Sister-to-Sister Program

For more information, email Mary Brooks

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When	What …	Where …	Activity
7:30 - 8:25	Registration	Preservation Plaza
8:25 - 8:55	Welcome and Opening Program	Preservation Plaza
8:55 - 9:00	Break		Move to group Rooms
9:00 - 10:10	CHAT ROOM ONE:	Assigned Rooms	Discuss & Explore Issues
10:10 - 10:15	Break		Cycle within Pods
10:15 - 11:25	CHAT ROOM TWO:	Assigned Rooms	Sort Out Themes for Action
11:25 - 12:35	Lunch Keynote Speaker		Donated by TheTomatoHead The Rev. Wendy Neff
12:35 - 12:40	Break		Move to group Rooms
12:40 - 1:50	CHAT ROOM THREE:	Assigned Rooms	Finalize Choices for Plan of Action
1:50 - 2:00	Snacks
2:00 - 2:25	Go VOTE!		Voting on Messages and Plan
2:25 - 3:15	Activity Break		●Yoga ●Nutrition Talk ●Mental Health Talk ●Mountain Challenge ●Self-Defense
3:15 - 4:00	Closing Messages and the Plan		Ratify Plan of Action
4:00	Time to go Home!

The girls identify the discussion topics in advance through the application process.

	Topic A: Relationships
	Topic B: Substance Abuse
	Topic C: Pressure: School, Home, and Peers

Registration desk. Preservation Plaza
Each participant must check in with a permission slip signed by a parent/guardian. Each girl will be given a name tag and provided with a registration packet that includes: a program containing the day’s schedule with room locations; a roster containing all attendees’ names and addresses; a listing of area social service agencies and rape crisis centers; and an evaluation form.

Opening plenary session. Introductory remarks, explaining the purpose, goals, and flow of the summit. Establish ground rules for interaction, respecting each others’ differences and experiences and keeping the discussions confidential.

Chat rooms and facilitators. Small-group sessions of 8-10 girls plus plus one or two facilitators, including some student-adult teams. Another woman serves as recorder. Each chat session addresses one of three priority topics that girls identified on their registration forms.

Chat room sessions.

After a warm-up activity, discussion of the topic ensues and all comments are recorded on flip charts. After about 20 minutes, the facilitators comment on any themes or subtopics that have emerged.

For the next 15 minutes, outcomes and the main messages that participants would like to convey to other girls and to adults in the schools and the community about the topic are identified.
Sample messages. Messages to other girls might be, "You don’t have to have sex until you’re ready" and "Drugs may seem to provide short-term solutions, but we have to live in these bodies forever." Messages to adults might be, "Teachers need to stop sexual harassment taking place in the hallways and classrooms" and "‘Just say no’ doesn’t work if no one takes specific steps to stop the sale of drugs on school grounds."

For the last 15 to 20 minutes, actions that girls and adults could take to address the identified problems are discussed, and recorded. Each is recorded on a separate sheet.
Sample action steps. Actions can range from personal and small ("write in a journal every day" or "when your friends condone violence, tell them you don’t agree") to public and large ("hold a follow-up summit for girls and boys" or "prepare a paper for the school district to consider").

As a final step, the girls prioritize the messages and actions they would like to take to address the topic.

	1 message and 1 action for Girls
	1 message and 1 action for Adults

Facilitators rewrite one priority message for girls and one priority message for adults and the corresponding action for each topic on the colored index card.

Keynote Speaker. The Reverend Wendy Neff, pastor of the Highland Presbyterian Church, Maryville

Lunch. Box lunches are being provided by TheTomatoHead. Girls have opportunity to interact.

Fun Activity. Girls have an opportunity to move around and interact with each other more casually.

The closing plenary. The last session, with all the girls back together, brings closure to the day while building anticipation and excitement about next steps. This is the time to affirm the messages that come out of the chat rooms and to design a course for action. All volunteers and parents, too, should attend this event, to build support for the girls’ action plans.

The final messages and plans of action from each module are summarized and displayed. The girls vote for the final messages and actions for each topic.

	1 message and 1 action for Girls
	1 message and 1 action for Adults

Affirming the platform for action. The votes are tallied and reported to the girls and the adults as the summit’s platform for action.

Steps toward implementation. Girls complete the evaluation form and indicate the action plan they wish to work on.

End of the day. As each participant hands in her evaluation form, she will be given a "goody bag" of items generously donated by area businesses and individuals.

follow-up

After the summit:

	A post-summit pizza party will be held on Monday, Nov. 5, at the Chilhowee Club, Maryville, to share the Plan of Action with parents or guardians and other interested adults from the community.
	A recap of the summit outcomes will be sent to school administrators and other interested individuals by request.

logistics

Transportation. Girls must arrange for their own transportation to and from the Summit.

Registration. Girls register by completing and returning the registration form on the brochure.

Registration is now closed. Girls are chosen to reflect the diversity in Blount County and represent all schools in the county. The girls’ attendance will be confirmed by mail, including a parental permission slip.

Topics. Questions 1 to 6 on the registration form were worded to elicit the evaded curriculum issues girls want to discuss. The review team includes girls and professionals who work with youth and can cull three priority issues from the responses to questions 1 to 6.