Our Summer Experiential Education and Development (SEED) Program is the foundation of all our programming and the point of entry for all girls who join Girls Quest. Each year, over 300 girls attend this two-week program at our summer site, Camp Oh-Neh-Tah, in East Windham, NY. This goal-oriented summer camp program helps to lessen the Summer Learning Gap by providing activities that stimulate girls' learning and emotional development in an environment that is safe and nurturing while challenging girls to strive to their best potentials.
Summer enrichment programs are a proven way of bridging the Summer Learning Gap, which is thought to be due largely to the reduced opportunities for positive stimulation and activities in many communities. Thus, SEED incorporates literacy-reading, writing, and comprehension into many of our programs which include: arts and ecology work, performing arts, arts and crafts, in addition to being promoted through classroom exercises, daily journal writing and leisure reading. In line with our non-competitive philosophy, our program seeks to build self-esteem, promote acceptance of others, and encourage teamwork.
By leaving home and encountering new experiences, environments and people in a positive, safe way, our girls learn to step beyond the familiar with confidence. This, combined with their sharpened intellectual tools, gives them the motivational boost to meet challenges and face their future with optimism and the skills necessary to excel.
Camp Oh-Neh-Tah, which means "Silver Hemlock," is located 150 miles northwest of New York City and accommodates over 100 girls per session. The site covers 464 acres of wilderness in the Catskill Mountains, surrounded by 10,000 acres of state forest, and includes trails for hiking, Silver Lake for swimming and boating, as well as sports fields, classrooms, a library/learning center, the Windmill (our arts and ceramics studio), health center, staff lodge, animal barn, garden, and a high & low ropes course.
In 2009 a total of 297 girls, ages 8-17, participated in the Summer Experiential & Education (SEED) Program, where they enaged in new learning experiences to help them improve their academic, leadership and social skills. SEED participants came from all five boroughs of New York City (91%), with 30% from the Bronx, 29% from Brooklyn, 18% from Manhattan, 11% from Queens, and 3% from Staten Island, and an overwhelming number of participants were youth of color. Specifically, 66% were African-American, 21% Latina, 4% Caucasian and 9% Multiracial. Nearly 85% of girls in the 2009 SEED Program came from low-income households, most of whom live in poor performing schools, tough neighborhoods, struggle with positive self-esteem, and nearly all of girls have encountered the many hardships of poverty.
Girls Quest either met or surpassed its 2009 goals for SEED. Specifically, girls increased their reading, writing, communication, and thinking skills as evidenced by a sample of the following indicators:
- 83% increased their interest in reading
- 84% increased their interest in writing
- 78% read 1-6 books while at SEED
- 89% increased their ability to communicate and interact with their peers
- 65% wrote in their journals 1-6 times weekly
In addition to the above indicators of outcomes for girls who partipated in SEED in 2009, the following is another sample of collected survey data from the parents of girls in the program on the benefits of SEED they have observed in their girls.
- 73% reported their daughters is more helpful with chores at home since attending SEED.
- 60% have found she gets along better with siblings and peers.
- 60% believe she has a more positive attitude about school.
- 83% have found their girl's sense of independence has increased.
- 73% had an increase in interest in extracurricular activities.
- 99% would recommend Girls Quest to a friend.
- The SEED Program design was enhanced, codified and introduced during the summer of 2009 to be more strategic in its approach to engage girls in new learning experiences that will help them improve their leadership, communication and social skills.
- Through focused program outreach and recruitment to build partnerships with New York City Public Schools, Charter Schools and community organizations Girls Quest received and increased the number of applications for the SEED Program, which resulted in a waiting list. Of 336 girls enrolled in SEED in 2009, a total of 296 girls (ages 8-14) attended the program.
- At the SEED Program campsite, Camp Oh-Neh-Tah, facility improvements made included the addition of a Yurt to house our expanding Teen Leadership Program and a new camp sign at the entrance of the camp.
- Provided an increased number of AYRE activities in 2009.
- The number of participants participating in such AYRE activities as our Annual Harvest Day and Holiday Reunion Party continues to increase.
- Held a two-part Career Series for girls 13 and older that exposed girls to different career options, pathways, as well as the opportunity to speak to successful women who have themselves overcome many challenges and barriers over the course of their professional journey.
- Developed an outline for a year-round initiative "Personal and Educational Development Career Series" for that will be offered monthly to all participants.
