GEN's Voice

Issue 27
September 2003

In This Issue:

GENaustin is looking for some flight assistance – in the form of a donated airline ticket – to bring noted speaker Jean Kilbourne from Boston to Austin for her appearance here on Sept. 17. Can you spare some miles, or donate a round-trip ticket?

For more information on specific travel dates and times, please contact the GEN office, 512.414.0472.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, Sept. 17, because famed expert on media literacy, Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., will be making her way to Austin! She’ll be in Austin to talk to girls in the community, their parents and their teachers about the tobacco industry's marketing to young women. Ms. Kilbourne is visiting in conjunction with the GENaustin Speaker Series. Ms. Kilbourne will be giving her talk on behalf of the GENaustin group oriGENal voice: Austin girls speaking out against Big Tobacco.

Ms. Kilbourne is best known for her award-winning documentaries "Pack of Lies," "Slim Hopes" and "Killing Us Softly." Don't miss this great opportunity to learn from this renowned speaker.

The event will be held from 7-9 p.m. at Caswell House, 1404 West Ave., near 15th Street. Refreshments will be provided and a $15 donation at the door is greatly appreciated – all proceeds will directly benefit GENaustin.

Seating is limited, so RSVP soon – 512.453.7170.

For more information about Reel Women, visit their Web site at www.reelwomen.org.

Please join us for the upcoming Fall Art Show and Silent Auction. This fundraising event will include local arts and crafts, great food, tarot readings and more. Admission is FREE. The auction will be from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28, at the Lazy Oak Bed and Breakfast, 211 West Live Oak.

For more information, contact Renee Buck at 512.447-8873 or visit http://www.lazyoakbandb.com.

A list of current programs can also be found on GENaustin’s Web site, www.GENaustin.org. Here’s what’s going on in September:

“Girls as Friends, Girls as Foes: Strategies for Spotting and Diffusing Relational Aggression in Your Daughter and Her Friends.” Peer relationships are everything in middle school. When they’re good, they’re very, very good. And when they’re bad… “Girl fighting” is often a hallmark of middle school, and some of the most painful times in girls’ lives. Girls may express their aggression and insecurities through hurtful words, gossip and other forms of relational violence that can damage each other emotionally. Parents can help by understanding the conflict and communicating with their daughters. Middle school counselor Carolyn Brooks will share successful strategies for dealing with ways girls love, hurt and can heal each other.
For girls and parents. From 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Mendez Middle School Library.

“Meeting the Real Needs of Early Adolescent Girls” An overview of adolescent girl challenges and how the significant adults in girls’ lives can authentically support them in developing healthy self- esteem, critical thinking skills and life-affirming choices throughout their teen years and beyond. Suzi McCoy, M.S., LPC, is a seasoned GENaustin presenter.
For girls and parents. From 3:30-4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, at Canyon Vista Middle School.

“Why Won't My Children Listen to Me?” Good communication is one of the daily challenges of maintaining a happy family. In this interactive session, parents and children will discuss roadblocks to effective parent-child communication and identify behaviors that invite and encourage open communication. All who attend will have fun learning how to send and receive messages. Kendella Baker is the Director of the Texas Association of School Boards Parent Learning Network.
For girls and parents. Session begins at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Trinity Episcopal School.

“The Best of Friends: Helping Girls Navigate Peer Relationships” This workshop will teach parents and girls strategies to build girls’ resilience and create respectful environments, while looking at girls’ peer issues in relation to academic success and emotional health. Facilitated by Ellen Sanchez, M.Ed., SafePlace Co-Director of Community Education.
For girls and parents. Session begins at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Westridge Middle School.

“Building a Toolbox of Friendship Skills” If relationships came with instructions, what would they be? If every girl had a toolbox full of tools to help her friendships in middle school, what would be in it? An experienced counselor, Kathleen Gubitz Falbo, will teach girls how to use their tools to keep friendships strong, honest and healthy through the preteen and teen years. Kathleen Gubitz Falbo, M.Ed, LPC, is the ROPES coordinator and Safe and Drug Free Schools Counselor for the Leander ISD.
For girls. Session begins at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Redeemer Lutheran School.

The clubGEN facilitator and sponsor training will be from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Baker School.

The training is for high school girls who are going to be facilitators (leaders of the clubs) next year and for the adult sponsors. Each school has on adult school-based sponsor and an adult community sponsor. The community sponsor fills in for the school sponsor if the school sponsor needs to be absent. They are responsible for conducting a monitoring visit of their club to check in with the girls and evaluate the progress of the club. The community sponsor also acts as a liaison to GENaustin.

The facilitators and sponsors will be trained on the model and structure of clubGEN and on group facilitation skills. The training will also include experiential activities to give the facilitators and sponsors practice at running a clubGEN.

There are still community sponsor opportunities available. If you’re interested, please call Barb Steinberg at 512.750.3928 or email her at [email protected].

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the State Theater Company will do a benefit performance of Be Aggressive. The benefit show is hosted and sponsored by CheerStation, the 'Official Cheer Sponsor' for the show, and all proceeds go directly to GENaustin.

Be Aggressive is Annie Weisman’s darkly comic journey into the intense world of two 17-year-old California cheerleaders. Inspired by Weisman’s own adolescent years in suburban San Diego, the coming-of-age-drama is directed by State artistic director Scott Kanoff and features local favorites Jenny Larson and Kira Pozehl as Laura and Leslie, two girls about to enter their final year of high school. Anchored by the metaphor of its protagonists’ intense dedication to cheerleading, the play’s themes deal with many teen issues that have recently landed at the forefront of an American female agenda: self-esteem, relational aggression, peer pressure, media influence and teen-parent relationships, to name a few.

Contact the State Theater by visiting their Web site http://www.austintheatrealliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=html_stateclasses
or calling 512.692.0517 to get your tickets for the GENaustin benefit show on Sept. 30.

Special Note: Be Aggressive contains mature language and content and is not recommended for children under the age of 16.

The Austin Girls' Choir is holding auditions for their Junior Choir and Senior Ensemble now through Sept. 20. The choir sings in three- and four-part harmony, classical to contemporary. The Junior Choir, for ages 8 to 13, rehearses Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The Senior Ensemble, for advanced singers ages 13 to 18, rehearses Sunday afternoons. Both groups perform frequently and travel.

Potential songbirds have two upcoming opportunities to see the group perform live at their presentation of “An Enchanted Evening,” featuring tunes from the ’60s. See the show at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Knapp Auditorium in the Weeks Center of the Episcopal Seminary, 606 Rathervue Place, or at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Unity Church of the Hills, 9905 Anderson Mill Road. There is a $5 suggested donation.

Please call 512.453.0884 for audition and performance information.

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

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 10/26/2004.

Copyright © GENaustin, Inc. 2001. All rights reserved. GEN, GENaustin, and GENaustin logos used and displayed herein are registered and unregistered trademarks of GENaustin, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and logos used herein are the property of their respective owners. Email us at office@genaustin.org.