“Level Up” is the theme for the first Beach Girls Rock! (BGR) workshop of the 2018-2019 school year, to be held Saturday, Nov. 18 from 8 a.m. to noon at Princess Anne High School (PAHS). This is one of three BGR events offered for Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ (VBCPS) female students in fifth- through eighth-grade. Sessions for parents are also offered at each workshop.
Sponsored by the division’s Office of Opportunity and Achievement and a host high school, each BGR workshop focuses on empowerment topics for young women, including healthy living, leadership and college and career readiness.
Organizers of the first workshop are planning student breakout sessions that will include:
- Social media safety: Students will learn how to navigate all the social media avenues to create a personal brand.
- Transitions: Students will participate in role-playing exercises to help alleviate fears about moving from elementary to middle to high school.
- Vision board creation: Students will identify attributes they have and the ones they want to cultivate or “level up.”
- PAHS student panel: Students from the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program, advanced placement courses, Advanced Technology Center (ATC) and Governor’s School of the Arts (GSA) will share their academic stories and journeys.
Tenth-grader Sarah Donahue, who organized the student panel, said she got involved in Beach Girls Rock! because “I just think it’s really important to bring up our generation of girls as confident, individual women.”
Princess Anne High School Assistant Principal Kelly Arble describes being a part of Beach Girls Rock! as “one of my favorite parts of the job” and encourages parents to attend the event, too. “While the girls are going to all the different breakout sessions,” she says, “there will be Parent Institute in the auditorium.” Parent sessions will feature:
- ATC NOW: ATC Director Ann Marie Garvey, will provide an overview of opportunities available to students.
- Securly: Shane Snedecor, information security manager for the division, will explain this new safety resource that allows parents the option to monitor how their children are using school-issued devices.
- IB Program: A panel of students and staff will answer questions about the International Baccalaureate Program.
Fellow organizer Loren McLaughlin has been inspired by the students who are working to make this first BGR workshop of the year a success. “Watching them want to put together something so much beyond themselves for someone else, gives me goosebumps, makes my heart smile. This is humanity. We are giving back to someone beyond just ourselves.”
Exhibitors include Tidewater Community College’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Promise Program, Obendorf Central Library and the VBCPS Human Resources Department.
Following the Nov. 17 event, two more BGR workshops are also scheduled for January and March.
Students can register for one or all of the events at their individual schools, through their school counselor or at PAHS on Nov. 17 beginning at 8 a.m.
For more information about Beach Girls Rock! contact Dr. LaQuiche Parrott, director of opportunity and achievement, at laquiche.parrott@vbschools.com or 757-263-1218.
Hello! I am trying to find out the dates for this year’s Beach Girls Rock! events. We are not sure if our Daughter’s School Guidance Counselor registered her. Could you provide us with any information? The websites’ dates are VERY confusing!!! Help!
The upcoming Beach Girls Rock! events are as follows: Jan. 19 at Tallwood High School. March 30 at Salem High School.