BEVERLY, W.Va. (WDTV) - Most little girls have big dreams of what they want to be when they grow up.
Some of the fifth grade girls with Senator Capito. (From left: Lily Norman, Haylie Doyle, Ava Barger, Sen. Capito, Karah Bennett)
"An artist, or a cook maybe," said Ava Barger.
"A soccer player," said Karah Bennett.
"A veterinarian," said Lily Norman.
But as they grow, many girls may face bullies, low self-esteem, or other factors that can make it hard to power through and follow their dreams.
"You understand what girls experience and how [people say] girls can't do things boys can do, and they obviously know that's not true," said Kara Parrack, the guidance counselor at Beverly Elementary School.
West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the first female senator in the state, has experienced her own struggles as a woman in government and politics. Now, she's working to empower girls through a program she created called 'Girls Rise Up!'.
"I talk about how, when I was in fifth grade, I might not have had confidence to do certain things but now I have to do them everyday. And, [I talk about] how you can overcome those fears," Capito explained.
Capito spoke with fifth grade girls at Beverly Elementary about achieving their goals through education, fitness and self-confidence.
"Set high goals for yourself, so you can achieve what you want to do," said Haylie Doyle, explaining what she learned from the program.
Lily added, "Believe in yourself and have self-confidence."
"[You should] always want to learn," said Ava.
After the presentation, each girl got to pick a goal or activity and made a commitment to stick with it.
"I wrote down to have a daily journal," said Karah.
"I wrote to drink eight glasses of water a day, to stay healthy," Lily said.
Haylie said, "I'm going to practice [soccer] a lot, and keeping doing what I can't do so that I can get better at it."
With Senator Capito's encouragement, these young girls are more prepared than ever to take on the world.
"Sometimes, people think that boys are better than girls, and I want to prove them wrong," said Haylie.
Ms. Parrack added, "It's just [about them] being those leaders and learning to have confidence in themselves."