She’s bright, personable, eloquent and so well-grounded for her 11 years. And it was precisely those qualities that garnered West Island tween Ayla Shanks a much-coveted spot at a North American leadership summit in California hosted by Discovery Girls magazine.
By the time you read this, Ayla, a resident of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, will have returned from her three-day adventure at the 2014 Leadership Summit in Monterey Bay, Calif. Discovery Girls is a magazine that addresses real-life issues of tweens and fosters empowerment to help combat the adversity tweens face, like negative self-imaging, bullying, the “mean-girl” phenomenon, among many other issues. It promotes friendship, leadership and healthy self-esteem.
Ayla is breaking new ground as she is the first girl from Quebec who has ever been chosen to attend the leadership summit and only one of four Canadian girls. There are only 36 participants chosen out of thousands of applicants. Ayla can credit her nine-page submission for her acceptance. Her mother, Joyce, said that Ayla’s questionnaire stood out to the judges; she was considered a shoo-in from the get-go.
The summit will include a number of brain-storming sessions, activities, workshops and numerous photo ops all of which will be included in the six issues of 2015 and another three issues in 2016. All the participants are expected to contribute to the magazine through various assignments, including writing their own articles in addition to providing input for other articles. The ultimate goal is for the girls to make a difference in their own communities armed with practical solutions to share with their friends and peers.
All the girls will take part in a photo shoot, some of whom will be featured on the cover.
Discovery Girls magazine is rated the No. 1 magazine in Canada for kids and boasts a total readership of more than a million. It’s a magazine driven by tweens and aimed at tweens and, according to a press release, “never photograph professional models because ‘real’ girls are beautiful, too.”
Ask any woman, young or old, about their experiences in adolescence, and you can be sure to hear what an emotional minefield it can be. Petty jealousies, vicious gossiping, bullying — it can be enough to break your spirit.
Ayla is aware of all the social pitfalls that she can expect as she heads into her teens and can credit her positive outlook to her strong social network of like-minded friends and parents who are caring, involved and supportive.
Considering she was chosen by her classmates to be the salutatorian of her graduating class, it’s clear her peers already recognize her as a role model, as setting an example for others. She’s already started her own blog and hopes one day to be a published author.
As for what she expects to come away with from the leadership summit?
“To have 35 new best friends and to have a lot of fun.”
With her bubbly personality, it would be difficult to expect anything less.
Marla Newhook is a journalist and mother of two. She is West Island Citizen Advocacy’s publicity representative and a resident of Pincourt.
