Sisterhood in the Land of Oz

On the day of the summit, each facilitator will be paired with another and they will be placed in groups with middle school girls to facilitate discussion about pressing issues in the lives of preteens today. For many girls, middle school is a time filled with pressures such as the desire to fit in and be accepted by others.

Sister 2 Sister

On March 19th, girls from Lamorinda middle schools will come together to form bonds of sisterhood in an environment facilitated by high school girls from the surrounding area.

Each year a group of high school girls comes together to organize the Sister-to-Sister summit in Lamorinda, an event that aims to help middle school girls celebrate friendship and sisterhood.

This year’s summit is set to take place on Saturday, March 19th from 9:00am to 3:30pm at the Bentley School Campus in Lafayette.

The American Association of University Women created Sister-to-Sister summits to give girls the chance to talk about the issues and struggles they face on a daily basis. Through activities, discussion groups and presentations, middle school girls learn that they are not alone.

Approximately thirty high school facilitators have been hard at work planning each moment of this year’s summit, making sure it is flawless in order to provide these middle school girls the chance to leave their troubles behind and just be themselves. Parent educators and psychologists who specialize in adolescent behavior hold a training meeting once a month for the Sister-to-Sister facilitators. At these meetings, the high school facilitators are taught how to handle discussion groups and are trained to attentively listen and keep conversations moving so that on the day of the summit, they can provide a comfortable setting for their younger counterparts.

Each year the summit has a creative theme and motto. This year the theme of the summit is the Wizard of Oz and the motto is “Grab your ruby slippers and follow the yellow brick road with your sisters!” This theme was chosen by the facilitators, who believe that the values projected through the film mirror the lifestyles of the middle school girls.

The Wizard of Oz is a story that is about courage and bravery. The characters in the movie, such as the Wicked Witch, the Tin Man and the Lion represent different members of the girls’ social lives, while other components of Dorothy’s journey make up the rest of the middle school experience.

Discussion topics vary from boy troubles to peer pressure; girls will have the chance to listen and talk in a safe and confidential environment in order to come to a better understanding of the choices they make and the challenges they face.

As the registration period opens, facilitators will visit the middle schools around Lamorinda. They will inform the girls of the event and pass out informational brochures. When signing up for the Summit, girls are asked to specify the discussion groups they would most like to participate in.

Sister-to-Sister is not only a great way for middle school girls to have fun and make new friends but it also gives the high school facilitators the same chance. Tessa Whitley, a senior at Campolindo High School who is a returning Sister-to-Sister facilitator, said she joined Sister-to-Sister because she wanted to help other girls. Whitley remembers her middle school years being a difficult time and said she wanted to make it easier for middle school girls today. Whitley’s favorite aspect of the Sister-to-Sister summit is the long-lasting friendships she has made; she even reconnected with a classmate from pre-school that she had not seen in ages!

The deadline for registration for this year’s summit is March 12th. The cost is thirty dollars, which includes a t-shirt and lunch.

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