Do you remember being 9 years old? I met Mary for the first time when she was in 5th grade at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in 2014.
Mary participated in A Beautiful Me’s workshop series once a week for two hours. Over the course of four weeks, she gained social and emotional skills which positively affected her future years.
Some of Mary’s peers did NOT go through our workshop series in 2014. What would have happened if the trajectory of Mary’s peers did not have a sharp decline, that we know the research shows. Could they have had a different mindset and contributed to the community as adults now?
A national study comparison from 2017 to 2023 showed that 5th & 6th grade girls experienced the largest decline in self-perception and the largest increase in sadness and depression.
This is why A Beautiful Me is needed. Our mission is to build confidence and self-worth in girls primarily at 5th grade.
I re-met Mary again this past summer, though I hadn’t seen her since the workshop back at Woodrow. She is now 19 years old. Her and I were talking and after she shared some parts of her life she asked about my work.
I shared with Mary that I work at A Beautiful Me, with that, her expression told me she had something important to say. “I went through A Beautiful Me at Woodrow Wilson”.
Mary repeated to me what she learned back in 2014, while in 5th grade, during ONLY 8 hours of time together. This was NINE years ago.
I wonder if my jaw physically dropped when I heard what she remembered and what she uses to this day.
We have been tracking outcomes in our workshops, but it’s times like these that let you know that what we do works AND is retainable.
We want every girl to attend our life changing 5th grade workshops, in every school district. We need to start here with the girls in southeast Michigan and then expand our reach. Will you invest in our girls today through A Beautiful Me?
