Female students empowered through VASJ's GEM Club

By Caitlyn Michalski '17 

Career fairs are nothing new to VASJ but never has there been a career fair that focused only on successful career women. Until now.

A female career night was held in March as a part of VASJ’s GEM club (Girls Empowerment Meetings), a program created last year by English teachers Ms. Tonica Johnson and Ms. Michelle Perusek ’07.

“Something we are very proud of is that this year we held a career night, focusing on unique jobs that young ladies may not even know about due to lack of exposure in our society,” says Johnson.

There were 13 presenters with job fields ranging from dentistry and architecture to dermatology, and public relations.

“It was an awesome turnout,” says Perusek ’07. “The keynote speaker, Nikki Foster, gave a moving talk about pursuing your dreams.”

Among the group of women who attended as presenters were alumnae Katie Veasey ’07, representing the field of architecture, and Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzeimer Gail ’88.

“We brought in all women so that they can see these careers are available and accessible to them as women,” says Perusek.

Empowering women as leaders is one of the core values at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School and a characteristic of receiving an Ursuline education (one of the school’s sponsoring religious orders). For two of VASJ’s female teachers, they decided they wanted to do even more to help the young women at the school to feel empowered to grow as leaders.

The purpose of GEM is for young women to come together to provide support for each other, and surround themselves with other young females. They discuss important topics affecting women such as healthy relationships, drama, jobs for women, resolving conflicts, self-defense, sexual harassment, positive self-image and much more.

“My goal for the girls in the program is to bring awareness of what it is like to be a woman, let them know how important it is to have healthy relationships with other women and for everyone to feel a sense of empowerment,” says Ms. Johnson.

The group teaches young women how to take care of each other, to be strong, and to be proud to be a woman. GEM brings ladies together to mentor each other, practice leadership, and have pride to be a woman in today's society.

Another new addition to this year’s GEM program was a field trip outside of school. The group raised their own funds to support a bonding trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

“It was just a nice opportunity to bond together as a club,” says Perusek ’07.

“We plan to make this an annual experience for the dedicated young women in our group,” says Johnson.

The GEM career night closed with the following reading:

My dear, be the kind of woman that people make way for.
Be the kind of woman that takes responsibility into her own hands, and does something with it.
Be the kind of woman whose accomplishments make people stutter when they talk to her.
Be the kind of woman who doesn’t let the fact that she doesn’t have it all figured out hold her back.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the ground shakes and rumbles, saying “She’s up!”
Be the kind of woman that is an architect of society. Be powerful, multi-faceted, and courageous.
Build your own world, be confident in it, and remember who you are, a treasured gem.

Caitlyn Michalski '17 is a member of Tech Crew/Drama Club and is an ambassador at VASJ.