Dancer's Edge Assertiveness Boot Camp in Dexter teaches girls how to stand up for themselves

Dexter residents Breanna McKelvey, 13, left, and Olivia Bellefleur, 11, discuss how they're going to act out a scenario dealing with passive-aggressive behavior at the Assertiveness Boot Camp at Dancer's Edge in Dexter.

Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com

While some youngsters have spent part of their summer at day camps learning computer or basketball skills, girls at a camp in Dexter have been learning some lessons in navigating the halls at school and the nuances of everyday life.

"I've been learning how to be more assertive and what our rights are as girls," said 13-year-old Breanna McKelvey, who will start eighth grade at Dexter's Mill Creek Middle School in a few weeks. "One of my favorite activities at camp has been coming up with a list of rights that we have like feeling confident about expressing my own opinion and being comfortable saying no."

Breanna and several other girls spent last week at Assertiveness Boot Camp at the Dancer's Edge in Dexter. The dance school offers a variety of summer camps.

Valerie Potsos is the owner and director of Dancer's Edge and firmly believes in the importance of teaching kids how to interact with each other as well as adults.

Olivia Bellefleur, age 11, left, and program teacher Kristin Walters discuss scenarios involving assertive, passive-aggressive and aggressive behaviors at the Assertiveness Boot Camp at the Dancer's Edge in Dexter.

Angela Cesere | Ann Arbor.com

"You have to learn to work with people and to assert yourself and communicate," Potsos said. "I think from age 7-12 is the perfect time to teach these things because it's the time when kids might shut down or be mean to each other."

Participants in Assertiveness Boot Camp know exactly what Potsos is talking about.

"Meeting new people is one of my goals," said 11-year-old Megan Gragg, who attends St. Thomas Elementary School in Ann Arbor. "My favorite activity at camp was drawing posters of animals showing different types of personalities."

Olivia Bellefleur, 11, who will be a seventh-grader at Mill Creek Middle School, tackled some even more practical concerns.

"I'm hoping to only get lost once at Mill Creek," she said, planning ahead for what she'll do if she does get lost.

Campers learned the difference between passive, aggressive and assertive, using a shark as an example of aggressive, an elephant for assertive, and a lamb for passive.

Leader Kristin Walters saw changes in the girls over the course of the weeklong camp.

"The first day everyone was quiet, but each day they talked more and more," Walters said. "Everyone connected and started sharing stories. We did role-playing to see how they would react to different kinds of situations."

Campers were quick to put their newly learned assertiveness training to the test.

"When my mother said 'no' to me, I asserted myself and asked her why," said McKelvey proudly.

Dancer's Edge in Dexter is a subsidiary of Girls Empowered, a nonprofit organization based in Birmingham, Mich., with the goal to teach kids how to deal with relational aggression, bullying and mean-spirited behavior.

The camps end when school begins, but Dancer's Edge will continue to offer a variety of classes throughout the year.

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