A glimpse into the life of a Girls' LEAP Teacher

Last week I met my father for dinner right after work.  I showed up at the restaurant fifteen minutes later than planned because I was coming directly from teaching a program – luckily he generally runs about fifteen minutes behind schedule, so we both arrived around the same time.  As we sat down and began perusing the menus he asked how work was, to which I responded “exhausting, and a ton of fun”.  He looked at me quizzically because, although I have been involved with Girls’ LEAP for over four years now (starting as an undergraduate Teaching Woman), he doesn’t really “get” what it is that I do.  I have explained to him in the past that “I teach self-defense to girls all over Boston”, but somehow that doesn’t quite seem to capture all that Girls’ LEAP does. 

At that moment he closed his menu and asked me, “But what is it that you were actually doing?  Why are you so exhausted, but still smiling?”

So I closed my menu as well and went into a monologue about my afternoon:

“Well, I got to the elementary school I’m teaching at around 3:00 and spent a half hour preparing my team for the session; going over the agenda, reviewing skills, etc.  At 3:30 twenty-five 8-10 year old girls came running into the gym and we had to corral them into an enclosed amorphous shape (we asked for a circle, but what we got was a lopsided oval, at best).  Each girl responded to the question ‘What is one thing you’re proud of that you did this week?’. 

After checking-in we got them stretched and warmed-up and then practiced their ‘Strike Skills’, which are a set of physical skills they can use if they are attacked from behind while standing up. 

About half way through the session we rounded them back into their enclosed amorphous shape and asked them how they were feeling ‘on the inside’ after practicing physical skills.  We heard things like ‘I am stronger than I thought I was’ and ‘I feel like I can do anything!’.  Then, we broke into smaller groups and the girls made charts about different situations when they would want to say ‘No’ and strategies they could use to do that.  They used the charts to create role plays of these scenarios which we shared back on a stage to the full group. 

We finished with our closing activity where all the girls hold hands and share something positive about Girls’ LEAP.  Three hours after I arrived at the school I was trying to wrap-up with the staff, but we were laughing so hard reminiscing about how strong a particular girl was that we ran over our allotted time.”

My Dad looked at me, and for the first time I felt like he had caught a glimpse into my passion for this organization and this work.  In that moment I realized that so often I’m asked by important people in my life what I do and why I do it, and when I try to put into words the passion, the goose-bumped moments, the heart-shaking experience of seeing a very quiet girl volunteer to yell “No” in front of her classmates, I can never come close to describing what it is that I am a part of.  However, in breaking down the mechanics of that day’s program session, my Dad was finally able to get a picture of the work that Girls’ LEAP is doing.

What does Girls’ LEAP do?

We change lives.  We help girls find their voices.  We give girls the tools to protect their bodies and to protect who they are.  We lead girls down the paths to discovering that they are worth it.

We do it by teaching physical self-defense skills
that are rooted in the strengths of the female body. 

We do it by teaching conflict de-escalation, boundary setting,
recognition of courage and signs of healthy relationships. 

We do it by meeting each girl where she is at
and building on the strengths she already possesses. 

We do it by providing caring intergenerational adults
(high school Teen Mentors, college-aged Teaching Women, and adult Teachers). 

We do it by providing a safe space for girls to practice the skills they are learning,
both physical and reflective. 

Girls’ LEAP is empowering girls through self-defense, and being a part of that work is powerful.