Thinking Outside the Girl Box: Teaming Up with Resilient Youth in Appalachia

6. Leanne and Betty: The GRP Collapses, but the Learning Goes On (and On)

 6 The GRP Collapses, but the Learning Goes On (and On) “GeT. oUT. THAT. WHeeLcHAir.” “Well, it got a little out of control sometimes,” admitted LeAnne olson, a doctoral student of mine, breaking off a piece of her cheddar biscuit at a local seafood restaurant.Tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear, she broke into a laugh. LeAnne, Layne, and i were meeting to talk about Grp research— primarily conducted in recent years by two of my students,LeAnne olson and Betty sias. Betty, a go-getter who consistently seeks out challenges— as soon as she finished her dissertation, she threw herself into training for her first marathon—was focusing on the boys’ program, and specifically on how the boys had adjusted to the newly consolidated Lincoln county High school. for her meetings with me, Betty often showed up in a suit, coming straight from her job at the Westvirginia department of education .A hard worker, Betty was “put together” in both her appearance and 116 LeAnne and Betty her work with the Boys’ resiliency program. LeAnne, who was focusing on the girls’ program, shared Betty’s work ethic and was committed to the girls in almost a familial way. LeAnne was warm and approachable without striving to be the center of attention, and the girls were immediately drawn to her. she smiled, fork in hand, thinking back to the days of driving to Lincoln county for interviews, creative projects, and hang-out sessions with the girls.With only one of her, no Grp staff, and sometimes ten or more girls,LeAnne did the best she could to not get them kicked out of the school for being too noisy. “Being a researcher and an activity facilitator at the same time was confusing,” LeAnne reflected in a recent journal article.“Was i really a researcher? An extension of the Girls’ resiliency program? A mentor? A friend? should i allow the girls to express themselves freely or restrict their voices when they were loud? did i need to discipline them?” (spatig, Gaines, et al. 2009, 205).At dinner, she retold a story about a particularly rowdy girl who was sitting in one of the school’s wheelchairs (though she did not have a disability) during an activity with LeAnne when a teacher walked into the room.The teacher told the girl to get out of the chair,and the girl defiantly challenged the teacher with one of teenagers’ favorite responses: “Why?” LeAnne took a stand, almost ordering the girl to get out of the chair. “i was like,‘Get.out.That.Wheelchair,’”she remembered as everyone at our dinner table burst into empathetic laughter. she turned to me cautiously , adding,“Um, that might not have made it into my field notes.There was a lot [of things that] didn’t”—instigating a second round of laughs. iT’s ToUGH To Be coMpeTenT LeAnne was running those activities on her own—frantically jumping between asking interview questions, distributing art supplies, and insisting that girls get out of school wheelchairs—because the Grp no longer had any paid staff members. By the time LeAnne started her research in 2007, shelley and irene had both resigned, and virginia was working as the only part-time staff member. By december of that year, the organization had lost all its staff as funding ran out. LeAnne found The GRP Collapses but the Learning Goes On 117 that if she wanted to continue her research, she had to organize meetings with the girls herself. This chapter of the story, the part where the Grp collapses, is hard to tell without worrying about stepping on toes and possibly hurting those who made huge contributions to the work.At the same time, i know that what happened at the end of the Grp story is a common ending for community-based nonprofits, and shedding light on why it fell apart can provide guidance to organizations with similar structures and issues.or,as shelley said to me in an e-mail note:“Glad to know you are turning all this . . . into something that may help others.” so what happened to the Grp? The main factors that led to the program’s collapse differ depending on whom you are asking, of course, but there are quite a few recurrent themes. Many of them were identified in reflective focus groups with current and former board members, staff,girl...