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Rock Divas, Climbing School for Girls

Rock Divas in Canning, N.S., is the first all girls climbing school on the east coast. The Annapolis Valley gym in the Canning Rec. Centre says, “It teaches girls physical and mental strength.”

Erin Gullison, 14, said, “At first it didn’t seem like a good idea. At first I felt like, you know what, I’m just going to fail,” when she started Rock Divas. “I had a lot of insecurity when I first came here, I thought, OK, I didn’t want to wear tight clothes because I thought that like, maybe I’m ovweight or maybe everyone’s going to judge me.”

She says it’s helped her reach out to students at school, “I’ve been through that situation myself and so I can voluntarily go up to them and ask them if they want someone to hang out with so that they’re not alienated from the group,” she said.

Bekah Reagan and Heather Rebman are the instructors of the program and said, “The kids meet twice a week and set a goal for each class. It’s so important that kids learn that they can build their inner and outer strength.”

After class the girls hang out and talk about other life issues such as school and family. “I’m not fragile; I’m more tough. It just makes me feel happy,” said Lee Baldwin, 11.

Rock Divas is a free program and is run by the Canning recreation department. It runs until the end of May and organizers say they hope to run it again in the fall.

See here for more details.

Source: CBC, Canning Rec. Centre

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