Girls Actively Participating!

GAP!’s Mission

GAP! promotes the success of girls through education, self-discovery, community-building, and belonging.

GAP!’s personal empowerment programs

GAP! leadership programming is grounded in comprehensive research focused on the traits of today’s most successful women from diverse backgrounds.

The findings indicate that flourishing women typically exhibit three key characteristics: competence, confidence, and community connectedness.

Studies show that confident women are more likely to advocate for wage equality in the workplace, seek health insurance for themselves and their families, and leave domestic violence situations. Planting the seeds of personal empowerment in young girls cultivates confident women who create stronger families, well-balanced communities and female leaders of our future.

Our meetings with elementary and middle school participants are  designed around a socio-emotional learning curriculum and enriching activities  that foster  personal empowerment and engaging community experiences.

FREE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

The Awkward TRUTH: Discussing Teen issues in the tetons

Thursday, Nov. 13th
6 – 7:30 pm

Poppy Coworking Space
120 W Pearl Ave

Workshop Facilitators:
Jessica Yeomans
Shannon Brooks Hamby
Dustin Rifkin, MSW, LCSW

Spanish Interpretation

GAP! Fall Registration is Now Open!

Grades: 3rd – 8th

Elementary: Jackson, Colter, Munger Mountain, Kelly, Wilson, Alta, Rendezvous Upper

Middle School: Jackson Hole Middle, Teton Middle

$95 per semester
Scholarships available, email heyqueen@gapjh.org for more information.

GAP! Registration is now on Sawyer, be sure to create a new account for your household to ensure your registration is smooth.

What GAP! DOES

GAP! creates a safe, inspiring space where young girls can explore new opportunities, build lasting friendships across grade levels, and develop the confidence to be authentically themselves. Through our after-school programs and summer experiences, we expose girls to activities they might never have tried—from skateboarding clinics to backpacking adventures—helping them open the door to discovering new interests and capabilities.

Our social emotional learning based curriculum and theme based activities plant the seeds of self awareness, confidence, leadership, accountability, peer connection, positive communication, resilience, mindfulness and becoming brave over perfect in today’s challenging world.

We work with 300 girls during the year, primarily in local middle and elementary schools, providing relevant, inspiring and challenging program sessions that empower girls to stand in their personal truth with integrity and accountability.

GAP! creates a safe place for girls to connect meaningfully with peers, lean into self awareness, increase self esteem, learn from female mentors in the community, utilize the power of their voice and advocate for themselves, practice public speaking and positive assertive communication, all within our well researched, gender specific curriculum.

GAP! TOPICS

Our girls engage in topics around body image, social cultural perceptions of beauty, gender diversity/inclusivity, navigating friendships, bullying, healthy relationships, exploring movement, importance of self care, discovering personal strengths and obstacles, active team building, implementing mindfulness tools, emotional regulation, actively getting out into our natural world, observing the impact of social media/screen use and embracing uniqueness, all with grace and grit.

WHO GAP! SERVES

Our demographic served is 30% Latina and 70% Anglo, which is consistent with our rural community. We welcome girls of all socio-economic status and offer programs at a low cost, with full financial scholarships available to make our sessions accessible to more families.

GAP! Community Education Events

Our community education events offer informative sessions for parents and caregivers on themes around screen use, vaping, healthy relationships, mental health issues, body image and gender diversity/inclusion in an effort to promote candid conversations within families. We give girls tangible tools to reach their full potential, so that our world benefits from having confident, resilient, competent and civic minded youth who cultivate a thriving community.

Why It Matters

Growing up girls is tough these days….the Center for Disease Control sent out a report:

February 2023 stating that adolescent girls were at severe risk and suffering from increased levels of depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and sexual harassment. While all teens reported increasing mental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, girls fared worse than boys across nearly all measures.

Nearly 3 in 5 (57%) U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—double that of boys, representing a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade.

In today’s challenging landscape of social media pressures, comparisons, body image struggles, and societal expectations, young girls need to know more than ever that they are worthy just as they are and capable of anything. We provide the mentorship, resources, experiences and community connections that help girls navigate these challenges while building resilience and leadership skills that will serve them throughout their lives. 

Our Impact

We witness incredible transformations—from shy, nervous girls who can barely make eye contact to confident young women who advocate for themselves and their ideas while maintaining the compassion and empathy to listen to others. Through meaningful activities like collaborative art projects, role playing, outdoor adventures, and leadership opportunities, girls discover their voices and learn to use them. Our post program surveys note increased confidence/self esteem/resilience/self awareness/advocacy/self love and a desire to come back!! Our participant numbers continue to grow, and we have doubled our elementary programming this year to further increase our impact. WE also create pathways for our alumni to return as mentors and leaders, creating a beautiful cycle of empowerment and connection. We give girls tangible tools to reach their full potential, so that our world benefits from having confident, resilient, competent and civic minded youth who cultivate a thriving community.

Thanks to our Generous Supporters

With their support, our girls build confidence, engage in self-discovery, stand in personal truth and make new friends, all with grace and grit.