 To welcome our viewers to Ignite the Spark, my name is Shar Speck-Pakniak. I am the founder and executive director of a program called Ignite the Spark. What we do is we mentor students, middle school and high school female students, trying to help them navigate the journey through life, help them try to figure out where it is they want to go, what they want to do, and help them with resources to make sure they can be successful. Our program is nearing the age of 10 years old. Kind of proud of that. We're able to make it that far. And I thought it was time to kind of review where we've been, what we've done, what works and doesn't work, and what better way to do that than to talk with one of our past students. So I'd like to welcome Marcelle and I'm probably, I still don't pronounce your name correctly, say it. I never say that correctly and we've been together for how many years have we worked together? Since I was in high school. Yeah, it's for quite a while. And I remember working, coming to Central High School, teacher there, Marcelle. Curious when she suggested to you that this program that she had heard about might be a good idea. What were you thinking? I was scared. Like she handed me a pamphlet and I was just reading it and I was like, I can't do this. I was just really scared. I wasn't used to being around like a lot of girls or people. So you really thought, what is she getting into? What is she getting me into? And I remember one of the other barriers for me is the fact that I don't speak any Spanish. And that, that's for me has always been an obstacle. I remember with Guadalupe who know, you know, try to communicate with family members sometimes. Definitely a challenge. I'm a good old German girl from Sheboygan and I don't know any Spanish. You know, so that, that was definitely a challenge for me. And I think one of the other challenges for me sometimes was even customs. I mean, there's certain things that, that your culture does. And I'm trying to think, what are those dances that where everybody gets really dressed up? I don't know, is that he called? Why don't you're talking about? Yeah. And I'm going, I don't know, what's the big deal? You know, what are they, you know, what are they getting into me? And just to me, I try to be respectful, tolerant, and I try to, I think, learn more about what different cultures and customs might be and to give students the opportunity to share what that is. The one, as we're talking here, the one thing I'm thinking about is the, the one thing that we still do on a regular basis, especially if we're introducing new students, is we do what's called story box. And I know how people would complain about that as soon as I would say, well, let's do story box. You know, people, you know, anybody that had been in the group for a long time, it's like, oh, no, please. I can repeat myself and do it all over again. But it was, it always, I think, opened up conversation. It did, yeah. And I, by the time we got done, we're laughing. Exactly. And talking about coming up with some crazy stories. For our viewers, when I'm talking about story box, I have this Tupperware plastic box with junk in it. The stuff that you find in the kitchen drawer, spare keys, little plastic animals, trying to think what else is in there. I forgot. You name it. It's, I mean, there's some crazy things in there. And we start a story. And I always love to start the story with Fred the Frog. Because there's this little plastic frog in there. So I, I'd pull up for Fred the Frog. We'd start the story. And Fred's having maybe a really good day and the weather's nice and he's excited. And then I pass the box to the student next to me. And they have to pull something out of the box. And they continue the story. And we do that until the box is empty. That usually means the box goes around like at least two times if not three times. So it's kind of fun, I think. Because it's a way to break the ice, you know. But, you know, I'm talking, you're listening. Share with me some of the things you liked about being involved with Horizons for Girls. I like how we all did stuff and we all worked together. Made us like, I guess get along more and interact. And meet new people. That's one thing I did. I met a lot of new girls that I did not know. At first you're shy but then you get comfortable eventually with them. Like they are friends and family. Yeah, and because I still stay in touch with a lot of you. And I'm watching people like you and Guadalupe talking. You and Jojo talking. And it's like, okay, so there's some friendships that have started, hopefully. And that do continue through Horizons. What were some of the things that you discovered as you were doing it? Anything that you found unique that you didn't think you were going to like? Just, I think that's to make you a friend's part. Like when I first entered, I'm like, I'm not going to make any friends. I'm just going to be mean and not talk to anybody. Well, and you did some job shadowing. I think you were with Detective Ramin. And again, I think that's, you know, so you're meeting friends within the group, but then you're also meeting people outside of the group and getting a chance to meet people. Yeah. So, well, and then we do activities like the marathons, where we're passing out water to the runners. That was fun too. And then during the summer, we do the retreats, the camping. And I think that again helps build some of that teamwork. Exactly. One of the things we've got coming up the end of March is we're going to do a retreat. The location is just west of Plymouth. It's called Wind Horse Retreat Center. And it's kind of a self-sustaining place where they have solar energy. And the group was out there once before, right after it started. And I remember, I think that's where they even did the Halloween party. And I don't know if you're a part of the group. I don't think so. That they did a Halloween party. And that's when quite a few girls from Plymouth were involved. And one of the girls was a vegetarian. And I will never, ever forget this because what Linda had done was there was a bowl of hamburger, raw hamburger, that you were blindfolded. And you were supposed to stick your hand into it and try and figure out what that was. Well, went and I can't remember. I can still see her face, but can't remember her name. But when she took the blindfold off and realized that she had had her hand in hamburger, she just got violently ill. So again, something we probably learned is to make sure we ask questions so we don't insult people. I think that's something we've really tried to do. And I think you spent some time with us out at the hobby farm where they had the doggies. I don't think I went there. Okay. I'm trying to remember who was all out there. And well, Linda, who's an animal behaviorist is what her officials. And she would work with animals. And that was always interesting to work with her and find things out. What do you think about, you know, as we're trying to find mentors, get without using any names, tell me some things you liked about some of the mentors and some of the things you did not like about some mentors. What I liked is that they talked to the girls good. And they made you feel comfortable. And they helped you, like if they're your own parents. And what I didn't like, some could be like too bossy, I guess you could say. Yeah. Yeah. I can think of one mentor who would, she was a retired teacher. So I understand, but she would, you know, because one day a week we're doing homework, but she got so insistent sometimes on making sure that people were doing their homework. And that's definitely not what we're trying. We're not a dictatorship and we're not school. We're trying to make it fun and still encourage exploration and discovering new things. So that's a challenge sometimes is to now, did you go with the girls when they went out to the glass blowing studio? I think I remember that. I don't know how many times you guys went, but I think the first time. Yeah, because that, I've seen some of the work they didn't do out there. And that, that to me is real, I like it. Wow. Yeah. Pretty cool. Well, and I think you were out with us when we went out to, and now I can't think of the name of the place, but it's outside of Plymouth where it's got, it's like a retreat center, it's kind of, but it's got a couple of different buildings. And in one of the buildings, I remember there being like a wall of books. And then if you grabbed one of the books and pulled it down, the wall would open. And there was a spiral staircase that went up. We did so much, I don't, I can't remember. It was, and it was interesting because that campus, that destination used to be, belong to the mafia from Chicago years ago, because that's where they would hide out. So, and then they decided to donate the place to a local church who now manages it. So that was always fun to go out there. I think, and as, as I say the word church, I think, thank goodness for the churches that have hosted us when we first started for a while, we were at that church down on A Street that was in that old store. And that was kind of neat, it was close to the library, interesting. Now that's being redone into stores, but thank goodness for First Congregational Church, where we've been for a long time. And I think that's been a challenge sometimes to make sure students understand that they have to respect the space that we're in. Yeah, and that can be a challenge, especially when we look at the kitchen. It's fun to use the kitchen and to cook. We've made some pretty bizarre things in the kitchen, some interesting things. But then always remembering to clean up the kitchen. One thing that's kind of neat, I think you probably, if you think about your prior, remember the, the old stoves that we used to work on with the pilot lights, and they actually have two new stoves now. They do. So it's really nice because now you don't worry about pilot lights and all of that kind of thing. And Tina's mother actually helps us a lot with cooking now, which is kind of neat because, you know, to be able to experiment. I know one of the things they did last week was they made a shepherd's pie. And I, I've never had that before. I had no idea what it was. And it was actually, it was good. And now what they want to do this week is they want to make personal pizzas, which we've done before. And that's always fun. We've made some Mexican foods before. In fact, as I say that, I'm thinking one thing we haven't done in a while is we used to do a taco potluck. Remember that? Where, you know, one person would bring the cheese, another one brings the lettuce, you know, somebody brings some meat. And that, that was always fun to do. We should do that again. Yeah. What, what kind of things do you wish we would have spent more time doing? I guess like going more outdoors. Yeah, I think so. Because we went to Maywood a couple of times, but I think we should go more. I think the girls liked that too, instead of just being in a church like all the time. Yeah. I know something, that's something that Sam is trying to do more of. She's kind of in charge of this mindfulness theme, that we do things in just, I know they were at Evergreen Park before it got called out and they were along the river in Evergreen and just spending time. I don't know if you're with them at the time. They were at Evergreen and they were in, walking in the river actually and they had leeches on their legs. Oh, God, no. And then they had to pull the leeches on. So, but yeah, we should spend more time doing that. And I think that when we go off to Wind Horse, that'll be something we'll be able to do because I've got a gentleman that's with the DNR that's going to do a field, even though it's March, he's going to take students outside and try and explore some of the things outside in the wilderness because it's out in the Kettle Marine area, so it's out in the middle of the woods out there. The other thing they're doing is a musician is going to be working with them and they're going to be able to write a song. And then Abby is going to do something with making dream catchers and there is a lady from Appleton that's going to show them what a medicine wheel looks like, which is similar to a labyrinth. And I don't know if you ever noticed that sometimes at the church, they've got the labyrinth set up in that big Lucas Hall. And what a medicine wheel is, is similar, except it's a wheel. And then they're using candles and rocks and you walk it and it's for meditation and contemplation and calming down. The other thing we did earlier this year is, and this was interesting for me, is we took a long piece of string. We used that, Lucas Hall. And like every 10 feet were 10 years of the average life of an adult female. And so then you were able to mark, okay, where were you born? When did you start grade school? You know, when did you go to high school? When do you think you're going to get your first job? It was fun for them to start to put markers around this and start to realize, wow, there's a lot of spaces. There's a lot of time in there of when I can do all the different things I think I want to do. The other cool thing, and I don't know if you were part of the discussion, but they decided this school year to do 100 acts of kindness in 50 weeks, which means an average of two acts of kindness every week. A fork I called one of the things they did was they did some park cleanups where you spend some time. It's water park, I think, where they've got behind wall, you know, wall greens. All water street. And then the river goes back there. Yep, right there. And so they were cleaning up, they found a lot of junk back there. And then they discovered there was a homeless family living in one of the shelters. So then what they did was we gathered up all the spare change that we had, and there was some, there always is, spare change in the van, put it all together and we probably came up with like about eight dollars and we gave it to the family. So it's kind of cool. And they seem to like that when they can do that kind of thing and help somebody else. And I think you were part of the group that one year when there was a family that had a fire and then we collected clothing and the van was packed with clothes and we donated all of that to the families. That was kind of cool to be able to do that. The other thing they did this year, once this was funny, because they actually baked apple cobbler and they were going to then deliver it to one of the fire stations with a thank you card. Well, as we get in the van, one of the girls accidentally tipped it upside down so it's on the floor in the van. So we ended up and said, well, that's not going to work. So the next day we went to the store and we bought some stuff and then we went to the fire station delivered that. So that was kind of cool. And then of course the annual trip to Rocky Null, which you still have been going with us on that thing. That's always fun. What do you think about that trip? I love going. Just feel so bad and just crying. It's so nice for the girls to see. To be able to see smiles on the faces of the people. Even the kids too, like they're happy. I still remember that one lady talking about, because I come in with faith who of course is something to sleep on the floor there, but coming in with faith and then she starts talking about her dog that she had. And so then all of a sudden you see some people crying and then I saw some students crying and then I started crying. It's like, oh my gosh. But I think to be able to see that people care. And even as tough as you guys think you are sometimes. And I've seen you guys fight and argue and insult each other. But I still think you care about each other. And I think that's important to know that there's that. So if you're thinking about the future for you, what are you thinking that you've got planned in your future? Job wise or anything exciting that you're going to try and do? Listening with art because it's always love to do. It's what I always love to do. Now, did you ever spend time with Laurie at RCS? Yeah, I did. Yep. That was really fun. Yeah. Because now she's, I think she still does a little better work there, but she's basically retired. But I know she worked with you. She worked with Guadalupe. And again, it's a chance to really discover art in different ways you can use it. Exactly. And I think it's kind of cool. She's got, she's got a job that uses art. Yeah. She's a therapist using art to help people. That's kind of cool. Yeah. And I think, and I don't remember if you were with us when we did the trip to the Salvation Army Daycare. No, I wasn't. Okay. Because I know Guadalupe, maybe that might have been before you, but I know I've still got pictures where we took the sock puppet kits and we went and we did sock puppets with all the little kids at the daycare. And that was a lot of fun just sitting on the floor and making sock puppets with the little kids. And then of course they got to take their sock puppet home. So that was fun. And I think you were with us when we did the service work at the horse rescue place. Yeah. That was nice too. But everyone wanted to do by herself and everyone wanted to start riding horses already. Yeah. I think the more that we can do service work and whenever possible working with animals, you know, and seeing that interaction sometimes is really interesting. And then comes out like maybe they're bad, like they're bad and but they're actually really good people. One of the things we've got coming up that we do almost every year is we sell flowers. Obviously it's winter out there yet now, but we'll be selling flats of flowers. And the one thing that added this year is that you can even people can purchase vegetable plants. So it should be interesting to see how that works. Yeah. Well, and speaking of vegetable plants, we did a garden for a few years. Yeah, I was going to ask you, is it still going on this summer? We didn't do it last year because it's always hard to get somebody to show up. And it's very hot and just people can they don't have a problem getting it ready, planting it, but then making sure they show up every week to water and to weed. That that has always been the challenge. So last year we didn't do it. So I don't know, maybe we'll do that again. You can take that on as a project. You could be in charge of the garden. But again, being having the chance to see, you know, where those where those vegetables come from and then using them in the in the kitchen and then tasting them. I think that's interesting too to try different things that you haven't had before. But for any of our viewers that are thinking they might be interested in getting flowers or plants, things that they might want to plant, or we're going to be selling baskets that are hanging baskets, all of those we just put up on the website the end of last week. So those are there already that you could place your order. So it's ready when the weather starts to get nice because it will eventually warm up and get nice. And anybody that's thinking about being a mentor, there's information on the website, find out about being a mentor, what's involved. You've got an opportunity to even become a certified mentor. I've got several mentors that are working on college degrees and then becoming certified with us as a mentor. So visit the website, check that out. Definitely find a way to get involved. We are horizons for girls. Find us on the website, find us on Facebook, but definitely get involved and help us ignite the spark.