More than 250 adolescent girls and their parents attended the third annual Girls Elevated event on Saturday, April 30, at the United Way Community Resource Center in Houston.
Hosted by experts from Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the purpose of this empowering, interactive one-day event is to educate teens about their bodies and help them cope with peer pressure and self-esteem issues that often occur during puberty.
Girls between the ages of 10 and 18, and their mothers or caregivers, attended separate, age-appropriate sessions to hear from physicians, law enforcement and other experts on topics girls want and need to know about from physical development to personal safety to healthy relationships.
Topics for the girls included: puberty and menses, hygiene, skin care and physical wellness, social skills, self-esteem and personal safety.
Topics for the adult caregivers included: What’s “normal,” HPV, promoting positive self-esteem, how to communicate with your teen and stress management.
Keynote speaker Stacy Mosely delivered an inspirational talk about how she overcame shyness and bullying at school and how she has excelled in her rewarding career as senior associate director of Athletics at Rice University.
Since Girls Elevated launched in 2014, more than 400 participants have participated in this empowering event. Planning is underway for next year’s event.