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Lessons in resilience and hope at BHS

Rachel Simmons, an educator and lecturer on leadership for girls (Photograph supplied)

A girls’ leadership expert, educator and bestselling author from the United States has delivered workshops to staff, students and parents at Bermuda High School.Rachel Simmons is the author of Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling Lives, as well as Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl.Ms Simmons, who visited the school last week, teaches skills for resilience under pressure to girls and women.She is the co-founder of the group Girls Leadership as well as the director of the Phoebe Lewis Leadership Programme at Smith College, Massachusetts, and appears frequently in the US media. Linda Parker, the head of school, said that today’s young women faced “challenges and issues very different to previous generations”.She added: “Hearing from experts and educators like Rachel, who can teach our students, staff and parents, concrete skills and tools to manage their relationships and deal with problems which are unique to them, is an invaluable part of their education, and will help them grow into confident and resilient young women.” A school statement said adolescent girls faced continual pressure to meet unattainable standards, resulting in anxiety and stress.Ms Simmons’s message was that “no girl should have to exchange her wellness in the name of success”.Ms Parker said the workshops were “well-received and honed in on the responsibility that we have to encourage self-compassion and grit in each of our girls and young women”.