PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Since she became executive director for the nonprofit organization Mainely Girls in July 2015, Carol Ayoob and her board of directors have created activities to bring middle and high school girls in Aroostook County together to connect with and learn from each other in a positive setting.
Formerly based in Rockport and founded by Mary Orear in 1996, Mainely Girls “works proactively in rural Maine communities and on the state level to bring about positive change for girls,” according to its website.
During the past few years the group has relocated to Aroostook County and held Girls Point of View Book Clubs, a spring conference in 2016, a summer survival camp in 2017 at The Jack Mountain Bushcraft School in Masardis, and weekly theater workshops in Mars Hill and Ashland, the last three funded through Maine and New England-based grants.
Now the organization wants to expand its outreach in Aroostook County further through its second annual Spring Conference for Girls at the University of Maine at Presque Isle on June 1 and 2, a mentorship program with UMPI students, and the group’s soon-to-be first official location in UMPI’s Normal Hall.
“We have a Go Fund Me page that has raised $316 so far for the conference. We’ve received other donations from individuals and businesses and we’d like to raise the $5,000 we need for the conference by May 15,” Ayoob said, before the most recent Mainely Girls board meeting on April 27.
Ayoob has visited local schools to recruit 50 eighth and ninth-grade girls — three from each grade in all participating schools — for the spring conference. Starting at 9 a.m. on June 1, girls will attend workshops on topics such as social media, money management and biology, and participate in activities such as a poetry slam, music, swimming, yoga and a silhouette art project.
“Girls need to have a place where they receive encouragement and make connections with one another,” Ayoob said. “Sometimes they can feel more confident and comfortable with sharing their feelings when they’re alone together.”
Ayoob, an artist and part-time art instructor at UMPI, also hopes that locating the Mainely Girls office on campus will help bring about internship opportunities for young girls and give them further exposure to a college environment. Starting in fall 2018, Mainely Girls will begin its UMPI Mentorship Program where college students regularly meet with young girls at support groups, book clubs, running groups and other activities, and serve as role models.
Mainely Girls is also in the planning stages of establishing a Women’s Resource Center at UMPI and hopes to create a weekly support group for high school students that would meet on campus and provide a safe place for girls to share struggles, stories and encouragement.
“It’s important for girls to form relationships with adults and peers who aren’t necessarily family members,” said Mainely Girls Board Chair Annie Johnson, also a therapist for adolescents and adults at Northern Lighthouse, LLC. “There aren’t a lot of groups like this for teen girls in rural areas, so Mainely Girls gives them that opportunity to build teamwork and support outside their school environment.”
Ayoob is no stranger to empowering young women. In the late 90s, she established a weekly interactive theater group for girls called “Sisters-IN-sight” that performed both locally and on tour for other girls in the state. For six years, Ayoob worked with 33 girls from eight Aroostook County schools and learned of the unique bonds that women can form when they’re together.
“I still hear from those girls 20 years later and they tell me how much the group made a difference in their lives,” Ayoob said. “I think the time is right for girls to be recognized as the strong, smart and resilient people that they are.”
Eighth and ninth-grade students interested in the Mainely Girls spring conference can sign up with their school guidance counselor. For more information, contact Ayoob at (207) 768-5903 or director@mainelygirls.org or visit https://mainelygirls.org/ and the group’s Facebook page.
