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BOCES' "Women Helping Girls with Choices" Conference Draws Local Girls
 | | CBS News anchor Roz Abrams gives Garrison School sixth grader Elizabeth Simone some tips on overcoming fear. |
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CBS News anchor Roz Abrams got the kids' attention right from the start. It wasn't her impressive journalist credentials that had them on the edge of their seats; it was her Oprah-esque presence and positive reinforcement. "You are beautiful," she told them "You are smart" and "There is nothing you cannot do."
It was exactly the kind of message the girls had come to hear. Ms. Abrams was the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Women Helping Girls with Choices Conference run by the Curriculum and Instructional Services Department of Putnam/ Northern Westchester BOCES. The annual conference, which is designed to build self-esteem and broaden career aspirations for girls, attracted almost 100 fifth and sixth graders from 11 school districts in northern Westchester and Putnam counties.
Ms. Abrams encouraged the girls to be supportive of each
other: "Remember your sisters," she said. "Sisterhood will carry you when a whole lot of other things have fallen apart." And, to really underscore her point, she added, "There is a special place in hell for women who undercut other women!"
Citing her nerves the first time she read the TV news on camera, she encouraged the students not to be held back from anything by fear. "Push through your fear," she said. "Fear never killed anybody." The TV anchor went on to address several students' personal fears.
Each school district sent a group of girls along with a mentor and a role model. During the daylong conference, groups met to read and discuss books about inspiring women and to interview their role model. Role models included a research scientist, a lawyer, police officer, a school superintendent, and a writer.
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