Princeton-Blairstown Center Hosts Third Girls’ Leadership Weekend

PRINCETON, NJ – On Friday, April 21, 2017, 55 young women and 18 chaperones arrived at Blairstown for Princeton-Blairstown Center’s third Girls’ Leadership Weekend. The curriculum developed for this program was designed to help the participants build confidence, overcome fears, take healthy risks, work cooperatively, and creatively solve problems as a team.

The Girls' Leadership Program was originally designed by 11 middle school-aged girls from Montgomery, New Jersey, members of Girl Scout Troop 60518. The girls began the process with a focus on core leadership attributes – problem solving, communication, conflict resolution, self-reflection, goal setting, and more. They used these attributes to build exciting outdoor adventure programs that will build confidence for girls as they uncover their own strengths and break through perceived limits.

In September 2014, the Girl Scouts' leadership work was featured on the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl (IDG) Summit website. Members of the Girl Scout troop also attended the Girls Speak Out at the United Nations in October 2015. The Girls Speak Out featured girls' stories of leadership and social change around the world.

Girls from Hopewell, Princeton, West Windsor, Princeton Junction, East Windsor, Allentown, Monroe, and East Brunswick participated in the Spectacular Skills and Dare to Discover units during the Leadership Weekend. Activities included dam rappelling, building a campfire, and an Earth Day tree planting ceremony that focused on strong women. During the ceremony, girls heard the story of Katherine Switzer, the first woman to compete in the Boston Marathon who recently completed it again 50 years later.

Princeton-Blairstown Center’s President & CEO, Pam Gregory said, “We are so grateful to see the growth of our Girls’ Leadership program over the past few years. Seeing the program triple in size by only the third event is a wonderful accomplishment. We are excited to see the program continue to grow in size, as we will continue to offer two weekends of Girls’ Leadership in each upcoming year.”

About the Princeton-Blairstown Center

PBC is an independent nonprofit with a mission to empower young people, primarily from under-resourced communities, to strengthen their social-emotional skills through experiential, environmental, and adventure-based programming. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) includes five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Our wide variety of year-round, multi-service programs serve more than 6,500 students each year.