Through regular coffee, lunch and dinner dates, the mentors and mentees of the Girls Leadership Project (GLP) can be seen engaging in friendly, encouraging discussions ranging from daily life at Andover to self-awareness issues of women.
The main objective of the mentoring program GLP is to support female students in the increasingly competitive world by encouraging them to self-advocate and take on leadership positions, according to Jennifer Elliott, faculty advisor of GLP.
The younger students in GLP are paired with upperclassmen mentors, and Elliott said that the setting provides a safe place for the girls to open up about various Andover related and worldly issues.
“This is a program that is totally inclusive. It is not competitive, and there’s no hierarchy. There’s no elected board. They’re not competing with each other for an elected position,” said Elliott.
There is no set number of meetings per term, and each mentor-mentee pair can choose to meet as often as they want to. However, the club invites guest speakers and plans group excursions several times per term, in addition to an annual sleepover.
During the annual sleepover held in Spring Term, the group discusses issues facing girls on campus, including eating disorders, body image, confidence and leadership positions, according to Elliott.
“We discuss self awareness issues, values issues–pushing each other to articulate what we really value and care about,” said Elliott.
“I talk a lot to the girls about setting the bar high for each other. I ask myself – ‘How do I open doors for [the younger girls]?’ ‘How do I encourage them to walk through the door?’ ‘How do I make sure that it stays open after they’ve gone through?” she continued.
The program was started seven years ago by Rebecca Sykes, former Associate Head of School, and Kathleen Dalton, Instructor in History.
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Read about the other support groups at Andover covered in this week’s issue, and stay tuned for an exploration of religious affinity groups next week.
– [Outliers Book Club](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/outliers-book-club)
– [AMP Mentoring](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/amp-mentoring)
– [MOSAIC Mentoring](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/mosaic-mentoring)
– [Post-Graduate Support Program](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/post-graduate-support-program)
– [New Upper Support Program](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/new-upper-support-program)
– [The Sisterhood](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/sisterhood)
– [The Brotherhood](http://www.phillipian.net/articles/2014/10/17/brotherhood)
