Courtesy of Megan Hall

Elevate club members pose after completing the self defense training.

With nearly one in four college-aged women facing some form of sexual assault nationwide, Metea’s club “Elevate” takes a proactive approach to preparing girls for college by hosting a class to teach girls the basics of self-defense.

“[The class] gives them some of the key self-defense skills that they might be interested in learning about that might help them stay safe in the future.” English teacher Megan Hall said.

This singular after-school class strongly resembles the RAD Self Defense course Metea has as a PE elective. RAD is a girls-only self-defense class that teaches girls how to defend themselves if they are in an unsafe and uncomfortable situation. Elevate wanted to offer a class that gives the same benefits as RAD, without the semester-long commitment. 

“Having the RAD self-defense class is fun, but sometimes some students aren’t willing to have to take the whole entire semester for it,” senior Sama Juma said. “So I feel like this is like one singular event, so it’s easier, more accessible to some students.”

The class aims to prepare girls for the worst-case scenario before going to college in a new place with new people they don’t know. The class strives for girls to learn some skills to keep them level-headed, in control, and safe if the worst does happen. Elevate partners with a non-profit organization called Strictly Self Defense. The instructor, Lindsey Daehnke, comes to Metea to teach the foundation of self-defense, which aligns with the goal of her organization.

The club hosts other events to help women as well. Earlier this year, Elevate hosted a winter sock and glove drive to help the women and children at the women’s shelter, Mutual Ground. Mutual Ground is a non-profit organization that provides services to families who have been impacted by sexual violence, domestic violence, and substance use. Mutual Ground also provides a follow-up lesson a few weeks after the self-defense class. 

“They will come in at the end of April,” Hall said. “But then we also just talk about safety during sexual assault awareness month, and we kind of tie those two things together.”

Elevate hopes the class empowers women to stand up for themselves and feel safer in the world on their own. They plan to host many future events to connect with the girls at Metea and teach young women powerful tools to remember and use in the future.

“Elevate stands for women empowerment, and what we hope to do is empower the girls at Metea to be unified and get to know more things about themselves, and dive down deep inside themselves, and realize that as women, we need to stick together,” Juma said. “Sisterhood is probably one of the most important things that you’re going to find in life.”