According to the Mental Health Foundation, a clear distinction should be made between the mind and the body; however, when considering mental health and physical health, the two should not be grouped under a single category. This was the topic that we had decided to cover today, knowing that positive changes cannot be made in the world without a healthy mind and a healthy body. As soon as we walked in the door, the girls greeted us with hugs, and after we asked how their week had been, with varying answers, we began the activity we had planned for this week. All artistic abilities aside, we asked each student to roughly sketch a picture of themselves, including thought bubbles drawn around their head to represent thoughts the individual student typically has during school. Girls, in particular, are known to be susceptible to a “toxic mirror”, more commonly known as social media, so it didn’t come as much of a shock to see that their thoughts mostly strayed to destructive questions such as “Am I pretty enough?” or “Does my hair look okay?”, though disappointing. But when they weren’t breaking down their own self-esteems, their minds were being consumed with thoughts of “I want to cry”, or “I need to get more sleep”, or “Life sucks”, and even “Is everything okay at home?”. Like Michelle Obama, the Former First Lady of the United States and advocate for healthy living stated, “Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” With this quote, we went straight into our discussion on mental and physical health. We talked about physical health and what we can do to stay healthy, such as keeping hydrated, eating well, sleeping well, exercising daily, and even doing what makes us happy and keeping a positive mentality, as one student brought up, which can be tied to the importance of our mental health, and how it impacts our body physically. “A happy mind is a healthy mind, and a healthy mind is good for the body,” as the 14th Dalai Lama, or Lhamo Dondrub, wisely declared.

This week in GOALS, we discussed a controversial and important topic: cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is defined as the as the “adoption of elements of one culture by members of another culture”. Essentially, it is the careless use of elements of a culture that one is not a member of with little regard to the significance of the meaning of such elements. We showed the girls an image of the infamous “Mexican Man” Halloween costume. One girl, who identifies as a Mexican-American, immediately explained how offended she felt: she said that her “culture is not a costume”. Everyone agreed with her statement, and we proceeded to show them pictures of white women in Native American headdresses and dreadlocks. At first, the girls commented about how pretty the Native American attire was, and of course, it was, but they were so focused on the beauty of it, that it was difficult for them to see the pain the costume inflicts upon Native Americans. So, we read them a story from Teen Vogue, where a girl named Dunnette Reyome explains her feelings about cultural appropriation. She is a member of the Omaha tribe in Nebraska, and her story is powerful. She states, “When I see people in headdresses or Native American accessories, I feel disrespected. They don’t know the meaning behind it, how we wear it, or what we do to earn it.” She also says that she wishes the world would acknowledge the existence of Native Americans and stop looking at them as a “thing of the past”. After reading this story, the girls were moved. This helped them better understand the impact of cultural appropriation and the hurt it causes.

From the topic of cultural appropriation, we began to discuss blackface and “yellowface”. Blackface is the act of a non-black individual painting his or her face darker to portray an African American in a humiliating way. We began by sharing the history of blackface.In the mid-19th century, blackface became extremely popular in American media. Minstrel shows, a form of racially-charged entertainment in the early 1800s, used blackface to dehumanized black people and show them as inferior in every way. But, it is still prevalent in the twenty-first century, especially during Halloween when non-black people paint their skin darker to represent an African American icon.“Yellowface” is the act of a non-black individual portraying East Asians in the American film industry in an ethnocentric perception of them. Mr. Yunioshi (played by a white actor) from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Marlon Brando in The Teahouse of August Moon are two common examples. We showed images of people in both blackface and “yellowface” and the girls were immediately alarmed. They could not fathom how people find such things entertaining or humorous. They were even more shocked when we told them that not only does it occur in the past and in movies, but many people do it in contemporary times. Both blackface and “yellowface” are extremely hurtful, racist, and dangerous because they portray people of color as “less than”. Many people argue that painting one’s skin is not offensive and is merely a joke. However, making fun of someone’s culture or race is anything but funny. It is insulting and no matter what your intention is, it is racist. Before participating in blackface and “yellowface”, consider the history and perspective of another person whose life is remarkably different from yours.

-Aava F.

This week in GOALS we emphasized the difficulty yet the importance of sticking up for other people and keeping our values even in the most stressful times. People are often given a choice between right and wrong when approached with a difficult situation, but this line becomes blurred when they mix their own health or safety into the decision. All of us have values, and many of us want to uphold those values, but this proves to be extremely difficult when it comes to actually having to take action. It is human instinct to either fight or flee, and can we really blame people when they run away from a difficult situation? The point of bringing up this topic was to establish why we should care about sticking up for others and our morals, and how to do this even when our instincts say to back down.

This proved to be a complicated topic to talk about with the girls, as many of them were unsure about sticking up for other people when they too could suffer.

We started with a quote from Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, that read, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” In the girls’ responses to this quote was a mixed reaction, as some didn’t fully understand it and others explained that it claims that people need to speak out when something is wrong rather than remaining silent. After their initial response to the quote, we talked about the Holocaust and Elie Wiesel’s experiences, as well as the people who had to make a decision between right and wrong just as we are talking about, but when their life and their family’s lives were on the line. When I went to the Netherlands last summer, I visited the museum of what used to be the Ten Boom house in Haarlem, the sight where the Ten Boom family harbored Jewish refugees escaping from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. This family left a triangle in their window to indicate that it was safe for people who sought refuge, and ultimately successfully helped about 800 people escape. During this entire time period, their lives were threatened at every moment. Moreover, after being betrayed, the entire family was sent to concentration camps and prisons, each person dying except for one of the daughters. This is an extremely disheartening end to their story, but this one family saved 800 lives from perishing, an absolutely empowering and

courageous act. Of course, we were not asking the girls to go out and risk their lives, but these types of situations can occur every day in life, such as sticking up for some who is being yelled at. Is it fair for people to bully others just because they can, and what does that make us if we simply stand by and watch it happen? As Elie Wiesel explains, by not doing anything in an unjust situation, we are essentially assisting the oppressor. Again, a lot of this has to do with training our instincts to analyze how we can help rather than running away from a situation.

One of the girls explained that if someone is being bullied and she helps them, then she would probably be bullied too. This is a legitimate worry and something that could easily happen, which is why sticking up for what you believe in can be such a difficult task. But again, helping that one person who is suffering will make an immense difference in their life, and a bully is less likely to bully two or more people than a single person. However, we also made sure to talk about how when approached with a situation where we have the choice to take action, we also must analyze the situation so that we do something that would actually help because it can be easy to make situations worse. Overall, we had a really informative and empowering discussion on why sticking to our morals and helping others is so important, and the girls had many personal stories as well as inquiries about how they can react to different circumstances in their lives. We don’t actually know how we will react when approached with a situation where we have the option to help another, but I hope that I have the courage to stick up for others and myself.

-Ellora E.

When is it too early to start educating your children/students on bullying? Especially online bullying – where screens and harmful posts hide anonymous users? The answer: never. The earlier your student understands the harsh consequences of what just a few seemingly-harmless words online can reap, the safer and happier they, and everyone else around them, will be. This was exactly why Ellora, Aava, and I wanted to discuss this with the girls today at our weekly meeting. In order to help release the students’ pent-up energy from sitting around in desks all day, we provided a short, yet exciting activity for them to participate in. To begin, I brought in blown up balloons, and we paired them off into groups of four. The objective of this activity was for each group to use nothing but their lungs to blow and keep their respective balloon from touching the ground. If at any point during the game, they used their hands or legs, or if their balloon touched the ground, that group was disqualified. Taking up only about fifteen minutes to play, all of the students seemed to thoroughly enjoy the game and each other’s’ company. From there on, we settled the students down in seats – with the help of some snacks, of course – and we introduced our theme for the week: cyberbullying. We first posed this question: what is cyberbullying? Not too surprisingly, most of the students knew the definition of the word, as well as the basic understanding of the action. But none of them realized just how many people are being affected by online bullying. To 81% of teens, cyberbullying is, with lack of a better word, easier. It’s easier to get away with, it’s easier to pretend as if you aren’t bullying another person, and it’s easier to hurt. However, each year, over 4,500 children and teens are committing suicide – the third leading cause of death for those aged between 10 and 25 –  because of bullying, and from that number, around 20% are deaths from online ridicule and humiliation. Many don’t even realize that they’re being a cyberbully until the effects and consequences of their one tweet or Instagram post becomes obvious, and often, that is much too late. So if there is to be even the slightest chance of preventing cyberbullying with the continuing growth of the age of social media, we must instill these concepts into our students’ and children’s heads and educate them early. I passed around two different cyberbullying worksheets, a crossword puzzle, and a matching activity, around to the students ten minutes before the end of our meeting, on which they worked until they left, hopefully with a sense of respect, courtesy, and civility, newfound or not, to others and their lives on social media. A poster that I see on a daily basis at school says, “Before you [text], , [Instagram], [Facebook], THINK. Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind?” If everybody joins forces together, there’s no way that cyberbullying can’t be stopped.

-Ashley X.

This week in GOALS our theme was about education, both analyzing our amazing opportunities from our education compared to other people and places in the world as well as expanding our own knowledge. After giving the girls some background information on the inspirational Malala Yousafzai, we analyzed her statement that “In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education…it’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond.” After asking the girls what this quote meant to them, one girl replied that people in other places don’t have schools like we do. As this is absolutely correct, we shifted our analysis to why Malala considers education as so important, especially for women. According to ABC News, “Globally, 65 million girls are not in school,” and “there are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary school.” Based on these statistics and tremendous amounts of research on education for girls, it is apparent that we are experiencing a worldwide crisis on educating girls to lead successful lives. This fight for equal education is far from over, as Malala was shot for continuing to retain a basic education at school because she is a girl.  Through her quote, we see that education is precious, especially in places such her home, Pakistan, where groups of people believe that women should not be educated. We compared this to our own situation, where most kids dread going to school at least once a week.  Realizing how we take our education for granted, we talked about how education allows us to be capable and have options in life. In contrast, remaining uneducated disables people so that they commonly land in a low paying, often arduous, work that makes it hard to support themselves.  Education is vital, and we need to use our resources to the fullest extent as well as help increase the education of those around us if we have the means. For this day, we used the rest of our time to enhance our knowledge. We first played two group games that practiced fractions as well as expanded vocabulary.  The remaining part of our time was obligated to the girls’ homework.  We had a wonderful time together as the girls were very animated, had numerous insights on women’s education, and gained another perspective on the importance of valuing and expanding the quality and availability of education around the world. low paying, often arduous, work that makes it hard to support themselves.  Education is vital, and we need to use our resources to the fullest extent as well as help increase the education of those around us if we have the means. For this day, we used the rest of our time to enhance our knowledge. We first played two group games that practiced fractions as well as expanded vocabulary.  The remaining part of our time was obligated to the girls’ homework.  We had a wonderful time together as the girls were very animated, had numerous insights on women’s education, and gained another perspective on the importance of valuing and expanding the quality and availability of education around the world.

-Ellora E.

GOALS: A Year in Review

It is unbelievable: the school year is over. Tuesday, May 30, 2017 marked the final meeting for the 2016-2017 GOALS program. As many have said; “Every end is a new beginning.”, and it’s certain that the end of our first year concludes merely one chapter of this novel. Endings are a time for reflection, with a hint of sadness and nostalgia seeping through, but it is crucial to take this opportunity to track one’s progress and make adjustments.

On October 4, 2016, the first GOALS meeting was held. Walking into Oak Grove Middle School, we were greeted with 3 friendly and eager faces. They were all shy yet curious to see what this program was about. However, after a few meetings they began to break out of their comfort zones and became active participants in conversations around politics, race, gender, and equality. A typical day not only included crucial discussions about pressing issues, but also homework help (specifically concentrated in math and science), journaling, and icebreaker activities. All three of these stimulated collaboration, bonding, and learning within the group. Helping young girls flourish in their STEM classes was a rewarding experience because when we were their age, it was more of a taboo to show a mere interest in these subjects.

Fast-forward a few meetings later and soon the room was filled with 15-20 girls each week. The discussion was never-ending, the meetings often passed the allotted time, for the energy was unstoppable. The girls opened up to the group, but also to us individually. They confided in us about personal issues and through this, we developed a bond with each of them. However, they comforted us in difficult times. For example, after the inauguration, all of us in the room felt the impact and we empathized with one another. They were scared, but so were we. It was truly a bonding moment where we held each other up, when all we wanted to do was fall.
These girls have shaped us through our second year in high school, and exposed us to the problems and challenges happening in our own backyard that directly affects them. In turn, this pushed us to take action on their behalf which began with the Safe Haven Resolution. This resolution’s intentions are to protect immigrants within the designated school by denying ICE access to any of their files or immigration status. We spoke to voice the girls’ experiences, such as when a seventh-grader told us her deep worries about being separated from her family if ICE was to make an appearance. Most recently, we all spoke at the Walnut Creek City Council meeting on the issue of NUSD, which is a movement that wants to secede from the larger MDUSD district. Members of Northgate UNCapped (began by a Northgate High School educator Mrs. Honey) believe that this secession is not only highly exclusive and limits the diversity and programs available, but it also damages schools, including Oak Grove, that are located right outside of the proposed NUSD borders. Again, at the meeting we spoke on the behalf of the girls and noted how NUSD would negatively impact them. Specifically, the fight against NUSD has been an uphill battle, but that does not discourage us or others vigorously opposing it. Whether rallying against the NUSD petition or rallying for the Safe Haven Resolution, these girls have inspired us to take a stand for what we believe in. In a position of privilege and power, it is our duty to speak for those whose voices are silenced.

Our work with GOALS would not be feasible without the support of the leaders in our community, notably Mrs. Cherise Khaund and Mrs. Meg Honey. Mrs. Khaund, a MDUSD advocate and parent volunteer, educated us and expanded our knowledge about pressing issues, including the Safe Haven Resolution and NUSD, and helped us articulate our own experiences. She works tirelessly and has been an inspiration to us without her, we would not have been able to reach out to our community on such large platforms.

Mrs. Honey, who teaches Advanced Placement United States History at Northgate High School, plays a key role in local and widespread activism. As mentioned, she began the movement known as Northgate UNCapped which is a group advocating against the NUSD movement. For us, she has been an exceptional resource, an inspiration and mentor meeting with us to discuss ways to improve GOALS; she has come to us with a variety of ideas, plans, and guest speakers to facilitate the growth of our program.

We would also like to thank MDEA for honoring us with the “Outstanding Volunteer Organization” award. That award truly goes to our girls, family, friends, and everyone who has stood by us in our journey.

Lastly , this would truthfully not be possible without the initial approval and encouragement from the Oak Grove Middle School Administration, but most directly Ms. Filios (the Principal) and Ms. Sechrist (the Vice Principal). In May of 2016, Aava sent an email pitching the idea for GOALS; by August, they had approved the program. We are all so thankful that they put their trust in three sophomore girls from Northgate High School with a big dream and continue to support our program, providing snacks, guidance, and endless support. We have plans to meet with them in August in order to ensure another successful, prosperous school year filled with learning, respect, empathy, and love. As Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

THANK YOU Mt Diablo Education Association for the Outstanding Volunteer Organization award. We are truly honored.

Ellora, Mrs.Honey, Ashley, and Aava

The MDEA Outstanding Volunteer Organization Award

Aava, Ashley, Mrs. Khaund, and Ellora

Ashley, Aava, and Ellora celebrating the award

Ellora, Aava, Ashley, and Dr.Weinstock

Ms. Sechrist, Ellora, Ashley, and Aava

This week at GOALS, we decided to utilize this meeting to get feedback from the girls and to really focus on our recycling project and put it in full swing once we return from break. However, we began with a fun activity that we have done in a prior meeting, but with a small change. This time, we passed out a Skittle to each girl, but told them to not eat it yet. We began with one girl and made it around the circle, asking questions depending on the color of the Skittle they received such as: “what was the best part of your day?” or “what was something you wished happened today?” Once they answered those questions, they were able to eat the candy. This was an innovative way to get the girls to open up, which we are always encouraging. Subsequently, we kicked off the theme with a following activity. On the board, I wrote the phrase “If I knew I couldn’t fail, I would…” and asked the girls to finish the phrase. One by one they went up, and by the end we were met with a diverse group of answers including: do gymnastics, go skydiving, or in a general sense to “keep trying.” We followed with a discussion about this activity and asked the girls to further pinpoint their biggest fears. Some of them responded with tangible fears such as spiders and snakes, but many said they feared losing their friends or family. Because of her family issues, one of the girls even said she was afraid of waking up one day, faced with an empty home. I was extremely saddened and almost shocked that young twelve or thirteen year old girls were worried about being taken away from their beloved families. When I was twelve, I was afraid of the dark, insects, and heights; to some of these girls, my once biggest fears were minute, and rightfully so. Fear protects us from dangerous situations, but it also can be paralyzingly. Typically, we tend to fear change or unfamiliar situations, but if we allow that to hinder us, how can we progress? We threw thought-provoking questions at the girls to answer and this made many of them rethink their preconceived notions. We challenged the girls to name a task they could accomplish but they were simply too afraid to and then complete the said task within the next week or so. Whether it is approaching a new classmate or answering a question in class, we are excited to see the girls accept this challenge.

For this week’s meeting, we decided to focus on the central idea of never giving up. We began with a quote by American abolitionist and author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who said, “Never give up, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn.” Afterwards, we involved the girls in a group discussion, where we all shared our own experiences revolving around not giving up, and instances where we have wanted to just drop everything and give up, but kept our heads up and kept working hard. We asked the girls why giving up is typically more popular than getting past the obstacles, and the unanimous answer was that it was easier. Following the group discussion on what we could do to never give up, we spent a while focusing on the girls’ math and science homework. We answered every question and we helped them with any problems they had in their schoolwork. When we finished, we moved on to the girls’ favorite topic: volunteering. A few weeks earlier, we discovered that Oak Grove Middle School–where we hold our meetings–had very few recycling bins, which we desperately wanted to change. We wanted to begin fundraising to allow the school to buy more bins, so we began brainstorming numerous new ideas. The girls came up with great ideas such as: hosting a bake sale, setting up a lemonade stand, making our own crafts, jewelry accessories, and even doing a car wash. No ideas were tossed aside, and unfortunately, the meeting ended thereafter, with promises to talk more about the issue at hand -Ashley