Empowerment of girls continues to be a priority in the Denair Unified School District, which offers multiple programs geared to inspire those from elementary age through high school to believe in themselves, dream big and avoid the perils of social media.
One of the programs is ROX – Ruling Our eXperiences. Since it began in Denair in 2019, hundreds of girls from the high school, middle school, independent study and even elementary campuses have participated in a 20-week series of meetings with trained mentors on the Denair staff.
The curriculum addresses the unique pressures and expectations that teen-age and pre-teen girls often face — confidence and self-esteem, finding their authentic voice, girl bullying, unhealthy dating relationships and sexual violence, and lack of strong friendships and support systems.
In September, participants in the ROX program were treated to two special activities.
The first involved a presentation from Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detective Dianna Barron and two other members from the Special Victims Unit.
The second fun event was a field trip to Riverbank as part of “Empowering Girls in Entrepreneurship: A Day of Inspiration + Career Exploration.” Students were able to visit nine booths where they had one-on-one interactions female entrepreneurs in fields such as politics, law, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), healthcare and education.
“These students not only met weekly for an entire year but also had the opportunity to focus intensely on exploring career paths through doing research, creating posters, and talking to other professional adults,” said Lina Mateus, one of Denair’s mental health clinicians. “Girls now know that focusing on their talents, skills, desires, and values can go far without being limited by gender.”
In late October, 20 girls from the high school and middle school received certificates after completing the ROX program. Fittingly, their celebration included a cake from Dulce Mia Cakes bakery created and decorated by Abigail Melendez, a ROX participant at Denair Charter Academy last year.
Last year, the ROX program was expanded to include fifth-graders for the first time. There were 22 girls in Denair Elementary Charter Academy who participated in meetings led by Kara Binkley, a counselor at Denair Charter Academy who has been one of the district’s ROX facilitators from the beginning. Over the summer, another 12 fifth- and sixth-graders completed the ROX lessons.
“It was a huge success,” said Binkley of the first-ever summer ROX session.
Many of the girls who have participated in ROX continue to meet monthly with Mateus to discuss key issues and support each other.
A new ROX group will begin this month. High school and middle school girls interested in joining should contact Mateus at lmateus@dusd.k12.ca.us to register or obtain more information. Binkley also is leading two fifth-grade ROX groups at DECA and another for high school girls at DCA.
Denair’s second program targeting girls is part of the nonprofit She Became network, which believes that education, mentorship and community are interconnected. More than 40 girls in Denair benefitted from the program in the last school year. Earlier this fall, She Became founder Joanna Esparza came to Denair to headline a rally attended by 35 girls that featured guest speakers, breakfast, live music, games, prizes, giveaways and lessons on empowerment.
The next She Became workshop is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. Its theme is “Unleashing Creativity & Confidence in Every Girl.”
“What is unique about this program is that it continues motivating all female students to participate with other women who are part of their support system, such as their grandmothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, or guardians,” Mateus said. “All Denair students’ families are welcome to join.”
Denair Superintendent Terry Metzger is proud of the district’s commitment to girls as evidenced by the ROX and She Became programs as well as women who lead them.
“The wonderful programs that support girls in Denair Unified would not be possible without the incredible mentorship of our facilitators, counselors and even administrators,” she said. “We have so many strong female leaders in the district and, without exception, each of them believes that part of their job is lifting up our young women to be strong, independent, happy, empowered leaders of tomorrow.”
