Girls Empowered at Blythewood Middle School Blythewood Middle School and Columbia College have collaborated to form Girls Empowered, a leadership class for eighth grade girls. The program is designed to provide mentoring, career exploration and leadership development opportunities for girls. All of the activities are geared toward boosting courage, commitment, competence, and confidence. Girls Empowered is based on the Emerging Leaders program The Leadership Institute offers each summer to rising ninth grade girls.

"We describe leadership not as the position you hold but the difference you make, and if you are going to make a difference, you have to know your own personal strengths and be able to bring out the strengths of everyone around you. That's what good leaders do," said Dr. Linda Salane, executive director of The Leadership Institute at Columbia College.

More than 50 girls participate in Girls Empowered, which meets the first Friday and third Saturday of each month. The activities have been diverse, ranging from raising awareness of breast cancer and role- playing to adopting two families during the holiday season. Earlier this month, Girls Empowered sponsored the winter school dance which raised more than $2,000, making it the most successful in the past five years.

Studies show that if the goal is to make changes in the life of women, catching them in middle school and changing the way they think about themselves is key, said Dr. Salane. The girls say they have grown and learned about themselves and their classmates.

"The meetings are very powerful. You always walk away feeling good about yourself," said student Jada Parker.

Brittany Lopetrone likened the meetings to group therapy saying, "It's an outlet. I used to keep to myself. Girls Empowered really gave me an opportunity to share my thoughts."

The next Girls Empowered meeting is March 21 at 10 am at Blythewood Middle School.