New Back-to-School Spark Kits Help Girls Connect, Thrive
Girls Empowerment Network has 1,000 Back-to-School Spark Kits ready to ship to girls, and those who identify as girls, throughout Texas - and beyond!
As girls go back-to-school across Texas, Girls Empowerment Network’s girl experts designed a new Spark Kit with 25 NEW activities especially for tween and teen girls designed to make them feel creative, confident, and connected.
We got the inspiration to create Spark Kits during quarantine in April, when we surveyed 167 families including girls and adults (parents and guardians) to understand the effects of quarantine and isolation on them.
“Parents said they wanted flexible, accessible, creative activities that would allow for meaningful connections because their girls felt isolated, and we designed SPARK KITS to be more than a box. It is a window into themselves and a connection to a community of girl experts and other girls that is available to them,” says Julia Cuba Lewis, MSW, executive director, Girls Empowerment Network.
We set out to make sure at least 800 girls in Central Texas and Houston received our one-of-a-kind resource we created by adapting our unique in-school curriculum for girls in 3rd to 8th grade. The result? We created Spark Kits.
Our team was blown away by the response from school districts and parents, and we’re excited to share that more than 1,100 Spark Kits were delivered from May to the end of July.
Now, as the pandemic continues and families and educators adjust to changes in communities and schools, Girls Empowerment Network is launching a new Back-to-School Spark Kit.
The Back-to-School Spark Kit is the second edition of our popular new Spark Kit series inspired by our Six Cs that help girls feel unstoppable and increase self-efficacy — confidence, coping skills, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.
High interest and national media attention of our first Spark Kit led us to move from regional distributions of Spark Kits in Austin and Houston, to a statewide outreach effort, helping more Texas girls in more cities across the state – and beyond.
Our Back-to-School Spark Kit gives girls the grit and resiliency they need to succeed in school. With mental health awareness, identity, values, stress management, and goal setting themes and activities, girls will feel more confident in their ability to thrive as students, no matter how different school looks this year. Each Spark Kit includes:
a journal with 25+ self-guided activities and all supplies needed; and,
daily 1:1 and group virtual access to Girls Empowerment Network’s girl experts and other girls their age.
Each Back-to-School Spark Kits is uniquely decorated with inspiring messages by our awesome volunteers, and will give girls the opportunity to be creative and critically think with activities like:
A Self-Love Mirror – She identifies qualities about herself she appreciates and writes positive affirmations on a mini mirror, practicing positive self-talk.
Mood Tracker – She practices self-awareness and emotional intelligence by noting how she feels each day.
Big Mood Volcano – She makes a colorful, erupting volcano with baking soda and vinegar, while also learning how to prevent and deal with and emotional eruptions in a healthy way
Goal Setting Grit Fish – She learns to keep swimming towards goals by making a fish with scales that also identifies the steps, people, and attitudes she needs to help to help achieve her goals.
Girls can also complete a Rainbow Card and have a $10 gift card sent to them as part of their Back-to-School Spark Kit experience. (Read more about how this works in our Spark Kit FAQ.)
“Girls are going back to school in different ways in 2020. Some are in their living rooms and others are entering socially distanced classrooms with unfamiliar routines and new rules,” says Sidney Copus, Associate Director of Program Advancement at Girls Empowerment Network. “Going back to school means learning in a new and different way. Our Back-to-School Spark Kits are here to help girls build their self-efficacy through fun, engaging activities, discover new tools and techniques, and also have a connection to our community of girl experts and other girls who are all navigating our changing world.”
There are 1,000 Back-to-School Spark Kits available now, and each one has interactive activities for girls from now until November 20, 2020, making it relevant all fall semester long.
Back-to-School Spark Kits are made possible with support of donors and sponsors, making the cost to families and schools only $35 with two-day shipping, calculated at checkout. The value of each Spark Kit is $500 per kit.
