Abby Ramos Stanutz, a teacher at Longfellow Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, realized that if students wanted to join an existing club at her school, they needed a skill, like playing an instrument or a sport, or they’d have to pay to join. Often, clubs required both.
So she created Girltalk, a club where middle school girls can connect with one another, feel like they belong, and talk about their experiences and challenges. The only requirement to join? Being a middle school girl.
The group meets in her classroom each week, and Ramos Stanutz provides food for each meeting as well as sweatshirts for the girls. She’s found unique sources of funding to meet these needs, and has created a page on Teachers Pay Teachers where other educators interested in starting something similar can find resources they’ll need.
She also talks about the club and her experiences with it on TikTok, where she describes creating the club as being one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
