News

‘The Building of a Sisterhood’: Camp LiveGirl Marks 10 Years

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For 10 years, a local camp has been providing girls in grades five through eight the chance to become “confident, inclusive leaders.”

LiveGirl’s summer camp is designed to bring leadership development and mentoring skills to girls of all ages. 

While after-school groups such as “Confidence Club” or “LiveGirl League” give girls and young women opportunities to embrace their individuality, advocate for themselves, and develop resilience in the face of challenges, “Camp LiveGirl” fills a gap in the summer. Camp LiveGirl Program Director Shamare Holmes said, “We wanted to make sure that during the summer we don’t lose sight of what our girls need.”

What they need is increasingly important given rising rates among young girls of multiple mental and emotional health problems, such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, experts say. And Camp LiveGirl addresses those issues head-on. In middle school, many girls experience a drop in confidence, their self-esteem reaching all-time lows. For that reason, LiveGirl—founded by New Canaan’s Sheri West, CEO—starts working with them during this period, encouraging them to build resilience and develop their strengths while connecting them with a support system. 

“When you’re in middle school it’s an awkward time so LiveGirl provides that added support to teachers, parents, guidance counselors,” Holmes said.

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Camp LiveGirl Concludes Fourth Year of Week Long Camp

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Inspiration, strength, perseverance, personal growth, and confidence are not words many young girls are used to hearing every day. Yet at Camp LiveGirl, where 5th- through 12th-graders gather together with adult mentors, the girls learn what it truly means to have their “power.”

The organization that runs the camp, LiveGirl, was founded in 2015 by New Canaan resident Sheri West after her own family’s transformative experience with the Fresh Air Fund. Launched with a group of 80 hosting girls for a week in the summer, Camp LiveGirl has grown into providing a group of 140 girls from all over Fairfield County that attracts volunteer counselors and high-profile speakers and mentors that believe in empowering young women. LiveGirl has also launched year-round efforts dedicated to provide development and mentorship opportunities for girls. With guest keynote speakers such as New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver, paralympian Jessica Long and Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame education director Lena Harwood Pacheco, the campers are taught life lessons such as the value of failure and historic struggles women have faced as well as gaining exposure to female role models.

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‘It Truly Helps Me to Be the Best That I Can’, Camp LiveGirl a Success for a Third Summer

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It’s 9:30 am, and 100 middle school girls are gathered in the auditorium at New Canaan High School. Each wears a lime green T-shirt emblazoned with the affirmation, “I am smart. I am strong. I am special.”

At Camp LiveGirl, these are the words to live by. The campers, girls going into grades 6 through 9, enjoy a full week of bonding and leadership training.

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Camp LiveGirl Empowers, Inspires Fairfield County Middle School Girls

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“I am smart, I am strong, I am special,” chanted 100 passionate girls at Camp LiveGirl, which recently concluded its second summer camp session at New Canaan High School. Camp LiveGirl brought together a diverse group of middle school girls from all over Fairfield County for a week of leadership development and empowerment. I had the opportunity to attend Camp LiveGirl and was amazed by the impact that a week of leadership development and empowerment had on the girls. I witnessed transformations from shy, hesitant girls to bubbly, confident girls. I believe the magic ingredient is how LiveGirl facilitates team bonding through hands-on leadership activities, sports, and musical theatre games.

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New Canaan-Founded Middle School Girls’ Summer Camp To Launch New Performing Arts Piece for 2016 Session

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Ahhsha Crooks, an eighth-grader at Scofield Middle School in Stamford, last year participated in the first session of a brand-new New Canaan summer camp that brings together local middle school girls with girls from cities such as Stamford and Bridgeport, to empower them and gain new confidence through exploring their interests and passions. While she enjoyed the sports activities of Camp LiveGirl, Crooks said more offerings might have made the experience even better. “I am really excited for the musical theater program,” Crooks said on a recent afternoon. “Last year it was only sports and it’s nice to try new things.”

Thanks to a new partnership with Summer Theatre of New Canaan, the LiveGirl campers this summer will explore the performing arts, with the guidance from the nonprofit organization’s professional staff. Camp LiveGirl launched last summer, and founder and director Sheri West of New Canaan is taking applications now for the upcoming July 25 to 29 session.