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About 150 high school juniors from across north-central Arkansas gathered Thursday at Arkansas State University Mountain Home for Girls with Goals, an annual career exploration event organized by the Schliemann Center for Women’s Health that gives young women a look at the full range of careers and vocations available to them after graduation.
The event, held at the Sheid Center on the ASUMH campus, drew 11th grade girls from schools within roughly 50 miles of Mountain Home. Each attendee received a T-shirt, a resource guide and a swag bag. A catered lunch closed out the morning.
The centerpiece of the event was a career booth fair running from 10 a.m. to noon in the Trout Room, where representatives from industries spanning veterinary medicine, forensics and skilled trades set up tables to talk with students about their fields. ASUMH student volunteers guided the girls between sessions and led campus tours, many of them for students whose families had no college background.
Corinne Hiser, one of the founding board members of the Schliemann Center, said the event consistently surprises the students it serves.
“I ask them later, ‘What did you find out? What did you learn about?’ and they said, ‘We had no idea that there were so many opportunities for us,'” Hiser said. “I just tell them, ‘Help us tell the girls what they can be.'”
Hiser said the response from the community has matched that enthusiasm year after year, with career booth participants often thanking the center for the chance to be there.
“The community always tells us thank you for having them here,” she said. “The outpouring of support from the community is amazing.”
The Schliemann Center for Women’s Health is one of four community health education and support houses affiliated with Baxter Health, alongside the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging, the Peitz Cancer Support House and the Reppell Diabetes Learning Center. All programs offered through the support houses are free of charge, funded through private donations and Baxter Health Foundation fundraisers.
The center was founded in 2005 by Dr. Mary Wren, then chief of obstetric services at Baxter Regional Medical Center, who gathered 15 local women to establish a dedicated space for women’s health education in the Twin Lakes Area. Hiser was among that original group and remains on the advisory board today. The center was endowed in 2008 by Josée Schliemann, a friend and patient of Dr. Wren’s, and took her name.
In addition to events like Girls with Goals, the center offers childbirth and breastfeeding classes, support groups, nutrition and wellness programs and the annual Teen Girls Big Sis program, among others. All services are organized and taught by volunteers.
