This was my first time skating. You have to have a lot of balance. I did pretty good. My friend Korrine was helping me skate. Kind of teaching me. – Hunter

Nothing better than a hot cocoa on a cold day!

We got to skate and drink hot cocoa. – Madinah, age 5

Amy enjoys her hot chocolate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spgo24jhK0o

A shameless product placement on the Girls Inc. blog: Vic Gutman gives the hot chocolate at the ConAgra skating rink a rave review. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XrX1Hq98zI

Shout Out

I got a shout out from the ice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iM_jH-AmVA Congrats Ms. Emily E. for staying upright with the girls throughout that shout out!

Ms. Roberta

Music Mentors from the Omaha Symphony

Teens, who are themselves mentored by professional musicians at the Omaha Symphony, in turn mentor Girls Inc. members. Brilliant, right? The following link will show you a tiny bit (43 seconds, actually) of Erin’s clarinet lesson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyyEbuNqMe8 and this link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THkf-cM4U0M – will show you a bit (one minute, one second) of Maya’s violin lesson. In addition to the instrumental lessons, the teens attend Omaha Symphony performances with their mentees and enjoy some pre-concert pizza or pasta at an Old Market restaurant. The Omaha Symphony has been collaborating with Girls Inc. on this program for several years and will receive our 2009 Angel Award at our Annual Meeting on January 21st in recognition of this cool partnership.

Ms. Roberta

Koko’s Interview About Chloe

Check out Koko’s interview about Chloe, the Girls Inc. turtle, and reading the book Emma’s Turtle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2aF3Vmn7pM

That hot cocoa was hot.

That hot cocoa was hot. And I am not kidding.
But it was good.

– Ariyah

Gingerbread House Tragedy Averted – Just Eat It!

Well, mine started out really pretty. I had a house. It had a roof. I put frosting around it and gummies around it. It was pretty for real. I thought I should make a garage so I pulled it back and it splatted and it was a big fat mess. I was crying and a facilitator asked “Do you want to be helped?” She tried to fix it but it wasn’t how I expected it. You know, how it was in my mind. It was a big jolly mess. As soon as I was done crying I decided I don’t have to cry because I’m just going to eat it anyway.

– Merlaina

Asia’s Gingerbread House at the Deglman Holiday Outing

I don’t know if you can tell from this angle, but the thing I love best about Asia’s house is that she literally filled it with jelly beans before putting the roof on the structure. The four graham cracker walls had to work hard to hold up all of that candy. It looked like an Easter basket rather than a house. You’ve got to love the concept.

Ms. Roberta