Team OC, an Orange County Youth Mentoring Program, is a resource that kids and teens around Orange County are welcome to utilize. In March, Team OC hosted two now annual empowerment conferences, one for middle-school girls and the other for middle-school boys.
“I remember what it was like to be a teen, and it is a tough stage in life. So it’s helpful to have all these resources in one spot and just have somebody to talk to, and that’s what these events and Team OC provide,” said Priscilla Woodrum, the Executive Director of Team OC.
The Girls Empowerment Conference was held on March 10 at the French Lick Hotel, a few weeks prior to the first Boys Empowerment Conference. When the girls arrived, each student received a program full of information about the event, a t-shirt, a Kendra Scott necklace, and other gifts.
“This year, we wanted to do something a little bit special. So for the Girls Empowerment event, instead of sending them home with, you know, pencils or erasers, we actually reached out to Kendra Scott Jewelry and bought each girl a necklace. I can’t tell you how many smiles I saw and how many girls left with smiles on their faces. For a lot of them, that was the first piece of jewelry at that quality that they owned,” said Woodrum.
There were multiple speakers at the girls’ event. The list of speakers includes: Destiny Pingle, Thomas Horrocks, Adriane Rockhill, Hannah Pendely, Raegan Wampler, Kathryn Poole, Jaclynn Thacker, and Jamie Walker.
Five of these eight speakers taught one of the four sessions or “breakouts” that the girls attended during the event.
“So, we had four breakouts: Understanding your Financial Path to Success, Empower HER, Girls Glow, and Brave and Aware,” said Woodrum.
Understanding Your Financial Path to Success was taught by Raegan Wampler, and it mainly focused on teaching students basic but beneficial financial habits. This breakout helped students understand the difference between wants and needs, learn how to maximize financial goals, and look at the cost of loans.
Empower HER was taught by Hannah Pendley, and this breakout helped provide students with ways to healthily manage stress and anxiety. Empower HER explored some basic techniques like mindfulness, grounding exercises, and positive self-talk to help handle negative thoughts. Empower HER also had some interactive activities that helped students gain skills to manage their minds, recognize and break unhelpful thinking patterns, and create personal tools to help cope.
Girls Glow, taught by Jaclynn Thacker and Kathryn Poole, taught the girls various hygiene and self-care habits. This breakout had the goal of helping girls figure out ways to feel more confident on the inside and out.
Brave and Aware was taught by Jamie Walker and was the only breakout that was a part of both the girls’ and boys’ conferences. Brave and Aware highlighted the importance of online safety and what some of the negative effects social media can have on mental health.
The Boys Empowerment Conference was similar to the event for the girls. Each guest also received a gift bag, but instead of a necklace, each boy received a EURANS sports watch.
The list of speakers at this event included: Thomas Horrocks, Adriane Rockhill, Aaron Hannon, Ketric Newell, Nicholas Stevens, Jon Deaton, and Jamie Walker.
Aaron Hannon, Nicholas Stevens, Jon Deaton, and Jamie Walker all taught breakouts at the conference.
The different breakouts are called Brave and Aware, Own Your Health, Level Up Your Mental Game, and Understanding Your Financial Path to Success.
Aaron Hannon taught the Level Up Your Mental Game breakout, and this breakout helped boys learn how to manage stress, gain more confidence, and improve their mindset in school and regular, everyday life. Optimism, resilience, and discipline are some of the ways that Hannon teaches the boys to help them achieve their goals and overcome obstacles.
Understanding Your Financial Path to Success was taught by Nicholas Stevens. This session was similar to the Understanding Your Financial Path to Success at the girls’ empowerment event. This breakout taught basic information about finances and loans.
Jon Deaton taught the Own Your Health breakout. The main focus of this session was to help boys build confidence and teach hygiene, self-care, and responsibility. This was the boys’ equivalent of the Girls’ Glow breakout from the girls’ conference.
The final breakout was taught by Jamie Walker and was Brave and Aware. This presentation was the same as the one for the girls.
Woodrum wants teens in Orange County to know the community cares for them and wants them to have successful futures. This event’s purpose was to help teens feel equal to their peers and bring them together.
“Think about the necklaces for a minute. There is not one girl who did not receive one of those necklaces. So for the first time, every girl owned something just as special and felt equally special, and it was the same case for the boys and the watches. That oftentimes does not happen, whether it is a girl who comes wearing completely different clothes every day, or another girl who is now wearing the same pair of jeans twice that week. So there’s a big disparity, but our goal there was to bring them together and show them that we’re united and we have to move forward united,” said Woodrum.
