DeKalb fifth and sixth grade girls are being empowered with knowledge, acceptance and freedom of individual body types with help from the NIU organization Girl Power.

The program began in November when the organization, headed by Ricki Giersch, a health education instructor, trained the volunteers to mentor the girls about issues such as eating habits and body image. The program will end at the end of this month.

In January, Girl Power put on a 45-minute multimedia presentation for 400 fifth and sixth grade girls at Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb to attract the students to the mentoring program.

Girl Power is made up of 31 female NIU students who mentor the young girls from Clinton Rosette Middle School. Each mentor pairs up with one girl and meets with her once a week after school.

“These [mentors] are diverse; they come from all majors and different years in school. The only common thread they have is that they’re committed to the young girls growing up today in a media-saturated world, and the commitment is so they can get a grasp on a healthy body image,” Giersch said.

Volunteer mentors have had many good things to say about Girl Power since they started working with the girls.

“At first, my girl was very shy, but now she’s more willing to talk about body image, clothes and things like that,” said mentor and senior psychology major Amanda Walker.

The way the mentors have affected the girls’ self esteem and their individual image of themselves has been a great success for the young girls as well as for the mentors.

“I remember being in sixth grade and it being a transitional period going through puberty and how it can be hard. I think it’s important to have someone to talk to, and that’s why I’m doing it,” said sophomore elementary education major Alexandra Knoll.

The Girl Power mentoring program seems to have a positive impact on all sides, and they plan on having more volunteers to mentor next year, Giersch said.

“The girl I’m mentoring already had good self-esteem, but it’s been good for her because she has a friend older than she is to talk to about things besides her parents,” Knoll said.