Download the 2009 Open Windows Brochure and please be generous in donating to help as many young county girls as possible enjoy a summer learning experience!
AAUW in the News: Open Windows: Converse Attends World Leadership Forum In D.C. (June 5, 2009)
Since 1989 the Branch has sponsored OPEN WINDOWS For GIRLS, a series of educational enrichment grants for low-income girls from St. Lawrence County to attend a summer camping experience to broaden their horizons and provide an open window to the future. Dozens of girls ages 10-15 have attended 4-H Camp, Girl Scout Day Camp, basketball camps at local colleges, dance lessons, Horizons, a summer science program at Clarkson University, and a summer science and technology program at SUNY Canton.
Open Windows was created to combat our frustration with the reality for many girls in St. Lawrence County. It is the largest county in NYS, bigger than the state of Rhode Island. It is one of the poorest of the rural counties, with a median income is $11,000 a year and a high teenage pregnancy rate.
Many girls have no dreams for themselves. They are afraid to go summer camp, they are afraid to go to college, they are afraid to cross the invisible line that surrounds the North Country. They are held back by poverty, isolation, low self-image, non-supportive families and communities.
Open Windows for Girls was designed to show them they could do something different, go somewhere new, learn about something new, develop a talent, and meet people outside of their own proscribed circle.
The program started small - with the $70 proceeds from two bake sales, we sent two girls for a week of summer dance lessons at Potsdam College. The branch had made a difference in two young lives. We made the American Association of University Women’s mission statement to promote equity for all women and girls, lifelong education, and positive societal change real.
We decided to start a fund-raising program for low-income girls, ages 10 to fifteen, to enable them to experience enrichment programs (mostly in the summer) away from home. The branch has held bake sales, sold note cards, invited the community to Valentine Day Teas, held House and Garden tours, arranged bus trips to museums, and accepted donations for the program.
The Open Windows grants usually range from $100 to $150 each, paid directly to the camp or school. Often we offer partial scholarships, working with other community-based organizations, like school teacher associations, to help girls go to camp. The branch works with volunteers in the local school to identify the girls for the program.
From the initial two girls in 1989, we have been able to help 10-15 girls each year. In 1998 we sponsored 13 Open Windows girls from St. Lawrence County to a wide variety of summer learning experiences: a Potsdam girl went on a 4-H exchange to Japan; girls from Massena and Potsdam went to Clarkson’s Horizons math & computer camp; an Ogdensburg girl went to the Environmental Education camp at Lake Colby; a Potsdam girl went to Woods Hole Institute in Massachusetts for a 10-day Marine Biology and an 11-day sailing trip through the Cape Cod regiona; a Heuvelton girl went to Crane Youth Music Camp; a Canton girl got horseback riding lessons; a Morristown girl attended the Adirondack Basketball Camp; and girls from Canton, Parishville and Gouverneur went to 4-H Camp Overlook.
The girls come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They are gifted, average, of low ability; they come from broken homes, from intact homes, some come from foster care, some have been abused. Some, at the last minute, are too afraid to go away from home for a week of camp, so we always try to offer some day programs. Lack of confidence about new situations is a tough line to cross for some girls.
The girls have gone to basketball camp a local colleges, to 4-H camp, to Girl Scout camps, to math and science camps, on school tips to Washington, DC, to the state and county fairs to compete in 4-H competitions, to technology camps, to environmental camps, and to music camp.
We have been instrumental in developing new camping opportunities for girls. The Open Windows committee helped to develop a brand new Adventure Camp for Girls which was sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camp. The girls worked on leadership shills, talked about what being a girl means, and took a 3-day/2 night canoe trip into the Adirondacks to test their abilities.
The program has been a success. Each year we invite our Open Windows girls to come back in the fall and describe for us their experiences. The 1998 OW Class was particularly articulate. One of our first Open Windows girls graduated from high school and went on to become a coach at her alma mater. Her self-confidence and leadership skills are helping a new group of girls to mature. The branch won an award from New York State AAUW for initiating the program.
We can’t change the lives of every girl, but we can make a difference for some. We have helped others to see the potential in young girls. We continue to open the window of opportunity for girls in our county.