Miss Hall's School to Host Girls Leadership Institute

04/03/2009

More than 70 middle school and high school girls from across the country will attend the camp's two sessions, which offer workshops and fun activities to help girls develop confidence to be themselves and to build lasting friendships. Sessions will take place from June 27 to July 10 for girls entering grades 6 through 8 and from July 12 to July 26 for girls entering grades 9 through 12. Campers will stay in the Witherspoon dormitory and have use of the School's 80-acre campus.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Girls Leadership Institute to Miss Hall's," says Head of School Jeannie Norris. "The GLI's mission of helping girls develop the internal skills - their 'inner resumes' - needed for leadership is very much in line with that of Miss Hall's, and the GLI's messages echo many of the same messages we relay every day to our students during the academic year."

Based in Santa Cruz, Calif., the Girls Leadership Institute offers programs that give girls a personal foundation of assertive self-expression, emotional intelligence, and conflict-management skills for success in leadership and life. In addition to its summer camp, the GLI hosts day camps and parent-daughter workshops nationwide throughout the year. The camp's move to the MHS campus follows a partnership established last year with best-selling author and GLI founder Rachel Simmons, who joined the School last fall as Scholar-in-Residence.

"I can't think of a better host for our program than Miss Hall's," says Ms. Simmons. "This is something that all parties have been working on for several months, and it's a real dream come true to find a home that's not just a place to be but is in every way a true host for our mission. It is a place that lives and breathes a mission that very much parallels the mission of the GLI."

The move's origin dates to 2007, when MHS publicized the results of a nationwide study conducted by members of the Girls' Leadership Project at MHS, adds GLI Director Simone Marean. The study explored, in part, why girls' leadership and aspirations in high school do not necessarily translate into equivalent levels of leadership in adulthood.

"GLI and MHS share a common understanding and language for girls leadership," says Ms. Marean. "We think our summer camp has found the perfect home."

In addition to hosting the GLI Summer Camp, Miss Hall's will continue serving as the summer home of the Tanglewood Music Center, which is operated by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. For more than three decades, the School has hosted the pre-professional musicians who travel from all across the country to the Berkshires to study.

GLI still has a few spots available in some of its 2009 summer programs. Register now to secure your application. Visit http://www.girlsleadershipinstitute.org/ for more information and to register.

The GLI's programs give girls a personal foundation of assertive self-expression, emotional intelligence, and conflict management skills for success in leadership and life. Its mission is to fight the loss of self-esteem in adolescent girls and to awaken girls to the full potential of their authentic selves. Based in Santa Cruz, Calif., the GLI hosts programs across the United States and internationally, working with girls, their families, and school communities in camps, after-school programs, and other settings. For more information, visit http://www.girlsleadershipinstitute.org/.