recently? What can you do, right now, to be extraordinary in some part of your life? Join Shannon Huggins, LMSW –ACP, from Creekside Mental Health to explore this topic.

For girls. Tuesday, March 30th, 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., Trinity Episcopal School

GENaustin is pleased to announce that members of clubGEN will again be beneficiaries of the Shoes for Austin (SFA) program. During the fall 2003 SFA drive, more than 60 clubGEN members from Porter, Lamar, Bailey, and Fulmore Middle schools and Crockett, McCallum, and Bowie High Schools received new shoes in exchange for 90% or better attendance at clubGEN meetings. Katie Handley, GEN's contact for the drive, noted that "the brand new shoes looked great, and the girls were delighted to get 'something that we needed for something cool [good attendance]’." She added that many students echoed the fact that limited resources made these shoes a real necessity. "One middle school student at Fulmore gets only one new pair of shoes each year, making the new pair a much-needed addition to her school attire." Handley said that "excited and special" was a common theme among the girls when asked how they felt about receiving the shoes for good attendance, and that the greatest gift of all was the looks on the girls' faces when they opened up the boxes of brand new shoes. GENaustin is looking forward to participating in the Shoes for Austin drive again. Thank you, Shoes for Austin!

Laura Donnelly, the new executive assistant at GENaustin, was born in New York City, and moved to the Garden State by her parents for better schools and fresher air. Upon graduating Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ, Donnelly headed back to NY, happily exchanging fresh air for a fresh world. There she became a book publicist and freelance journalist, working with authors ranging from former President Jimmy Carter to rapper Sista Souljah. Living in New York, Donnelly became a mentor to a 10 year old girl, and realized the urgency of boosting girls’ esteem prior to high school. She also noticed there was a lack of any media for pre-teens and teen girls that emphasized self-confidence and upon moving to Austin, TX, she started a Latina girls' magazine titled, Latinitas.

Donnelly brings experience and passion to the GENaustin staff, contributing to the agency’s resource development and public relations committee. She continues Latinitas in her free time, as well as documentary filmmaking, where she has produced a work titled "Capirotada: A Little Mix of Everything," a Latina girl's perspective on her culture and life, which was featured in the nationally acclaimed South by Southwest film festival.

Girls ages 13-16 looking to strengthen their inner "grrl" this summer need look no further than "Grrl Action," a three-week summer program in autobiographical writing and performance offered by the Rude Mechanicals theatre company. Girls ages 13 to 16 will generate material from their personal experiences, develop performance skills and craft their work into a final public performance created entirely by the girls.

"Grrl Action" gives girls the space and skills to gain a public voice while they build confidence, interact with professional female artists and performers, and make new friends from diverse economic, racial, social and cultural backgrounds. "Grrl Action" will meet Mondays through Fridays, June 7-27, from 9:00 am to 12 noon at The Off Center in East Austin. The cost of the camp is $200, and scholarships are available. For more information, or to download an application, visit www.rudemechs.com or call 512-476-RUDE (7833) to reserve your space.

GENaustin's programs are made possible through the generous support of 3M, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundation, the Austin Community Foundation, Austin Independent School District, Austin Wine Merchant, Austin Ventures, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Dell Foundation, the Favrot Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Silverton Foundation, Milkshake Media, Meredith Private Foundation, Safeway, Shoes for Austin and the Webber Family Foundation.

Make an online donation to GENaustin through Network for Good by clicking on this Web link: guidestar

GENaustin has been selected to take part in Buffalo Exchange’s Tokens for Bags Program. The program allows customers to choose to receive a token instead of a bag when making their purchase and the token represents a cash donation to a particular charity. So the next time you’re shopping at Buffalo Exchange (2904 Guadalupe), be sure to forego the bag and help out GENaustin by placing your token in our box. Our box is in the middle!

Now you can support GENaustin and its important programs simply by shopping online. Just go to http://www.genaustin.org/public/content/getinvolved/shop.asp and follow the links to more than 400 stores, including Barnes & Noble, Land's End, Ann Taylor, Linens-n-Things, Neiman Marcus, L.L. Bean, Dell, Amazon.com, JC Penney, Old Navy, Gap and many more!

Also, mention GENaustin when you shop at Giada, a unique boutique and gift shop just west of downtown, and 2% of your sale will go directly to GENaustin. GENaustin is excited to be a part of Giada's Community Investment Program. Giada is located at 704 W. 6th St., one block west of Katz' Deli. The phone number for Giada is (512) 457-8881.

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This site was last updated on 1/04/2005.

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