Girl Power on Display
Girl Power
Last Thursday, by wonderful happenstance, turned out to be an impressive display of girl power on our campus. In Town Hall and at the student portfolio show, the community witnessed four different significant achievements in artistry and service.
To lead us off, the two artists who presented their work in the Stevens Gallery dazzled us with their talent and skill. Both Alessandra Brown and Melanie Groza showed off their photo-like pencil and charcoal drawings which they had created over the past year as part of our portfolio program. Visitors to the gallery show were captivated by the art.
Shortly after in the Upper School’s Town Hall, the girls’ basketball team presented a check for $1800 to Sense of Security, a nonprofit that helps families of breast cancer patients with everyday expenses like housing, groceries, and transportation. As part of the “Pink Out” effort, the entire team rallied around this noble cause, selling bake sale goods, getting contributions and donating the revenue from the ticket sales at one of their games this season. One of the directors of the agency thanked the team and the CA community for their hard work and generosity.
Next came senior Molly O”Neil who was the recipient of the Jenny Wu Memorial Scholarship, which provides $500 to a student’s self-designed independent project every year. (Jenny Wu is a CA graduate who died suddenly in her early 20s; her classmates created an ongoing scholarship fund.) As is customary for the scholarship recipient, Molly presented a report on her work to the gathered assembly. Starting with a desire to help children who have suffered severe burns, Molly worked with local firefighters to raise money and awareness by painting the firemen’s boots that they use to collect funds for Muscular Dystrophy and the Burn Clinic at Children’s Hospital, which is one of the best facilities of its kind in the nation. She also partnered with Build a Bear to bring stuffed animals to the burn unit patients so that they would have a constant companion during their often long rehabilitations. Both the project itself and Molly’s presentation of it were professional and meaningful, a true testament to what a service project can become.
Finally, sophomore Martha Baker told an emotional personal story about her cousin who died of a heroin overdose last year. Her cousin's battle with addiction and the secret life she led have so moved Martha that she has created her own nonprofit called Angel Tracks, which seeks to raise awareness and funding for drug abuse education. The recently launched website may be found at http://findingangeltracks.com. Martha’s presentation was as heartfelt and authentic as anything I have seen in my years at CA, and I applaud her for her courage and tenacity for pursuing an idea about which she is truly passionate.
No offense to our boys who certainly have more than their share of “power days” too, but this was truly a show of force by more than a dozen young women in our community. Just a few weeks ago, CA Alumna Martha Smith presented her moving documentary Girl Rising to the community. The film underscored how important it is to educate young women because of their transformative influence on community and culture. Certainly, last Thursday showed what can happen on our campus when we encourage and support our young women to reach their potential.
© 2023 Colorado Academy
