Letter from the President

Shadow Day 2009 was a big success! We expanded the program with new opportunities for the Esperanza students and our members, had twice as many women participate this year as last, providing a diverse and exciting career scope, and had great feedback about the day from the girls, the school staff, and the community.

The expanded Shadow Day program for 2009 included full day workplace visits for the 8th grade girls. GWTK members Diane Tower, owner of Andover Animal Hospital, Paula Colby-Clements, a lawyer and school administrator, and pediatrician Rekha Quazi joined several friends of Esperanza to immerse the girls in their careers for a whole day.

The popular morning speaker program introduced in 2008 blossomed this year, with 17 presentations, including many new perspectives offered as a result of our growing and professionally evolving membership: among them, Kathleen Chan, orthodontist, Diane Shikrallah, insurance agency owner, Paula Doherty, landscape designer, Mary O'Hare, an architect, neuropsychologist Karen Postal, who spoke about learning styles, spa owner Dawn Tardiff, who spoke about holistic health care, and non-profit consultant Karen Wood, who taught the girls about environmental stewardship with a park-planning "charrette."

The half-day shadow program for 7th grade girls was the perfect fit for many members, who devised creative activities to engage the younger girls in learning about their jobs and industries. Architect Mary O'Hare took her shadows to Boston for a tour of the city's architectural landmarks; attorneys Amy Sollins and Meredith White introduced their girls to the Salem, MA court system, including an audience with a judge. Night and Day owner Merit Tukiainen took her girls behind the scenes of a retail business to help them see that running a clothing store takes more than just a love of fashion.

Many GWTK members stepped up in other ways to make the day a success. B-Sporty owner Cheryl Juba once again led the Shadow Day t-shirt design contest and produced the winning design on shirts that all the students wore on Shadow Day. More volunteers drove students to and from their workplace visits, helped with organization and planning, and spread the word with publicity, among other important tasks.

I would like to thank all of you who participated in Shadow Day this year. Your enthusiasm and dedication to the Esperanza girls was truly remarkable. Below is the complete list of participants and their contributions to Shadow Day 2009!

Mentors for the 8th grade full day program: Carolyn Gill, General Manager at Aldynrood; Liz Roos, Principal at West Elementary School; Diane Tower, Owner of Andover Animal Hospital; Paula Colby-Clements, Esq., Director of Admissions, Massachusetts School of Law; Rekha Quazi, MD, Pediatrician; Rosa Rogers, Spanish Teacher at Pingree School; Wendy Estrella, Family Law Attorney; Zoila Gomez, Attorney; Amanda Corliss, Veterinarian.

Mentors for the 7th grade afternoon program: Amy Moore and Sue Wilson, Sr. Financial Advisors at Merrill Lynch; Amy Sollins and Meredith White, Attorneys at Legasey Law; Andrea Carlin, VP & Portfolio Manager at Citizen's Bank; Karen Wood, Groundwork Lawrence; Diane Shikrallah, Owner of Coastal Insurance Agency; Jane Carpenter, Director, PAN Communications Inc.; Leislie Godo-Solo Phillips Academy Andover; Lisa Stern-Taylor; Mary O'Hare, Architect; Merit Tukianinen, Owner of Night and Day Boutique in Andover

Speakers for Morning Session: Amy Moore and Sue Wilson, Merrill Lynch; Amy Sollins, Lisa Stern-Taylor and Meredith White, Legasey Law; Andrea Carlin, Citizen's Bank; Dawn Tardiff Bodi-Science; Denise Bordanaro and Meg Rokos, Great Women to Know Board; Diane Shikrallah, Coastal Insurance Agency; Jane Carpenter, Pan Communications; Karen Postal, PhD, Neuropsychologist; Karen Wood and Kathryn Prybylski, Groundwork Lawrence; Kathleen Chan, Orthodontist; Leislie Godo-Solo, Phillips Academy; Maria Marchand, CPA; Mary O'Hare, Architect; Paula Doherty, Landscape Designer

Drivers: Denise Bordonaro, Margaret Hamilton, Meg Rokos, Nancy Maher

Again, I thank all of you for your support and encourage you to post your photos to our Flickr site if you have them so we can add them to our online photo album. I hope that you all had as much fun as I did and that you will mark your calendars for our next Shadow Day on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010.

Warm Regards,
Sue Wilson