Service Learning Project for Sister Cities Girlchoir

As part of the MAPP Applied Positive Interventions course at the University of Pennsylvania, student teams are paired with a service organization to identify needs and opportunities for positive change and provide recommendations informed by positive psychology research. Our team collaborated with the Sister Cities Girlchoir (“SCG”), a non-profit organization empowering girls to transform the world through choir music and performances and sisterhood. Following a situation analysis and literature review, our team generated an application plan intended to enhance one aspect of the weekly sessions with the girls. As part of its weekly 2-hour choir practice, SCG conducts Sister Circle Time, a brief time of roughly 25 minutes with the girls aimed at building supportive and positive relationships. A review of literature focused on resilience, character and leadership development, achievement and mastery, and connection led the team to propose 12 activities to the service partner. Three of these activities were further developed into a curriculum using an outline provided by SCG. Each of the recommended activities is designed to foster character development, gratitude, and belonging, while building positive relationships and connections between the girls.