“Who Am I” project talks tough topic to Plantersville Middle School girls

PLANTERSVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The teenage years can be especially tough for girls as they face a number of challenges and pressures. A group of young ladies at Plantersville Middle School have spent the past few months talking about and working through many of those areas. It’s all part of a research project for a college student’s doctoral program.

Like any middle school girls, students at Plantersville Middle School like to cut up for the camera.

But a closer look shows serious topics 30 or so 6th, 7th and 8th graders have tackled this semester.

Kimberly Garza is working on her doctorate in anthropology from the University of Illinois Chicago.  For her dissertation she volunteered to spend a year at the middle school finding out hopes, dreams and concerns of middle school girls.

The project is called ‘Who Am I?’

Garza and the student volunteers met once a week for the project.  Garza got things started with the subject of friendship, then the young ladies worked in groups, coming up with their own topics, and expressing it all through writing,  art or drama.

“Too often we don’t ask the middle school girls about what is important to them, we don’t ask them about what bothers them and what makes them stressed and what frustrates them, we tell them a lot of times, we assume a lot of times, we assume a lot of times we know, but rarely do we ever ask them directly,” Garza said.

So, Garza did just that and found middle schoolers ready and willing to help each other with struggles they all share.

“First I know to think before I act, before I speak, instead of going out and just be ready to fight, be ready to talk it out.” said Eighth Grader Arianna Walker.

“It’s really hard because you got other people who think they’re all this and all that and they can start drama and not have nothing happen back,” said Seventh Grader Kamaria Roberson.

Through the process, Garza, or Mrs Kim as she is known,  not only learned what middle school girls face daily, but she also made long-lasting friendships.

“I’m going to cry, try not to, but Mrs Kim, has been there for me the whole time, talked about different stuff , she helped , I feel like I’m her child, she feels the same way about me, we’re really close,” said Seventh Grader Mya Foster.

Garza hopes to return to Plantersville in two years or so, and continue her “Who Am I ?” project, tracking the progress of the first group, and getting new students in the mix.