Programs & Services > Camille Cosby Girls' Program
The Camille Cosby Girls Program
Together we are dedicated to supporting self-worth, encouraging self-reflection, and promoting healthy lifestyle choices in girls 11-14 years old.
Events
Camille Cosby "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" Essay and Art Contest
"Say It Write” Self-Expression Conference
Healthy Me! Celebration.
The Camille Cosby Girls Program (CCGP) is managed by the Media Center of Judge Baker Children’s Center. CCGP hosts three free community events throughout the school year. Additional information about our three events is included below.
Contact: Barbara Sweeny
617-278-4106
ccgp@jbcc.harvard.edu
Useful Websites for Girls
The Camille Cosby Girls Program is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Useful Websites for Parents
The Camille Cosby Girls Program is not responsibe for the content of external sites.
Camille Cosby “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” Essay Contest
See the winning essays from the 2009 "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" Essay and Art Contest.
The Camille Cosby “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” Essay Contest was created so girls could articulate the joys and struggles in their young lives without fear of judgment. The very simple idea behind the contest is that writing is a healthy form of expression that can increase academic performance, provide an outlet for stress, and build self-esteem. From the start, girls have been encouraged to write about what it means to be a girl in today’s society.
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"Walk a Mile in My Shoes” provides a safe and encouraging context for girls to express their personal narratives. Essay contest judges, a diverse group of well-respected members of the Boston community, are always impressed by the powerful and poignant essays that are submitted. Although the participants are only between the ages of 11 and 14, they |
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commonly write about their culture, friends, family and school as well as difficult issues such as death, teen pregnancy, violence, peer pressure, gangs, and prejudice. In the process of writing about their lives, the girls are gaining skills for self-reflection--a valuable asset for success and resilience later in life.
The Award Ceremony Luncheon recognizes all of the essay writers with certificates,
journals, and a bound copy of the essays. The Essay Contest winners, who
have done a superb job of expressing themselves while paying attention to
grammar and spelling, receive cash prizes.
“Reading has inspired me to become who I am and to be a success. Reading helps me know where I want to go in life and who I want to become. Reading books gives me confidence in myself."
Excerpt from a "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" essay by Pasha, 14.
“Say It Write” Self-Expression Conference
View images from the 2009 Event.
The “Say It Write” Conference encourages all essay contest participants, their friends, and other girls in the community, to learn about writing and other forms of creative self-expression. Workshops have included poetry, creative writing, journal writing, and drama as well as jewelry making, dance, painting, mask making, and clay. The conference closes with the award luncheon for the “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” essay contest. |
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“A mile in my shoes may not be, at times, the hardest mile to walk because it may just seem ordinary. But as I lie in my bed waiting for sleep to envelop me I remember that I am me and that my life is different than every other person on this whole planet.”
Excerpt from a "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" essay by Maddie, 13.
Healthy Me! Celebration
Click Here to view photographs from the April 4th event.
During April school vacation, CCGP hosts the “Healthy Me!” Celebration, which teaches girls about nutrition, physical fitness, safety, and finding healthy, active alternatives to electronic media.
A main component of the CCGP philosophy is that healthy development builds the belief that we can influence our environment by making healthy choices. In order to fulfill this portion of the mission, CCGP created an event that addresses the onslaught of media and commercialism that girls today encounter on a daily basis. The Healthy Me! Celebration is a conference about physical and emotional health and well-being for middle school girls ages 11-14. The focus of the full-day event is to provide information on healthy living and to offer fun media-free activities for girls to learn and incorporate into their lives.
CCGP is sensitive to the effect that media has on young girls. Studies
have shown that media violence and sexuality can have a negative impact
on adolescent viewers. In addition, media can perpetrate stereotypes and
distort cultural identity. Our media literacy workshops and presentations
specifically address the reality that marketers and media often target young
girls with demeaning images of themselves. For young girls from minority
cultures, the racism embedded in today’s commercial media is an added
burden. CCGP encourages the girls to challenge commercial messages and evaluate
how their experiences of themselves and their friends and family are different
from those portrayed on the screen. We also help girls to look within their
families and communities to find positive, realistic, role-models for becoming
healthy women in the world.
Healthy Me! also features workshops on nutrition, yoga, exercise, stress
management, and double dutch jump rope. The nutrition workshops teach the
girls about realistic, yet healthy food choices. The physical fitness component
is one that fulfills CCGP’s mission of encouraging young girls to
incorporate exercise in their daily routines. The girls are further encouraged
at the end of the event to keep up with their healthy decisions by receiving
“play packs” of media-free activities and folders of information
about games and nutrition.
Click Here for Printable Directions to The Baker.
The Camille Cosby Girls Program has been in existence for 16 years and has reached girls ages 10-16 through various schools, churches, and after-school programs in the Boston area. We have found that girls today are subjected to societal stereotypes and “assigned roles.” Academic achievement is frequently viewed in a negative light, as is involvement in organized sports. Unhealthy messages emanating from media are often reinforced and compounded by pressure from peer groups. From commercialized music, movies, video games and television, girls are inundated with destructively-themed media content that degrade women and minimize their place in society. Through gender-specific educational initiatives, sponsored events, and peer support, the Camille Cosby Girls Program specifically confronts these issues.
“Sometimes I do not even like expressing myself because some one always has to add their own thoughts and opinions when they are not needed…It is hard not to get swept up in others’ opinions, they always stick to me."
Excerpt from a "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" essay by Shayla, 12.
Click here for information on upcoming events!
Program Supporters
Camille O. Cosby, Ed.D.
Baupost Group Charitable Fund