Most people say they never want to relive their middle or high school years; however, it does not have to be that way.
At the start of the year, on January 21, 294 teen girls from Paoli, Orleans, Springs Valley, and Crawford County had the opportunity to attend the Driven By Dreams girl empowerment conference at the French Lick Hotel.
Priscilla Woodrum, the Executive Director of Team OC, hosted this event.
“I was once that youth who couldn’t find myself. When I was a young girl, my worst years in school were seventh, eighth, and ninth grade,” said Woodrum. “It’s when you’re trying to figure out who you are. It’s when you’re trying to fit in. It’s when bullying happens.”
Even though Woodrum’s memories of middle school are not all positive, they are the reason she wanted to make an impact.
“I used to always say I wish I could change some of my past, but now, I don’t want to. Had I changed anything about my past, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Woodrum.
Woodrum went from needing a mentor as a teenager to being that mentor for others.
“I always say my life has come full circle,” said Woodrum.
Now, Woodrum is able to reach kids through conferences like Driven by Dreams.
When planning Driven by Dreams, Woodrum was responsible for gathering the speakers for this event.
This event included eleven local speakers: Woodrum, Sherry Schmidt, Liz Erwin, Tonya Slone, Kristina Allen, Jennifer and Evelyn Hill, Dr. Brandy Terrell, Megan Manship, Kara Schmidt, and Jamie Walker. In addition, Miss Indiana of 2024 Kalyn Melham also spoke to the group.
“I knew all the speakers, except for Miss Indiana, personally. Every speaker I hand selected to be a part of this event because of their passion for helping empower and change lives in our community,” said Woodrum.
Three of these twelve speakers chose to teach half-hour break-out sessions to educate girls on hygiene, mental health, online safety, and other topics.
Orange County Health Department Nurse Megan Manship taught the first break-out session, Girls Glow. It mainly focused on teaching girls about self-care, hygiene, and feeling confident both inside and outside.
“One thing I remember in school is a lot of girls struggle with knowing when to start wearing a bra and when deodorant needs to be put on,” said Woodrum. “A lot of parents don’t talk about that and at least sixty percent of our kids at Team OC are not raised by a mom or dad. So they have a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, or a caregiver who may not feel comfortable having that conversation. Then before you know it, these girls are going through changes, and people start making fun of them or saying inappropriate things. So this breakout was important to me, just to educate our girls.”
Not only did Woodrum see this session as necessary, but some of the students who attended felt the same way.
“The Girls Glow break-out was important to me because it taught me more about hygiene and health,” said seventh grader Charlie Bissonnette.
Kara Schmidt, the Executive Director and Lead Teacher of Team Peace, led the second break-out session, Empower Her.
“I remember being a girl in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. I still remember a lot of the feelings I had then. I was a little awkward, I wanted to fit in, and I did not have a lot of confidence in myself. I thought that I needed to be perfect to be liked and loved and valued and to fit in. I didn’t know how to be myself,” said Schmidt. “There were not enough people or experiences that gave me the information and tools and skills I needed to help me through some of the feelings (emotions and thoughts) that I was having about myself.”
Schmidt can accomplish this through conferences like Driven by Dreams.
“I know it can seem like there is a lot that you can’t control when you are age twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen. You are living with others who make a lot of decisions for you, and going to school where adults make the rules, and it can feel like you don’t have a lot of control. But I hope through events like these, students start to realize the things that they do have control over within themselves, and that there are actually a lot of choices that they have in the decisions they make and how they live their lives. That is what it means to feel empowered,” said Schmidt.
The session’s primary purpose was to help girls manage stress and anxiety and learn mental health techniques.
“I enjoyed the Empower Her segment on stress and anxiety. This showed us some differences between anxiety and stress. It also showed us coping methods to get rid of and relax the stress and anxiety and gave us ways to be more confident in ourselves,” said freshman Kayden Warren.
Jamie Walker, the Orange County School Health Coordinator and President of Team OC Board, instructed Brave and Aware, the third and final break-out. Brave and Aware helped educate girls on relationships, online safety, and their impact on mental health.
“My breakout session was called Brave and Aware. It discussed healthy relationships in person as well as online. We talked about the signs of healthy relationships in person and how to stay safe online using different social media platforms. My goal was for the girls to take away Some confidence about their relationships and recognize what was healthy and how to get out of unhealthy situations. I also hoped they would become a little more aware of some of the dangers that are online with communicating with people we don’t necessarily know,” said Walker.
As Walker hoped, her break-out was remembered by students.
“My favorite session was Brave and Aware. The reason being because it helps girls spot unhealthy relationships,” said eighth grader Gracelyn Hall.
Woodrum and all the speakers were very passionate about Driven by Dreams and being able to educate or influence the girls who attended positively.
“This is probably the event I have been most passionate about. I’ve wanted to do it for some time. So once I got some other things out of the way, I reached out to a few partners and said, ‘Here’s what I want to do, and here’s how much I need’. And before I hung up the phone, I had the funding,” said Woodrum.
These sponsors, which include United Way, Duke Energy, SICHC, and Wellstone, helped make Driven by Dreams happen.
“Team OC is a mentorship program, but we understand we can’t reach all kids through the mentorship program. We’ve got 67 kids in our program, but through our in-school programs, we can engage with kids through these conferences,” said Woodrum.
However, Woodrum is not just trying to influence the lives of girls.
“We are planning to do part two of the conference, and this time, it’s for the boys. I don’t have the theme yet, but I pretty much know the content. I think one thing boys struggle with is peer pressure and trying to fit in,” said Woodrum. “Over the last seven days, I’ve heard of incidents where at least two boys have attempted suicide. And that breaks my heart. And these are high school boys. So this next conference is important for me, for our community, and my grandkids.”
Woodrum wants to impact kids, whether girls or boys, with conferences.
“When I was in Spring Valley the day after, they were talking about how the girls had their heads up, were just smiling, came dressed differently, and some even put some makeup on to feel better about themselves. The girls had a bounce about themselves,” said Woodrum. “My concern is if we don’t do something before next year to keep this alive, the girls will lose that. And I don’t want to see that happen. I don’t think the schools will let us do a conference again this year, but I think we can work to get something put into the schools. I’ve got to figure out how to keep this alive.”
