Our Voices Blog
Artistic Engineering: Building Kinetic Sculptures at Bike Engineering Camp
We challenged Girls Inc. Eureka! participants to engage in artistic engineering by building kinetic sculptures during a unique bike engineering camp.
Participants learned STEM engineering skills and used their creativity to design and build moving sculptures on bikes.
Learn more about the camp from a participant and the volunteers who made it happen.
Youth Advocacy in Action: Minneapolis Teen Advocates for Comprehensive Sexual Education on Capitol Hill
Michelle, a 17-year-old senior at Blake, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of Girls Inc.’s eighth cohort of the Teen Advocacy Council.
The group flew to Washington, D.C. for a four-day event to voice their desire for change at the highest levels of government.
Read more about Michelle's experience as a youth advocate.
Eureka Participants Visit Brooklyn Center, Meet Women in Government
Our Girls Inc. Eureka! youth recently visited Brooklyn Center. They toured city facilities and discussed government careers with several influential women.
Youth In Action — Share, Lead, Change
The Youth In Action (YIA) group at South High School (students who identify with girlhood — freshman to senior) meets every other week to share their views and experiences, learn about social injustice and discover how their values and identity can be transformed through advocacy and activism. By the end of the year-long program, the YIA cohort will implement an advocacy project that improves their community in a tangible way. YWCA has structured the TAC experience around community building, shared expectations, and learning through activities, field trips, and guest speakers.
Franklin Beacons STEAM Fest
Franklin Middle School Beacons is moving full STEAM ahead with engaging students into project-based learning. Evidence of this was shown at Franklin’s recent 1st Annual STEAM Fest where students, families, and staff all participated in fun and engaging STEM and STEAM learning activities.
A Story We Can’t “Make Up”
Carliene Quist, Girls & Youth Program Manager, arrived in Milwaukee for the October 2023 Women’s Convention with a suitcase and her work laptop. She returned home to Minneapolis with a truckload of donations for participants in Girls & Youth programs!
YWCA Beacons Doubling Youth
During the current school year and into summer 2024, YWCA Girls & Youth will serve upwards of 850 youth in Beacons afterschool programming. Among them are 450 students at YWCA’s new Beacons Learning Center: South High School!
Celebrating the Strength in All Women at the 14th Annual Women's Triathlon
As the largest all-women triathlon in the country, the race attracted participants ages 11 to 80+ with varying levels of experience, diverse backgrounds and powerful stories.
Camp "Float" with Girls Inc.
Over five days, ten of our Girls Inc. Eureka! youth put their science, engineering and creative minds to work and created milk carton floats!
Go Solar by Cooking with the Sun and More!
YWCA Minneapolis Beacons Summer Program and Strong Fast Fit (SFF) collaborated with GoSolar! Kidz this summer! They learned about solar energy, how to cultivate it, its different uses and how to store it.
Eureka! Alum Grace Nominated for a Posse Scholarship
Last year, The Posse Foundation partnered with YWCA Minneapolis Girls and Youth Department. The foundation is a national organization identifying public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who traditional college selection processes may overlook. This allows students to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multicultural teams — "Posses" — of ten students.