A summer girls arts program has Miami-Dade students ready for thier closeups
MiamiHerald.com

But that was before she enrolled in GEM (Girls Empowerment and Mentoring) Summer Arts Program. There, she and 16 other girls learned the lingo, handled the equipment and reaped the rewards of producing three documentary films which are, fittingly, about three women who have had an impact in Miami-Dade County: Lydia Rubio (artist), Carol Stanfil (teacher) and Elizabeth Cozad (homemaker).

The documentaries, entitled Ancestral Voices, will be shown at the Women's Park from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 14, and housed in the Women's Park archives at 10251 W. Flagler St.

GEM is a pilot program funded in part by a grant from Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs' Children's Trust. The program is designed to empower girls, ages 11 to 16.

``We teach them that they have to have a goal in life and they have to visualize it,'' said Vivian Greer-Digon, GEM coordinator and manager of sister program RAICES Cultural Arts Center, a co-ed camp at Miller Drive Park for children ages 6 to 14. ``We polish a charcoal and turn it into a diamond.''

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