EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporters are invited to cover "Take Our Daughters to
Work Day." In addition to the contacts listed below, U.Va. faculty who
are taking their daughters to work and the reception include
environmental sciences professor Tanya Furman, economics professor
Steven Stern and systems engineering professor Garrick Louis. 

							April 21, 1998
							Contacts:  Kim
Roberts, (804) 924-8979
								     Leslie
Sadler, (804) 924-6466 	
		                                        			     Winx
Lawrence, (804) 924-7034 


            "TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS TO WORK DAY" AND "TAKE OUR LITTLE
SISTERS TO SCHOOL DAY" TO BE HELD APRIL 23

       On Thursday, April 23, millions of adults across the country will
participate in "Take Our Daughters to Work Day."  For those girls who
cannot shadow a parent, the U.Va. Women's Center is sponsoring a special
event for participants in its Young Women Leaders Program.
        The nine-week mentoring program pairs U.Va. undergraduate women
with middle-school girls from the community to focus on leadership
issues.  "Take Our Little Sisters to School Day," the culminating event
of this semester's Young Women Leaders Program, will offer the
middle-school girls and the U.Va. undergraduate women an opportunity to
spend a day together at U.Va. and a chance for these young girls to see
their own potential for success.  Every girl will have an opportunity to
experience a typical afternoon in the life of her "big sister," from
making it to class on time and participating in class discussion, to
taking part in the larger University community.  Big sisters will take
the girls to eat at one of the many dining halls to get a feel for
University life outside the classroom, and give them a brief tour of the
University's Central Grounds.
       The Women's Center will sponsor an "After-Work/After-School
'Happy' Hour" reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Colonnade Club in
Pavilion VII.  All University and community participants, daughters and
sponsors of all ages, are invited to celebrate the day together.
       "Take Our Daughters to Work Day" and "Take Our Little Sisters to
School Day" are first steps towards positively influencing the lives of
young girls, the sponsors say.  Girls are twice as likely as boys to be
depressed and are between three and five times more likely to attempt
suicide, statistic have found.  At the start of adolescence, 30 percent
more girls than boys suffer a drop in self-esteem.  MORE
													
												
																				2

    This day, and the Young Women Leaders Program in general, make an
effort to change the paths of young girls by encouraging them to imagine
themselves in diverse roles and by planting the seeds of academic and
career possibilities in their minds.

###
Television reporters should contact our television news office at (804)
924-7550.























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