Encouraging social awareness and empowerment while taking on Montieth, Mason and Ferry, Willow held their Strong Girls and Boys presentation on April 10. The presentation consisted of a series of skits that illustrated situations such as miscommunication, jumping to conclusions and varieties of drama that can form between friend groups.

The creation of the Strong Girls presentation stemmed from the club Willow, which was established to empower women in the North community. Although the presentation consists of inspiring values that encourage growth, Student Activities Director Peggy Bonbrisco emphasizes her love for promoting North’s culture towards the elementary students.

“I want to get in there so the elementary kids can meet our Norsemen because I believe that elementary schoolers should be excited about high school,” Bonbrisco said. “We want them to be excited about being an endorsement and remember the Norsemen that they met at Strong Girls and Strong Boys.”

Reflecting on her experience as an elementary school student, Senior Grace Korkmaz recalled seeing the Strong Girls session as she gave her own presentation, mirroring Bonbrisco’s inspiration.

“I definitely felt a full circle experience because many of us actually remembered our own Strong Girls presentation from our fifth grade years,” Korkmaz said. “It was nice to experience that again [while delivering] those messages to these young girls.” 

While the presentation encompassed a sense of North’s community, it also focused on teaching students how to comprehend challenging circumstances in order to enhance their abilities to respectfully think and feel with their peers. Bonbrisco described the skits, which served to prepare the students for future cognitive obstacles within their social life.

“We kind of get into miscommunication with cell phone texting,” Bonbrisco said. “When you read a text and you think maybe the person sounds mad, they [may not be]  at all, they were either in a hurry, or they just were using shortened words to make it easy, like in texting.”

It was noted by Bonbrisco that every modeled predicament has an optimistic ending regardless of the situation to influence a positive mindset within the students.

“We always have a dilemma,” Bonbrisco said.  “We always have a good ending [where] the girls can seek out that [conclusion], whether it’s help from a counselor or a teacher, another student we always have a way out of a problem.”

The time spent working on the skits behind the scenes also served as a period for the members of Willow to bond. Sophomore Aliya Abraham

recalled how she could focus on the task at hand and while still enthusiastically interacting with her fellow members. 

“As a group Willow Wednesdays consisted of rewriting the skits, practicing, planning and lots of laughter,” Abraham said. “We were able to have fun and focus throughout the whole process.”

Ultimately Abraham highlights the significance of Willow’s drive to advocate compassion and leadership, which is specifically referred to within the skits.

“Willow is about spreading the message that every girl is a strong girl and can lead our world,” Abraham said.  “It is important for young girls to realize their potential and use it for good and show their kindness.”