EMPOWERING NAUGATUCK TEENS
BY PAUL SINGLEY
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
NAUGATUCK — Naugatuck High School incoming senior Jade Trowery says she missed several days of school last year because she was not always comfortable among her peers.
This summer, the 17-yearold Trowery is among a small group of young women voluntarily attending NHS, where they are learning a valuable lesson about a simple yet effective path to success: “just show up,” Trowery said.
“Last year, I didn’t show up,” she said, adding that the recent message from a guest speaker at the school about how showing up is half the battle has made Trowery confident that she can turn her high school experience around, graduate and be successful.
That is the ultimate goal of the ongoing three-week pilot program Trowery is involved with called “She Who Conquers,” which is geared mostly toward minority teen girls in Naugatuck who were considered chronically absent in the past school year. The girls do not pay for the program and receive school credit.
Currently, there are 12 participants in the course, which is funded by a grant from the Norwalk-based Carver Foundation, a nonprofit educational program whose mission is to close opportunity gaps for all children and to ensure they graduate high school on time and are ready for college and careers.
NHS Associate Principal Eileen Mezzo said the school was given permission this summer to use $30,000 of the grant for any program that fit the Carver Foundation’s mission. Mezzo collaborated on program ideas with Angela Griffin, the Naugatuck school district’s director of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and April Vaughn, who See PROGRAM , Page 5A
Jade Trowery, 17, of Naugatuck, third from left, participates in an empowerment class at Naugatuck High School in Naugatuck on Wednesday.
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works in special services for the district.
“We knew we wanted to build a sense of leadership and empowerment for the girls,” Mezzo said. “We knew that we wanted to help them feel good on the inside and out — to build friends and partnerships so they didn’t feel so isolated and to create a sense of community and belonging.”
They decided to go with the “She Who Conquers” program, which was created by Vaughn. She developed it in 2022 after participating in a 20-week parent leadership conference in Naugatuck. The current program at the high school is the first major undertaking for “She Who Conquers.” School officials plan to continue the program throughout the school year and build upon it for future students.
“I wanted a safe space for minority girls to come together to build confidence and embed leadership and entrepreneurship skills,” Vaughn said, adding that the discussions and lesson plans largely revolve around those topics.
Throughout the program, which ends Thursday, the girls have heard from several speakers, including a Black woman who started her own aesthetician business. She spoke with girls about selfconfidence and the power of positive thinking.
Another speaker last week grew up in India when there were few opportunities for women. She spoke about how her grandfather helped enact laws that gave females more freedoms and how she now works in the United States on female empowerment initiatives.
Mezzo said the speaker from India brought the message that has now become a mantra of sorts for the group: “just show up.”
“Her message was maybe you don’t have the confidence or the motivation but just show up and keep showing up and don’t let anyone tell you how to write your story,” Mezzo said of the speaker. “Make sure you understand that no matter what the barriers are, you can do anything as long as you just show up.”
The girls also have attended field trips, including to Ulta Beauty Store and Hair Salon in Waterbury, The Club Health and Fitness Center in Naugatuck and the Naugatuck YMCA. Several other field trips are planned, including to a Jamaican restaurant run by a Black woman and possibly to Ion Bank in Naugatuck.
The girls learn lessons on all of the trips. For example, at the fitness facilities, the girls worked out and learned about the costs associated with each. It was an exercise to teach fitness and basic consumer skills, said Jennifer Stone, a physical education teacher and assistant athletic director at NHS.
Stone is teaching many of the lessons at the program along with Eleanor Jimenez-Franck, the high school’s ontrack coordinator.
Stone called the program inspirational and said it is one of the most fulfilling roles in her 24-year educational career. She said one of the most important lessons the girls are learning is to be good to themselves.
Last week, a mirror was passed around and the girls were asked to describe what they saw, Stone said.
“Not one of them had anything negative to say about themselves or their peers,” she said. “They really enjoyed giving each other compliments.”
Jimenez-Franck said a big part of the reason why many girls have a hard time in school is due to a lack of confidence.
“A lot of these girls have struggled in a variety of different ways and they are very much aware of that,” she said. “For them to know there is a space where they can form relationships — whether that is through a common interest or going through this experience together — it is extremely important to them showing up to class and achieving the things they want to achieve.”
She said many of the girls have expressed how much they needed a program like this to help them feel connected to the school. Trowery, the incoming senior, is one of them.
“I really enjoy the fact that it has gotten me out of my shell and it did so in just a few days,” she said. “I thought it would take a while or that I would quit. But showing up, being here around so many beautiful people with so many beautiful smiles, it just makes me feel more confident in myself.” — Paul Singley is a former Republican-American reporter who is now a teacher in the Naugatuck School system.
Jade Trowery, 17, of Naugatuck, right, participates in a empowerment class at Naugatuck High School in Naugatuck on Wednesday.
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