Events

Events and News

Intergenerational Networking

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't be what you want to be --- Katherine Harrelson

Nellie Bellows, 2003 Leadership CONNECTIONS Program Coordinator, and Kathy Harrelson

GIRL POWER - Michelle Cotton instructing, Substance Abuse Prevention Class for Leadership CONNECTIONS participants

A Special Message from Nellie Bellows, Program Director

Dear Leadership CONNECTIONS, Inc. Participants,

My name is Nellie Bellows and I have had the privilege of working with an amazing staff that has provided support and encouragement throughout my time with the program. These include the Founder/Advisor, Mrs. Katherine Harrelson, her assistant, Michelle Craig, the Guilford College events planning crew, members of the Young Woman's Advisory Team, and many more who have donated their time and patience to helping me understand what this unique program is all about.

Our annual 3-day retreat events provides an opportunity to share the message of our program that will carry us beyond the event and well into the rest of our lives. For women, programs such as this are few and far between. I am reminded of a quote by Virginia Woolf, who writes in her essay, A Room of One's Own, that "Anything may happen when womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation." I also turn to Peggy Orenstein's book School Girls, which discusses the ever-present self-esteem gap between young men and women in the United States, and the importance of working towards diminishing that gap. She writes:

Girls with healthy self-esteem have an appropriate potential, their competence, and their innate value as individuals. They feel a sense of entitlement; license to take up space in the world, a right to be heard and to express the full spectrum of human emotions.

Throughout Leadership CONNECTIONS and beyond, I hope that all of this year's participants will develop the skills to learn to take up a whole lot of space in this world, and feel free to express a full spectrum of human emotions, every day for the rest of their lives. I would like to close with the words of Adrienne Rich's poem Final Notation:

it will not be simple, it will not be long

it will take little time, it will take all your thought

it will take all your heart, it will take all your breath

it will be short, it will not be simple

it will touch through your ribs, it will take all your heart

it will not be long, it will occupy your thought

as a city is occupied, as a bed is occupied

it will take all your flesh, it will not be simple

You are coming into us who cannot withstand you

you are coming into us who never wanted to withstand you

you are taking parts of up into places never planned

you are going far away with pieces of our lives

it will be short, it will take all your breath

it will not be simple, it will become your will

Discussing teen issues during Cluster Training

"Learning to Develop Public Policy Statements"

Peer - to - Peer Session on Developing Good Study Habits

Kathy Harrelson (right) providing guidance to Crystal Brown at the 2003 Leadership CONNECTIONS College Experience

2004

Jennifer Thalmann

Jennifer is the winner of the National ISP in Washington, DC and was entered in the International ISP in Florida

Teens "CONNECT" At Peace College

Click HERE to read more about Leadership CONNECTIONS 10th Anniversary from the State of North Carolina Dept. of Administration

GEM Nursing is coordinated with the Women's Bureau, US Department of Labor, in Partnership with Leadership CONNECTIONS and the Women's Foundation of North Carolina, Inc.

Click HERE for more information about the Women's Bureau

www.gem-nursing.org

GEM-Nursing is an innovative on-line program designed to encourage young people (ages 15-21) to explore career opportunities in nursing. The project is open to young people in many locations throughout the country.

GEM-Nursing offers young people an opportunity to communicate with nurses around the country who represent a wide range of nursing careers. Our website also provides information about nursing in general and the benefits of working as a nurse in a variety of fields.

The on-line way to explore the world of career opportunities in nursing.

How to young people get involved? Partner organizations- such as high schools, community colleges, job training programs, faith-based organizations, and community centers- provide program coordination for young people ages 15-21 in their communities. Throughout the year GEM-Nursing participants (aged 15-21) ask questions on-line about nursing careers. A national GEM-Nursing listserv, administered by the University of Michigan, circulates questions nationally to professional volunteers (e-mentors), through a Daily Digest. All questions and answers are available on-line to everyone. Students are expected to read responses regularly and to ask at lease one question a month. The website also provides important information about financial aid and local nursing career events.

Our Website features:

Nursing Career Opportunities
Types of Work Environments
Local Nursing Career Events
Information on Nursing Schools and Programs
Financial Aid Information

Nursing pays well. In 2001, the majority of full-time non-supervisory nurses earned annual salaries between $33,000 and $67,000 on a national basis. Nurse managers and directors had an even higher earnings potential.

Nursing career opportunities cover a wide range of specialties including:

Pediatrics
Operating Room
Emergency Room
Critical Care
Geriatrics
Anesthesiology
Clinical Research
Forensic Nurse
Home Care Nursing
Occupational Health
Public Health Nurse
Legal Nurse Consultant
School Nurse
and many more!

How can I participate? GEM-Nursing is coordinated through the Regional Offices of the Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor. If you are a young person interested in exploring career opportunities in nursing this year, ask your teachers or counselors to contact your local Regional Office of the Women's Bureau to learn about Partner Organizations in your community.

Women Action for New Direction Conference (W.A.N.D.), Washington D.C.

Corey Waters (Greensboro, NC), right, joins in discussion at the Women Action for New Direction Conference in Washington, D.C. with State Senator Ellie Kinnard from North Carolina.	Senator Kinnard speaks to the issues
W.A.N.D. Discussion Groups	W.A.N.D. Discussion Groups
W.A.N.D. Conference, Washington, DC	W.A.N.D. Conference, Washington, DC
Jennifer Thalmann & Corey Waters visits Senator John Edwards' office in Washington, DC	Corey Waters and Jennifer Thalmann leaving Washington, DC to return to North Carolina

Adult Chaperones and Mentors from Fayetteville, NC

Leadership CONNECTIONS Peer Counselors