BROWNSBURG — A girls’ high school restroom can be a scary place. In addition to its primary function, it can be the place where petty spats are escalated, problems are unwisely hashed out, and wounds are opened. Over the years, high school restrooms have become notorious for the secrets and tears the walls have absorbed.
But a high school restroom was the place where Jimmelyn Rice formed the idea of her life-changing ministry that seeks to heal those wounds, wipe those tears, and mediate those spats.
Rice, founder and director of Girls Nite In (GNI), is a former choral director at Brownsburg High School.
“You learn a lot in the girls’ restroom, if you care,” Rice said.
She said that’s where she first became concerned about the issues she overheard the girls discussing. Issues such as pregnancy, dating violence, and profanity compelled her to reach out to teens she believed to be practicing self-destructive behavior.
Before starting GNI, Rice spent many hours after school counseling and offering advice to teen students. It was after she decided to spend her break time in the girls’ restroom, instead of the teachers’ lounge, that she became inspired to offer additional help.
“I could not get these girls out of head or out of my heart,” she said. “At the end of the summer, I knew I was supposed to do this.”
She called her program Girls Nite In because she said the talks were going to be honest candid and “in the truth.”
“I wanted it to be a refuge; a place where we can sort and process the issues they’re dealing with,” Rice said.
Almost every teen girl Rice approached with her idea of starting GNI jumped at the idea of participating. Rice said she had envisioned a group of about 12 to 15 girls from Brownsburg High School showing up at her home for the first meeting. As word began to spread, she quickly realized that more girls than she anticipated were going to come. Her friend Tami offered the use of her home for the first meeting just three years ago, and when more than 50 girls showed up, Rice was blown away.
“I never dreamed that the first night would be 55 girls,” she said.
Since that first meeting, GNI has grown to more than 130 girls from 17 schools. Rice has a group of 35 women who help lead group discussions and help run the sessions. The girls who attend are welcome to bring a friend, and they sit cross-legged on blankets, discussing topics such as body image, sex, eating disorders, and anxiety. Each meeting has a guest speaker that the girls can relate to and each session is ended with a personal letter from Jimmelyn to the group.
“The speakers are giving something so valuable because they are giving the dark side of their life first,” Rice said. “It helps the girls feel they are not alone.”
Rice said the letters are filled with practical guidance, good advice, and scripture. Because GNI is a faith-based ministry, Rice invites parents to observe the first session that their child attends. Rice understands that each girl comes from different belief systems but says so much of the program is filled with practical advice that can be applied to all walks of life.
After receiving calls from concerned parents and young adults who need the resources that GNI offers, Rice has recently opened the group to middle school and college girls.
Girls Nite In meets from 6 to 8:30 p.m. one Sunday per month at the Church on Main, 204 E. Main St., Brownsburg. The next meeting, focusing on self hate and injury, is March 6.
For more information or to see a schedule of topics, visit the website at www.girlsniteintheword.com.
courtney.essett@flyergroup.com
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