When Girl Up co-president Carly Erlich came up with the idea to host Girl Power Hour, she wanted to encourage first-grade through fifth-grade girls to explore their interests and develop leadership skills.
“We’re gonna push through and we’re gonna do something cool that we can keep doing throughout the years,” said Erlich. “I wanted to make a difference [in] the club, so I think that was what fueled my idea.”
Glenbrook North clubs and girls athletic teams plan to set up stations at the event where participants can spend 10-15 minutes, exploring a variety of extracurricular activities. The girls basketball team intends to host a station where players will teach younger girls how to dribble, pass and shoot. DECA plans to host a station, involving a workshop teaching business through the concept of a lemonade stand.
“[Girl Power Hour] is a chance for [Girl Up members] to mentor younger girls, to show them what’s out there, both at GBN and in their community, and all the different things they can be, no matter what their interests are, sports, fashion, creativity, leadership, all kinds of things,” Girl Up sponsor Lori Sue Huguelet said.
“Girl Up is a service and fundraising club that focuses on the needs of girls and women in the community, mentoring girls, increasing the visibility of female leadership, and supporting female-centered causes,” Huguelet said.
According to Erlich, Girl Power Hour includes a variety of clubs and sports to show girls they can be leaders in any field they are interested in.
Girl Up plans to create bingo cards for participants to fill out after completing each station. The girls attending the event have the opportunity to earn a variety of prizes based on the number of stations they complete.
The bingo cards and their prizes are meant to motivate the girls to try new activities they don’t already participate in, Erlich said.
The Girl Power Hour event is scheduled to take place on April 19 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the competition gym. Flyers are posted around Northbrook with a QR code that allows individuals to RSVP through a Google Form.
“We have done a lot of fundraising over the past four years, so much fundraising, like thousands of dollars,” said Erlich. “But what we’ve never done is engage the younger girls in our community and really show them how to be leaders.”