Holiday stars shine brightly at Girls Inc.’s annual Winter Showcase
Event featured talent show and art display
WORCESTER - Girls Inc. held its finale of its 2023 holiday celebration on Thursday with its annual Winter Showcase, featuring a talent show, art display and, of course, presents.
“All of our girls have helped plan the event,” said CEO Tiffany Lillie. This year, approximately 120 students from kindergarten to high school level worked together over the last few weeks as they planned their own performances and behind-the-scenes work such as set design.
“We really got to see the girls’ vision come to life,” said Krysten Feeney, director of social and emotional learning, who helped supervise the project.
True to its name, the organization wanted to “incorporate girl voices in our programming,” said Lillie, starting with the holiday showcase.
In previous years, staff would take the lead and organize performances, but this year, they decided to ask the students what they wanted to see and do to close out the year.
“My favorite part is when all the girls are clapping to the performances on stage,” said Shanelle Badu, 12, who was MCing the show with her sister.
Girls of all ages sang and clapped along to various holiday classics performed by their peers, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bell Rock” and others.
Paying it forward
After showing off their artistic and performance skills, each girl received a large gift bag and the opportunity to explore a small library of donated books to take home.
Worcester native Heather Johnston, herself a self-described Girls Inc. alum, has been running Kits for Kids for the last 17 years, collaborating with local organizations in the Central Massachusetts area to provide gifts bags for children year-round. Girls Inc. was one of her first partnerships.