CC 学生 are working with local elementary 和 middle school girls to inspire them to be creative, 自信, 充满想象力 合作促进社区参与 创建俱乐部.

“This club is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the community, 获得社区服务时间, 花时间和年轻人在一起,25岁的联合主席艾米丽·马普尔说. “年轻的学生尊敬大学生, 和, 通过分享你的经历, you can inspire them to pursue their passions or even to attend college. 也, 因为俱乐部的性质, it provides opportunities to bond with 学生 和 form a friendship. 这不仅仅是偶尔做志愿者. 另外, this club is a lot of fun if you enjoy doing crafts!”

“The club’s purpose is to provide a safe community for femme-identifying 和 LGBTQ+ 学生 by having a one-on-one mentorship program,25岁的加比·罗根说, 主修政治学和历史，辅修教育学. “This club gives an opportunity for adolescent 学生 to ask uncomfortable questions that they don’t necessarily feel like opening up to other adults about.”

CC CREATE members typically begin discussions by letting the middle school girls ask questions about that day’s topic, 比如为什么保护环境如此重要.

“This gives 学生 the opportunity to have more control over the conversation, 我们可以讨论他们真正关心的话题,罗根说。, who has been a member of the club for two years 和 became co-chair this year. “I believe that is how we are able to build that kind of trust.”

CREATE成员对指定的主题有一个大致的概念, they try to be very flexible 和 allow the girls to control the conversation 和 ask their own questions about the topic.

“课程不是很有条理, because we want everybody to feel comfortable 和 have more agency in the space,罗根说.

To keep things light when discussing difficult or sensitive topics, CREATE members will conduct an arts 和 crafts activity with the middle school girls, 比如拼贴或制作友谊手镯.

“Middle school 学生 deserve to have a safe space outside of the classroom 和 home that allows them to express themselves how they want to 和 talk about whatever is on their mind–even if it is uncomfortable,罗根说。. “This is such an important age for adolescents to have positive role models 和 reinforce good behaviors that will help them in the future.”

CREATE club members provide overall mentorship to the middle school girls, as well as offer advice 和 encourage them to advocate for themselves in difficult situations, 比如友谊剧或者和老师的问题.

在COVID-19之前, CREATE would match CC 学生 with specific middle school girls, 让女孩们获得更个性化的指导体验. 然而, 在COVID, 出席人数越来越难以预测, so the club shifted formats into more group-focused activity 和 conversations.

也是因为COVID, CREATE俱乐部成员工作的年级跨度更大, 包括一些小学生, meaning 学生 in older elementary school 年级s were in discussions with eighth 年级 学生, 全部由CC CREATE俱乐部成员协调.

“因为这种独特的环境, 学生可以成为小组中年轻成员的导师, 和 the younger members are able to better advocate for themselves at the end of the semester,罗根说.

One of Marple’s favorite moments of CREATE was actually when they got to work with kindergarteners due to COVID restrictions at the middle school.

“We were outside on the playground when a kindergartener saw an empty milk carton from the cafeteria,” Marple, an Organismal Biology 和 Ecology major 和 Race, Ethnicity, 和 Migration Studies minor. “她马上跑过去把它捡起来告诉了我, 非常严厉的, 五年级的学生总是乱扔垃圾. We went around 和 picked up all the trash on the playground together while she talked about how it was bad for the environment to leave trash out. 她显然很有激情, 和 it was so cute because it reminded me of myself in elementary school. I told her that it was really good that she cared about the environment, 我们需要像她这样的人来关心. 我还告诉她我是14岁的^th 年级,’ 和 that I spend a lot of my time studying the environment 和 how climate change is affecting the world. 我说我觉得她会是个了不起的科学家. She thought about it for a few seconds 和 said, ‘I do really like science class...也许我会研究一下.虽然我不知道她是否会坚持这个想法, 那天我离开CREATE时感到非常开心和满足.”

Marple joined this club because she wanted to get more involved in the local Colorado Springs community. 另外, 她对将来与年轻人一起工作很感兴趣, 所以她可以通过CREATE来探索这个兴趣.

This semester CREATE has resumed working with just middle school girls.

“COVID has definitely presented many obstacles in terms of having a consistent school to work with, 但我们很感激能继续留在俱乐部,罗根说. “My favorite part of CREATE is definitely when 学生 greet us when we get to the classroom, 因为在那些时刻有太多的爱.”  

“Some of my other favorite memories from CREATE are debriefing in the car with other CC 学生,马普尔说。, who joined CREATE in her sophomore year 和 became co-chair last semester. “我们都一起开车上下学, so it is fun to regroup at the end 和 talk about the experiences we had. 从讲愚蠢的故事和观察, 向其他俱乐部成员征求意见, these car rides build a sense of community 和 friendship within the club. I am grateful for the opportunity to chat about everything on our way back to campus!”

CREATE members meet on the first 和 third Thursday of every block 和 the time commitment is about four to six hours a block, though the schedule is subject to change depending on the needs of the schools they work with. The club aims to have seven to 12 consistent members in order to meet the dem和s of the schools 和 to allow for student 和 mentor relationships to develop. 该俱乐部目前有7名活跃会员. CC 学生 interested in joining CREATE should reach out to Emily Marple at e_marple@chuyennhuong-vinhomes.net.