NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – A nonprofit summer camp is teaching young girls confidence and self-esteem through the power of music.
The Trust Tree is a nonprofit camp started by Correne Spero. She started it out of her living room last summer.
"I am a musician here in Little Rock and I play in an all-female band,” Spero said.
She said she felt like there wasn't enough women in the music industry, prompting her to create Trust Tree.
"We thought running a camp would be a fun way to bring up the next generation of female musicians in Little Rock,” Spero said.
The camp has one mission in mind, empowering young girls through music.
"We just want to help them to build confidence and feel that they belong in any space that they enter,” Spero said. "Everybody gets to express their ideas and feelings. We are there to validate those feelings and those ideas."
Flash forward to this summer, Spero is teaching dozens of girls skills they didn't know they had.
"Most of the girls that come to camp have never played an instrument before. There's this amazing process of revelation and discovery that's so beautiful for us as female mentors to watch,” she said.
Each session lasts one week. Within that week, Spero teaches girls how to write their own, original song.
“[It] can seem daunting but they always nail it. They do amazing,” Spero said.
But this camp is more than just music and songwriting. It's about self-love too.
"We just really try to build this environment of trust and validation so the girls can explore their creativity without feeling judged or self-conscience about it,” Spero said.
Not only are these girls walking away with a new love for music, they are also walking away with life lessons.
"We just want to help them to build confidence and feel that they belong in any space that they enter,” Spero said.
The next session of Trust Tree runs the week of July 23. It is held at Pulaski Tech in North Little Rock.
Admission fees for the camp are $350, but Spero said any girl that needs a full scholarship can receive one.
If you would like to make a donation to the Trust Tree, click here.
Visit the Trust tree’s website by clicking here.