Showcasing G.R.O.W.

The Leadership Roanoke Valley Education Program is hosting a program on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 entitled The Pursuit of Mentoring. Mentoring organizations from around the valley have been invited to share their programs with members of Leadership Roanoke Valley. G.R.O.W. is among the mentoring organizations that will be showcased during the afternoon trade show, where participants can learn more about each program and how to become involved in mentoring. In preparation of the trade show, Lynne Victorine aided in creating a display. The display contained photos of past events and the D.C. trip as well as information about the G.R.O.W. program. The display turned out beautifully and I can't wait to display it during the trade show. To round out the day, I am going to be the afternoon keynote speaker for the event! I will be speaking on the impact of mentoring, the roots that led to the G.R.O.W. program, and how one can start a mentoring program from scratch.

Growing Within the Community

G.R.O.W. focuses not only on building strong girls who will become strong women, but we also focus on building stronger communities. The G.R.O.W. girls participate in monthly community service designed to help wherever we can. In August, the G.R.O.W. girls worked in conjunction with Roanoke City Public Schools and the Central Council PTA to bag school supplies for the Back-to-School Extravaganza at Patrick Henry High School. The girls spent an entire afternoon creating over 1,000 bags of schools supplies for students in RCPS. At the end of August, the G.R.O.W. girls handed out those school supplies at the Back-to-School Extravangza. Because of their volunteer work during the month of August, the G.R.O.W. girls were honored at a Roanoke City School Board Meeting. During the month of November the G.R.O.W. girls continued their service within our community by assisting with ticket sales and the handing out of brochures for the Annual Virginia Gentlemen Barbershop Concert held at Hidden Valley High School. We do have more events we plan on being a part of in the future so be sure to check our calendar to see what we will be up to.

More than a Pumpkin Patch.

To kick off the fall season, the G.R.O.W. girls ventured out of their comfort zone within city living to spend a day on the farm! This trip took us on an adventure to Jeter Farm in Troutville, VA; a small country town filled with beautiful mountains and farms as far as the eye can see. This was a far cry from what the girls were used to, seeing as how none of them had ever experienced farm life. During our visit, the girls were able to feed farm animals such as goats, donkeys, and we even got to pet some miniature horses!
We then got to go on a hay ride that took us to the entrance to a corn maze. The maze was really cool because it was shaped like our state of Virginia and the girls used maps to find their way to the observation deck and then to the pumpkin patch. After getting lost a few times we finally made it to our destination of the pumpkin patch. We all got to pick out our very own pumkins and then the girls and I took another hayride back where we started. This was another very memorable trip for our girls and they had a great time seeing what "a day on the farm" might look like.

A Glimpse Outside of the Neighborhood

This spring the girls involved in this program passed all of their Standards of Learning tests with flying colors and as a reward the G.R.O.W girls traveled to Washington D.C. on August 4, 2008 to August 7, 2008, where they were immersed in the workings of our government, the nation’s history, and the many cultural opportunities it afforded. The girls were invited to tour the Supreme Court as guests of Justice Clarence Thomas and were invited to the Capitol as guests of Congressman Bob Goodlatte. The trip continued with visits to the Washington and World War II monuments and to the Holocaust Museum, to name a few. This was something none of them had ever done before. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our girls.