“Close your eyes and ask yourselves, ‘Do you believe in [yourself]?’” Mr. William Deal, Freedom Area High School Principal, said at the beginning of the Professional Business Women’s Forum on Dec. 10, talking to the Freshmen girls. The forum, which took place in the High School’s auditorium, was for the ninth grade female class members. It taught the girls how both a positive mind and positive vibe equal a positive life. The girls were asked to dress business professional for the event.

Mrs. Anna Maria Folmar, the High School’s attendance secretary, coordinated the forum. She brought the idea to Deal and Mr. Frank Hernandez, FHS Assistant Principal, at a meeting discussing the freshman class two months prior to the event.

“[The speakers and myself] are here to make sure [the freshmen girls] continue on [the right] path because what is for [the freshman girls] will not pass [the freshmen girls].” Folmar said.

“We want to help [the students] write the next chapter in [their] lives,” Deal said during the introductory remarks. The 13 speakers included, but were not limited to: Elizabeth Asche Douglas, a retired professor from Geneva College, Sgt. Sherry A. Mohr, a recruitment officer for the United States Army, Jennifer Popovich, the Beaver County Assistant District Attorney, and Misty Slavic, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education Director of Freedom Area School District. These speakers gave introductions to their lives and struggles that lead them to their current success and also gave advice on how the students would be able to achieve success in their own ways.

After the introductory remarks, the speakers were split into four separate sessions, each of which serves a specific purpose in teenage women’s lives. The breakout sessions included Positive Self Image, Technology Communication, Personal Communication and Academic Achievement.

The students were broken up into groups of 16, each group having two senior girls as moderators and role models for moral support. In the Self Image session, five speakers talked about building self confidence without the girls having to express themselves through their clothing, makeup or other various factors they may choose. Social media was the trending topic during the Technology Communication Etiquette session, where two speakers talked about how nothing ever goes away on the internet and the consequences of one’s actions online if it were used incorrectly.

Personal Communication covered basic communication skills and how to handle certain situations. Finally, Academic Achievement discussed what each girls’ hope and ambitions were pertaining to their future with the main focus being how to obtain a long-term achievement with smaller, short-term goals.

With this program being the first of its kind within Beaver County, the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce is hoping to make this a standard for all schools in the area. Deal hopes to grow upon the program throughout the rest of the school year with informal meetings periodically.

“We wish to continue the program with more informal things such as the speakers coming back in an having lunch with the [freshmen] girls,” Deal said.