Young Womanhood Recognition Award

I'm in the Eagle Scout Award (ESA) invitation demographic.  My only boy is 8, but the oldest of my four daughters is 16.  Attending an ESA ceremony lifts my soul.  I've seen the ambition, determination, goodness, and sacrifice of these youth.  I've participated in some of their projects.  My son is impressed.  He can't wait to become an "evil scout."  (Just kidding.  I cleared that up right away.)  I am impressed.  Their efforts should be celebrated and their examples should inspire us.  I want that level of recognition for young women when they complete the Personal Progress requirements for a Young Womanhood Recognition Award (YWRA).  I'm not saying these two awards are equivalents.  I'm saying I want to encourage these values and these goals, so…

When my daughter was ready to receive her YWRA, I threw a celebration and invited everyone!

This was the first such award in nearly 10 years for our ward, so we had no traditions.  This post is 3 months late, but I was searching for something like this when planning our event and couldn't find anything.

I would like young women to feel the significance and value of their accomplishments in completing all the requirements for a YWRA*.   

So many people volunteered to help out or bring food.  I never even made a request.  People were excited to join in.

I would like our girls to have an opportunity to teach, impress, and inspire us all.  

Pinterest will not be featuring my handiwork anytime soon, but these were fun.

I want to show them that what they have achieved is worth celebrating.  I want to hold them up as examples, especially to our 8-11 year old girls.  

Karina made that garland by tracing actual leaves, cutting them from cardboard, and adding veins with white chalk.  Pinterest may be featuring her soon.  She is creative.

I want our congregations and communities aware of all the good these amazing girls are up to.  

Amazing community!  Out of town family, neighbors, and how many males do you count?

While completing the "program" is not the main point and many wonderful girls choose not to, those who do should be feted.  It's a big deal.

Personal Progress is a marvelous program.  It has motivated my daughters to pursue excellence rather than procrastinate.  One of Karina's first value projects (10+ required hours) was to write and record an original song expressing her faith.  It was a lot of work and tech trouble-shooting as she wrote, recorded (all vocals and instruments), and then mixed that first song.  Since then she has gone on to write more than 20 original songs, record, perform, enter competitions, make some videos, and start a Youtube channel.  It may become her professional pursuit.  It is certainly an avenue for reflection and sharing.  Here is a song she wrote as a birthday gift to me about some special vacation time our family was blessed to share in Cape Cod.  She shared this at her YWRA to illustrate individual growth inspired by goals set for the Personal Progress program.

FYI the details (because I couldn't find any templates for this event when I googled it):

The program included:  Opening hymn,  opening prayer, congregational recitation of the YW theme led by youth president, brief explanation of the Personal Progress program by YW counselor, Bishop brief remarks and presentation of the award because he is a personal friend -counselor could do this, YW president brief remarks on the young woman's growth through the program, musical presentation (this girl is very musical),  and a video montage of her growth in the past 4 years (3 min.), brief remarks by the young woman about her personal growth and most meaningful projects, closing hymn, prayer, refreshments in the gym cultural hall.  = 45 min.

Very much like an ESA ceremony, the parents were responsible for sending out invitations, arranging refreshments, creating a program, and inviting speakers.  Ward leadership volunteered to reserve the rooms, and agreed to speak when asked.  The presentation lasted about 45 minutes.  It was inspiring to see the young women and their parents as well as siblings, friends, extended family, neighbors, and even young men gathering to celebrate and recognize the achievements of a young woman.  This format could easily accommodate multiple young women, but this was the first YWRA in more than 10 years in our ward.  Some other girls are getting close!

*The YW auxiliary generally sponsors 2 annual celebrations.  One to start the year and welcome new girls.  One to recognize accomplishments achieved that year.  In my experience, these events are for family and usually just parents (not siblings) because a dinner is often provided and the budget must be considered.  Occasionally, I've heard of congregations being included in these recognition events.  That's great.  Unlike an ESA, it isn't generally open to extended family, school mates, teachers, friends, neighbors.  Why?

Best Chocolate Fudge Cake  I've ever tasted.