by Allison Retka
Thisweek Newspapers

After two long years of planning and one day of enlightening programming, five Eagan Girl Scouts were honored in May with the Girl Scout Gold Award. The troupeís Gold Award project worked to halt the devastating effects of relational aggression among middle school girls.

Relational aggression, or using a relationship to hurt another person, is the focus of the Ophelia Project, a national organization that seeks to create safe communities by improving peer relationships. After hearing about the organizationís success in other parts of the country, the five girls decided to use their Gold Award project to start a pilot program in Minnesota.

Last October, the Eagan High School seniors gathered with 35 middle school girls for a one-day workshop dedicated to creating awareness about relational aggression and its three participants: the aggressor, the victim, and the girl in the middle.

Dr. Charisse Nixon, co-author of the book ìGirl Warsî and staff member at the Ophelia Project, insists that relational aggression is not a new problem in society, but one that has garnered enough media attention to raise cultural awareness of its harmful behavior.

ì[There is also] documentation demonstrating that involvement with relational aggression is related to increased depression, anxiety and other mental health consequences,î Nixon said.

Katie Allison, executive director of the Ophelia Project in Erie, Pa., was the troupeís program contact, and said she was impressed with their organization and enthusiasm.

Allison said that while research indicates peer-led programs have a much greater impact on students than adult-led programs, broader efforts on the school and community level are needed to sustain a long-term educational effort.

In many ways, this Gold Award project did what Girls Scouts strives to do as a whole ó unite five very different girls with five very different personalities to tackle an issue very close to their hearts.

ìThey are truly a unique group of girls,î Allison said. ìThey found their voice and their belief that they can make a difference. It serves as an inspiration to us all.î

A study of self

As a bright, engaged young woman with an easy laugh, Julie Schlichte spent the last two years away from the fragmented social scene of high school. Instead, she garnered 56 college credits taking classes at Inver Hills Community College.

Julie loved Girl Scouts for the outdoor adventures that nurtured her passions for nature and photography. Though she will study medicine in college, Julieís interest in psychology revealed to her the importance of teaching young girls about relational aggression.

She said aggression emerges as indirect snubbing or deception, and can be devastating at an age where girls begin to develop an awareness of self and body.

ìComparison is part of growing up, but itís not always positive,î she explained. ìWe want to make sure that people arenít hurting each other while theyíre growing.î

Julie said the competitive tendencies of an individualistic America push girls to hate their differences at a time when self-appreciation is imperative.

To Julie, recognizing the senseless pain of relational aggression is a simple process that makes a world of difference.

Lesson learned from Girl Scouts: ìStrive to be better than what you are, but build yourself into a very unique person.î

Most important lesson taught: ìNobody is going to think youíre a loser if you help someone out.î

Dedicated scout

Teresa Sperl talks to you straight, with a dose of thoughtful honesty. A quick-thinking and determined student athlete and standout leader at Eagan High School, Teresa will no doubt apply the reserve gained from four years on the competition cheerleading team to her pharmaceutical studies at the University of Minnesota.

While she admits that most people associate Girls Scouts with knot-tying and camping, Teresa said the real work started when the girls forced into the activity by overeager parents dropped out. Then, the really dedicated scouts emerge and band together.

Her group formed this way, and Teresa appreciated the focus of the four other girls.

She said older girls use these later years in Girls Scouts to pursue the issues they want to tackle, to scrutinize the world and ìwhat you want to fix in it.î

Teresa pointed out the benefits of completing the Gold Award with a large group; more girls exert more effort to address more problems.

She said the most difficult part of the process was realizing that at one time or another, each of them had acted as the aggressor.

It takes courage to deal with your demons at age 18, but Teresa knew that it would be impossible to teach young girls about aggression without facing it themselves.

Lesson learned from Girl Scouts: ìIt gave me the backbone to do what I wanted to do and become the person I wanted to be.î

Most important lesson taught: ìWhen youíre able to tackle this big of a subject, you can empower these girls to fight it.î

Natural leader

Katie Dierkes emits an air of curt realism and genuine responsibility, assets perhaps gained while acting as student director of many of Eagan High Schoolís theater productions. Sheíll attend Gustavus Adolphus College next year, to study social studies and history.

Her ability to take charge, relegate tasks and keep in contact with Project Ophelia headquarters streamlined the groupís efforts.

Katie said the Project Ophelia representatives she spoke with were enthused with the prospect of piloting a program in Minnesota. According to Katie, while many Gold Award projects focus on the elderly, young people or the poor, this idea targeted issues that personally affected all of them.

She also said the project was a perfect way to teach young girls to apply perspective to the consuming drama of adolescence.

ìIn middle school, all you think about is the next week and what thatís going to be for you, socially,î she said. ìThereís life beyond eighth grade.î

Katie hopes the program will continue in the future, asserting that if does flourish, it could become an important part of the Girl Scout program in Minnesota.

Lesson learned from Girl Scouts: ìHaving the same group really made it worthwhile. I had that group of friends that I could always go back to.î

Most important lesson taught: ìWe were able to show that thereís benefits [to taking a stand] beyond what theyíre risking.î

From experience
Capable and inquisitive, Briana Robertson already carries herself with the air of a reporter, at once enthusiastic and even-keeled. After several years working with broadcast classes and Eagan AM, assisting local political campaigns and acting as state legislature page, Briana is fully prepped to study politics and broadcast journalism this fall at the University of Minnesota.

As a former teen model, Briana said she had many stories to share with workshop participants about the strain of peer expectations.

But through those stresses, Briana had Girl Scouts to provide her opportunities to serve and to spend the summers as a caddy ó a counselor at day camp who leads young scouts through their badge acquisitions.

When Briana met with a small group of girls who participated in the workshop a few weeks later for an evaluation, she was pleased that the girls immediately started to recognize the relational aggression within their friendships.

ìThey were seeing it happen,î she said with a smile. ìThey actually dealt with the problems instead of pushing it aside.î

Briana said she hopes peers can lead future Project Ophelia workshops in the area, and said banding together this way helps girls resist societal pressure to fit in.

Lesson learned from Girl Scouts: ìI knew the Gold Award would be valuable to get.î

Most important lesson taught: ìIf the girl in the middle can stand up for the girl being victimized, that empowers her and makes the victim stronger.î

Earth-minded Sitting in her living room, Bree Malone somehow remained the picture of calm focus among a pair of five-year-old sisters who shrieked and scurried around her.

At Eagan High School, Bree played soccer, ran cross country and tackled the acting and athleticism that is competition colorguard.

Patient and organized, for the last two years of high school Bree sought the independent and earth-focused learning of the School of Environmental Studies. With a special interest in practical biology, she will study environmental studies at Winona State University.

Bree joined Brownies in first grade and appreciated the camping and book lessons of those early years. But she also enjoyed the more in-depth focus of this high school troupe, such as learning the real history of Girl Scouts for the organizationís 90th anniversary.

As a facilitator for the workshop, Bree led discussions with the girls about identifying the three roles of the aggression process, and was pleased to hear that many of the girls took the skills and directly applied them to their social lives.

She remembers one girl from her follow up group who pulled her aside and told her that she had recognized a situation in school, then did exactly what the workshop suggested ó stood up for the victim.

Lesson learned from Girl Scouts: ìIt sounds cheesy, but I learned that girls can really make a difference.î

Most important lesson taught: ìWe gave them strategies on how to be the girl in the middle, strategies they could actually use it in real life.î

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