These workshops help girls and parents have fun together while learning about friendship, feelings, apologies and healthy conflict. Each workshop is 90 minutes long, once a week, for four consecutive weeks.

Who: Girls in grades two or three and one parent

Program:
Week One: Standing Up For Yourself
Week Two: Sharing Feelings
Week Three: Double Sorry
Week Four: Choices For Friend Trouble

Price: $180 includes tuition for both parent and child for the four-week series, and includes snack.
Scholarship assistance available; please inquire.

Locations and Dates:

To be determined

These workshops are open to the public. Registration is first come, first serve.

Click here to be notified when future programs are available.

Teachers:

Lindsey Dedow
Lindsey recently moved back to Colorado from Florida, where she spent the past 12 years working with college students as an advisor and counselor, most recently at the University of Florida.  Lindsey was born in England and moved to the US when she was 8.  She grew up in Florida, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida where she established the campus volunteer program and wrote her undergraduate thesis about a mentoring program she started with middle school students.  Lindsey earned her doctorate in psychology from the University of Denver and is excited to be back in Colorado again.

Johanna Walker
Johanna Walker is writer, performing artist and teacher living in Boulder Colorado where she received her MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University. She has performed solo and ensemble theater and dance works in studios, bathrooms, subway stations, rest areas, intersections and on stages all around the US. She has led writing, dance and performance-making groups for incarcerated women, senior adults, and children. Currently Johanna teaches two self-produced community classes--Grrrls Speak: writing and performing for adolescent girls, and Fearless Solos: making solo performance for adults. She also dances around in a 7 foot tall Big Green Rabbit suit (for the PBS TV show The Big Green Rabbit) and works as a role-player for Colorado police departments, teaching police officers crisis intervention skills for people with mental illnesses.

Julia Loonin, Assistant Director
Julia Loonin is the Assistant Director of Girls Leadership Institute. Julia moved to California from Boston, Massachusetts where she was the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Wellesley College. Before coming to GLI, Julia was a program assistant for Tenacity Inc., a youth development organization whose mission is to build resiliency and life-skills in inner city youth. Julia grew up in New York City and graduated from Bowdoin College. A former basketball player at Bowdoin, Julia’s team graduated with a winning record of 112-9. During her four years, the team won 4 NESCAC championships and made 4 NCAA elite 8 appearances. She was elected tri-captain and graduated ranked 5th for all time leading 3pt scorer.  Upon graduation Julia received the President Award and was a Sarah and James Bowdoin scholar.
 

Testimonials

Girls Say

“The best part was learning stuff about each other and learning to be a leader.” — 2010 2^nd grader

“Everybody had fun.” — 2010 3^rd grader

“GLI made me feel good.” — 2010 3^rd grader

“Nothing was hard it was only fun.” — 2010 3^rd grader

“I loved the class because we had fun and spent more time with our mom.” — 2010 2^nd grader

“Make it longer.” — 2010 3^rd grader

Parents Say

The communication skills they learned will serve them well on the playground and in the classroom for sure – but also throughout their lives. — James

I’m so pleased Daniela has a few tools to work with now and so do I. Can we do this again? We had a BLAST!  — Andressa

Thank you for conducting such a wonderful, inspirational class not only for our precious daughters, but for us parents too. In the four weeks we have been together I have seen a dramatic difference in the girls, including mine.  — Trish

Real Parents, Real Daughters is a great starter to open up a shared dialogue with your daughter and her friends. — Kristen

Please do this, you and your child have taken classes to learn reading, writing and arithmetic – you both need this class to learn the 4th R- relationships. Successful relationships will take you further than all the others combined. — 2010 Danville Parent

Even though my daughter was reluctant to participate in the first week, she made a number of comments to me, both during the class and afterwards, that showed that she was already taking the lessons to heart and thinking about how they applied to her. I think the workshop gave her the support and confidence to face some social situations that she had been avoiding. - 2010 Parent

FAQ

How do I describe this program to my daughter:
We would describe it this way, “This is a fun program that I want to do with you. Once a week we get to hang out together, have fun and learn new skills to help us improve our relationships – with each other, and our friends.” 

I can only come to the first three workshops. Should I still sign up?
The four-part series is cumulative. Each class builds on the last; the last class brings it all together. If you know ahead of time that you can’t make all four, it is better to sign up for a different workshop.

Can my spouse and I switch off who attends?
We understand if you need to switch off, but it is best if one parent attends all four workshops. All of the skills (and the games!) build on the previous week.

Can I bring both my daughters?
Yes, we almost always have at least one family with more than one daughter. The cost for the 2^nd daughter is an additional 50% of the workshop fee.

I would love to bring food for the group. Can I?
At GLI we always say, “food good.” We welcome snacks, but please do not bring any foods containing nut products.

What kind of girl should take this workshop?
Everyone can work on improved communication and healthier relationships. We recommend our program for all girls! If your daughter has special emotional or learning needs, please give our office a call so that we do everything possible to meet her needs. We want to make sure that we can set every girl up to succeed.

My daughter hasn’t been bullied. Should she still attend?
This isn’t a “bullying” workshop. It is a communication and healthy conflict workshop. Every girl and parent can take this workshop to improve their communication habits and learn the best way to deal with difficult emotions.

Cancellation Policy
Full tuition refunds are available up to 60 days prior to the start of the program. If you cancel more than 30 days, but less than 60 days prior to the program, we can offer you a 50% tuition refund. No refunds are available within 30 days of the start of a program.