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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, March 28-30, 2018 The Park Record A-9 Building strong women focus of camp Parkite Continued from A-8 Two therapists are launching the camp this summer honored for work CAROLYN WEBBER The Park Record Summer camp has a way of creating camaraderie between youth. Therapist Jessica Werner still remembers her camp days in the Midwest, and she wants to help Summit County youth have similar experiences. But, she wants to add an element of female empowerment. Werner and Christian Fritze, both local therapists, plan to launch a new camp this summer for young women called Camp GLOSS. It will focus on helping teens develop strong self-esteem so they can become leaders. The acronym for the camp, GLOSS, stands for grit, leadership, opportunities, service and self. Registration is currently open. The two began conversing about how to support young women and girls while they were in graduate school at Westminster College in Salt Lake City a few years ago. “We asked ourselves, ‘What can we do to help girls have confidence and move confidently in the world? What can we do to help them ask for what they want and need?’” Fritze said. The discussion eventually led to the formation of a nonprofit and a summer camp. The camp has many purposes, but helping the girls develop self-assurance so they can seek and pursue opportunities is one of them. Developing healthy relationships with themselves and others is also key. “I would love for girls to leave having an authentic connection and feeling more confie n t - CAROLYN WEBBER/PARK RECORD Christian Fritze, left, and Jessica Werner recently launched their nonprofit and summer camp. The camp is focused on helping teen girls develop self-confidence and seek out opportunities for their future. dent about their future, whatever that looks like,” Werner said. As therapists, Werner and Fritze both work with young women frequently, and they saw too many patterns to ignore. “I continue to see the same issues coming up — self-esteem, not knowing how to deal with social media, not knowing what they want to do with their life, not feeling confident in their relationships,” Werner said. She said that those are challenges that affect almost all youth, but there are few platforms to openly discuss them. Creating a camp seemed like the perfect solution. “There is something about being in a small group and being secluded that really forces you to be vulnerable in a way that changes you, in most cases, for the better,” Werner said. “I think there is something about that intimate camp setting that can be profound in development.” At the camp, there will be outdoor activities, such as hiking and swimming, along with career readiness ones, including personality tests to find the girls’ strengths and weaknesses and a “speed dating” style event in which teens will talk to female professionals in different careers, Fritze said. “It’s really a balance of de-stressing, unplugging, having fun and also working on these real world things,” Werner added. Participants will also have time for yoga, meditation and journaling, she said. The camp is scheduled to run from July 9 to 13 for girls entering ninth and tenth grades and July 16 to 20 for girls entering seventh and eighth grades. It is scheduled to take place at the DeJoria Center in Kamas for the older teens and at the Summit County Library in Park City during the session for the younger girls. It is not an overnight camp, but Werner said she hopes to continue to grow the camp and add that element one day. The camp is open to girls from all over. She and Fritze also plan on creating an after-school program for seniors at Park City High School, which would cover all of these topics. They have also discussed the possibility of hosting a camp for young men in the future. To register, visit https://www. campgloss.com/registration/. selected winner must then write a five- to 20-page research paper about their work and present it to the Monson family and the Office of Undergraduate Research. Gonzalez’s paper was titled “Supporting immigrant families through their involvement in early childhood education.” She heard about the award last month, less than two weeks before the submission was due. One of her professors told her about it and encouraged Gonzalez to apply. When Gonzalez read the prompt, she said that the words “social change” caught her attention. One of the questions she had to address was, “In what way does your research contribute to social change?” “I loved that question because I’m working with a population that is the most vulnerable in my community,” she said. Gonzalez identifies as a Mexicana Latina. For the research, which she began working on two years ago, Gonzalez meets with Latino families enrolled in the school readiness program, collects basic information and speaks with them about their experience in the program. Holy Cross Ministries hopes to better understand the impact that its program has on children and families in the community. Gonzalez said that she had no prior research experience before joining the research team. “I said yes to the opportunity not knowing what I was going to be getting from it,” she said. “It has been the most rewarding thing that I have done in my career.” When she heard about a way to share her research by applying for the Monson Prize, she took advantage of the opportunity. She condensed her research and a personal biography into about 700 words and submitted it mere hours before the midnight dead- line. She said she was intimidated to fill out the application because she knew that she was going against students who were doing incredible research, but she still had some hope. A couple of weeks later, she got the email announcing her as the winner. “I was in disbelief,” she said. “I immediately started to cry.” She said that the award is meaningful in many ways. It is a personal honor because, as a first-generation college student, she is trail blazing by finding new opportunities. She can also use the experience as something to inspire others since she is the director of the Park City School District’s Bright Futures program, which helps first-generation students get to college. Plus, she said that being recog- Now that they’re recognizing it, I feel like I’m ready to graduate and ready to continue the legacy. Their recognition means so much to me.” Rebeca Gonzalez, University of Utah senior nized by her university reinforces that she is on the right path. “Now they’re seeing all the hard work that I’ve put into my community since the day I graduated,” she said. “Now that they’re recognizing it, I feel like I’m ready to graduate and ready to continue the legacy. Their recognition means so much to me.” Gonzalez is also glad to share the stories of her Latino community, because their voices are throughout the research, she said. She plans to spend the next two months working on the research paper, while finishing up the data collection for the research. “I’m excited to produce something that I am proud of, but also that I invested my time in,” she said. 0 MODERN NEW CONSTRUCTION IN OLD TOWN! JOB FAIR Join us at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. TEXT: 217Park to 435-525-2000 for a complete photo Tour Send resumés to ammy_espinal@wgresorts.com Mike Mazzone Principal Broker/Owner MKTG 110750 3000 Canyons Resort Drive Park City, UT 84098 C: 435.901.0300 O: 435.649.1991 ext. 1 F: 435.649.1998 mike@parkcityrealtygroup.com parkcityrealtygroup.com |