Few bonding experiences are more memorable and nostalgic than roasting marshmallows while gathering around an open flame during a camping trip.
They may have been using small gas-powered camping stoves behind Rindge Memorial School, but 15 fifth-grade girls were recently afforded such an opportunity – all in the name of building self-confidence and exposure to new and exciting opportunities.
“Young girls don’t necessarily have an opportunity to just hang out and be with other girls in a supportive environment,” said Rindge Memorial School physical education teacher Patricia Boulle, founder of the school’s Girls on the Go! club. “We come to school, they get on the bus and they go home, or they go to afterschool care, or to whatever they are going to. This gives them an opportunity to be part of a group.”
The club was started in 2007 as a way to expose young girls to positive and fun physical activities to encourage healthy habits of body and mind, and to offer a space for girls to hang out with other girls and try new things.
“I want to give them that important feeling, like I’m the big girl on campus and I get to do this … they will remember these experiences and say I did that and I was not comfortable but I got through it. So that perseverance piece too,” Boulle said.
The program is currently offered to all fifth-grade girls at Rindge Memorial School and meets for six sessions, once a week, in the winter months.
“It’s dark. You leave school and you are going home in the dark, and the kids don’t go outside. So it’s another opportunity for them to be active, even during the doldrums of January and February,” Boulle said. “It’s kind of the yucky time of year – I love snow and I love to snowshoe, so I want the girls to love it too.”
Currently, Boulle leads the club with fifth-grade teacher Amy Pearson. The two work together to bring in experts in a given field to provide a fun activity for the girls to try out.
“I like how it’s just girls. Sometimes boys like to just goof around,” fifth-grader Tegan Greene said. “My favorite part is being able to talk with people I don’t normally talk to.”
The club has offered yoga, pilates, Zumba, snowshoeing, volleyball, camping and many other activities over the years.
“It’s something I look forward to,” fifth-grader Ava Kerswell said. “We get to interact and hang out with other girls.”
This is the second year that representatives from recreational product company Johnson Outdoors have come to Rindge Memorial School to work with the club.
“The theme we try to bring to these events is that camping doesn’t have to be hard, it doesn’t have to be a big production,” said Paul Leonard of Temple, the brand and product manager for Eureka, one of the brands under Johnson Outdoors’ camping division. “It can be as easy as going into your backyard or finding a local park. It can be just one night. To have the opportunity to show these girls how to set up a tent on their own, how to use the stove safely and appropriately, and ultimately just how to have fun is great.”
To sweeten the pot this year, each girl was given a Eureka sleeping bag to take home, something the girls didn’t know was happening until they were handed out during the event.
“It’s nice to say, not only did these great people come in and give their time and talk about the love of the outdoors, they gave you a piece of it,” Boulle said. “We don’t want to say go camping and not have them have any of the stuff they need.”
Boulle said she has seen many benefits to the girls who have joined the program, including a new love for activities, new friendships and a boost in confidence – an invaluable experience given the physical and emotional changes that take place during the middle school years.
“I hope that when they go away from the club, they’ve learned something new and they have a new love for something,” Boulle said. “Some of the girls after volleyball said they never knew they loved it.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.