DREAM GIRLS CLUB positions young women to dream
BIG dreams and make dreams come true!
The DREAM GIRLS CLUB was formed in October of 2008 in response to the Bermuda Youth Library reaching out to Margaret to host a reading club. At that time Phenomenal People was running a ladies support group, called Eagles Wings. Margaret recognized an opportunity to expand the charity’s reach to the younger generation and so she decided to invite girls aged 9 – 13 to join the weekly reading club at the Youth Library, where it is still going strong today. Starting out with a handful of girls, the club progressively grew in size and purpose: going from simply reading to Dancing, Reading, Expression, Art/Acting, and Modeling – some of the things girls love to do! The DREAM acronym was added to the name in 2013 and the participant age was extended to 17 years old. Margaret – lovingly referred to as Aunt Margie by everyone involved – started us on our pursuit of making dreams become a reality. She believes that if young people are intentionally invited to create goals and dreams at a young age and guided into using the tools and resources available to accomplish them, they’ll be well equipped to continue making their dreams happen as adults. Some of the BIG goals we have accomplished are:
- Made our debut in the 2013 Heritage Day Parade, which expanded our profile and attracted lots of new girls
- Travelled to Dallas, Texas to attend a self-esteem conference called Loving the Me I See in 2014 – 30 girls and moms fundraised to make that happen and had a BLAST!
- Produced a fictional drama short film (The Lost Father) featuring an all-Bermudian cast and production team, including DREAM GIRLS CLUB participants. The short film will debut this Fall, 2021.
- Established an Educational Fund that has supported 4 DREAM GIRLS CLUB participants on their way to junior college since 2017. Your support of Phenomenal People and the DREAM GIRLS CLUB is helping to empower the next generation of female leaders who will keep Bermuda strong as a nation.
- Published our first book, Extraordinary Stories from Phenomenal Girls, in December 2019. This compilation of 43 stories from participants, volunteers and mentors, expresses the ‘phenomenal’ aspect of each contributor and is sure to inspire you to consider: what makes me phenomenal? There’s even a page designated for your personal story! Read on to see details for purchasing a copy of the book.
Looking back over the past 13 years, we are amazed! But we couldn’t get to this point without a TON of support from our dedicated team of Board Members, volunteers, donors, sponsors, and encouragers – YOU have kept us moving forward year after year. THANK YOU for your investment in the DREAM GIRLS CLUB and for your love. Adult volunteer opportunities are always open.
We welcome new DREAM GIRLS CLUB registrants from age 9 – 14 and Youth Volunteers from age 15!
Go Green Eat Healthy
Special thanks to the Bermuda Silver Jubilee Trust for their generous grant!The 2022-2023 DREAMS GIRLS CLUB project was to influence and empower Bermuda’s next generation of youth to THINK GREEN and GO GREEN! Our message to these emerging leaders was to drive home the importance of care for the environment, oneself through healthy eating and our community. The GO GREEN initiative was launched in March 2022 with a Spring Festival at which Naturopathic Doctor, Amani Flood, guided the Dream Girls through a plethora of fun facts around living a healthy lifestyle. The Dream Girls also made a giant GO GREEN COLLAGE that depicted the broad spectrum of our slogan THINK GREEN / GO GREEN. Upon completion each girl selected an area of interest in which she is becoming a GO GREEN AMBASSADOR, with opportunities to learn from experts in their selected field.
Covering Our Island with Love
The DREAM GIRLS CLUB recently presented goodie packages to BERMUDA’S ESSENTIAL SERVICES personnel, from Somerset to St. George’s, as a small token of appreciation for their dedicated service to us all. “We covered the Island with love!” said Phenomenal People charity president, Margaret Giloth
Over the past couple of weeks, participants of the DREAM GIRLS CLUB youth mentorship program worked together to color art HEARTS, wrap gift boxes, then bake and deliver goodies for the enjoyment of personnel at Covid testing sites, the Covid Hotline, Salvation Army, police stations, fire stations, nursing homes, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, a mini-van service provider, and a security guard. “Recipients were absolutely surprised and delighted by our random act of kindness!” said Mrs. Giloth.
Celebrating our Girls!
The DREAM GIRLS CLUB is all about supporting young ladies in their growth and development through positive relationships, skills development, and social competencies. That may not mean much to the young people at this stage in their life, but to us and to their parents and families, it’s a big deal.
We are very happy that participants have chosen to spend their time out of school with the Dream Girls Club on Saturdays. We know that they juggle many other activities throughout the year. We want each girl to know that her participation makes our outreach work worthwhile and her accomplishments make us very proud! Parents’ submissions and our observations of a list of milestones during the period September to December were the determining factors for the awards.
And so, at our holiday party this year, we took the opportunity to recognize some of our girls’ recent accomplishments with RISING STAR BURSARIES ranging from $50 to $100.00 that will support their ongoing goals and dreams. We encourage our girls to continue making themselves and their parents proud! And to keep on DREAMING BIG DREAMS!
From: Aunt Margie & the Phenomenal People Organization
The 2021 Schedule
We are currently working on our upcoming schedule of activities . Building on our 2021 adventures, we will once again aim to offer something appealing to meet a wide range of interests while delivering our standard developmental elements of SKILL BUILDING, POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS & FUN!
2021 – 2022 SCHEDULE RESUMES: SEPTEMBER 25, 2021
Session 1: Saturdays from September 25 through December 4, 2021 Break: December 11, 2021 through January 1, 2022
Session 2: Saturdays from January 8, 2022 through March 19, 2022 Break: March 26 through April 2, 2022
Session 3: Saturdays from April 9 through June 11, 2022 Anticipate breaks for the Ag Show & Heritage Day Weekend
Location: Bermuda Youth Library, 74 Church Street, Hamilton
Schedule is subject to change Activities will be announced in due course
EXTRAORDINARY STORIES FROM PHENOMENAL GIRLS
Published in December 2019, our Dream Girls Club book chronicles the stories, hopes, dreams and beliefs of 43 of our mentorship program participants, volunteers, mentors, and supporters. The aim of producing this compilation book was to develop authors and in so doing, to experience the process of writing, editing, printing and publishing. Our partners were invaluable and, with due diligence, we held our book-signing and launch on December 19 at the Youth Library where proud parents and supporters lined up to purchase their copy and get autographs from the girls amidst great excitement! Photo of: Dream Girls Club Co-Author, Nya Tucker
To Purchase a copy
Contact us at: info@phenomenalpeoplebda.com and we’ll arrange to get your order in your hands as quickly as possible. The cost is $20.00 per copy and all proceeds go toward scholarships and bursaries in support of our Dream Girls Club participants’ educational development.
To Pay Online:Bank: HSBC Account: Phenomenal People #: 010-723-005-001
Testimonial:
I read the Dream Girls’ book cover to cover yesterday, and I am so proud of you! This piece of work involved the entire community. Outstanding work! You are definitely walking in your purpose, and I thank God for crossing our paths! Congrats! I am inspired to have my book club write their stories and look forward to welcoming you to our reading in July. Robin O’Neil, President, Passports to College – April 2020
A Dream Come True
Writing a book was our 2019 BIG DREAM…..and we accomplished it. Dream Girls Club (DGC) is about conceiving and achieving. All the detail in between is the rich learning for all involved.
Amazing Partners
Partner Re, Bermuda High School (BHS), Bermuda Press Digital, Bermuda Youth Library, Passports to College, Kimberley Caines-Best, Verna Jones, Chris Harker, Jenice Germain & Allison LaCoursiere; Scott Brown; Graphic Designer: Mackenzie Costa & Phenomenal Women Inc. (USA) partner:Tanya Hutchison
Mission Accomplished
And now our young participants can state with a sense of pride: I wrote a book! In fact, Nya Tucker did just that in her final year Middle School report and her proud Principal highlighted Nya’s accomplishment in the school’s graduation honors!
A Note from Co-author & Program Facilitator……
“Over the past 11 years, I’ve had the great pleasure and privilege to be associated with so many wonderful young people and partners in our DREAM GIRLS CLUB, many of whom have contributed to the book. There are lots of different perspectives about what makes us each special and unique, which makes for an interesting read.” Aunt Margie
About the book…..
A compilation of short stories written by young girls who participate in The Dream Girls Club, a mentoring program for youth between the ages of 9 and 17, who express their view of what makes them a phenomenal y o u n g w oma n . Wo v e n throughout the book are words of empowerment from dynamic local and overseas females who have influenced the girls over the past 11 years and who celebrate their own extraordinary journey of self-discovery and self- love.
Add Your Phenomenal Story……
There’s a page included in the book for your personal story!
Virtual challenges
Here’s how this will work:
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sending out eight (8) challenges – the attached outline will summarize the activity and will state if it is for GIRLS or GIRLS & PARENT. Follow the directions and enjoy the activity! Send Aunt Margie a message stating your completion of the activity by Asset Approach Name that will be on the form. In your message, state a couple of nuggets about your execution of the activity…simple feedback.
Benefits to Participants:
Skill development, building social competencies, stepping outside our comfort zones, new experiences & expressions of ourselves, and increasing self confidence – all important life ASSETS.
Challenge Time-frame:
April 14 to June 5, 2021 (the last activity will be sent by May 22 to allow time to complete before our closing date)
Scores & Prizes:
8 Activity Challenges in total; you’ll score each time you report completion of an activity. Additional points will be given based on your feedback nuggets. Final Scores & Prizes will be announced and presented at the June 5 closing (or via special arrangement subject to Covid regulations).
Note: School work is your priority!
Do the challenges that you can without stressing; use your free time wisely!
SUMMER BREAK ACTIVITIES:
While the challenge has concluded, we invite girls and families everywhere to go ahead and do the activities – especially with school out for summer! Have fun and drop us a line to share your experiences if you like…we’d love to hear from you!
Dream Girls Club News
July 4th 2021
Mentoring Bermuda’s population of young girls is as a long-term investment with the desire to yield positive benefits; just as a financial investment is expected to yield dividends. Phenomenal People’s intent is to influence participants over the course of several years through engagement in activities that develop trust, skills and self-confidence. Foundational elements are derived from the 8 domains of the Search Institute: Support, Empowerment, Boundaries & Expectations, Constructive Use of Time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies & Positive Identity. Search Institute has identified these building blocks of healthy development that help young people grow up healthy, caring and responsible. We’re in it for the long-run!