Jersey Johnson, Kenleigh Monley and sisters Zoey and Selah Miller will share the stage – including performing a song they co-wrote – during The Girls Take the Stage Showcase that opens for Vanity Plate at this week’s Levitt AMP Minot event. The show begins around 6 p.m.

A little nervous but confident is how the young women describe their excitement in getting the opportunity to perform.

“I’m very excited to show Minot what our talents are and just showcase the program that has helped me so much,” Monley said.

The Girls Take the Stage is a pilot program initiated by Jazmine Schultz of Minot. Schultz said she shared her desire to see a performance by women across the age span with Jessica Ackerman of Local Motives, the operator of Citizens Alley. When Ackerman learned the Minot Area Community Foundation was looking for grant proposals for the Northwest North Dakota Fund for Girls, she suggested Schultz modify her vision and apply. The new fund supports programs that help girls build character, confidence, leadership, life skills and strong values.

Submitted photo Zoey Miller, Selah Miller and Jersey Johson, from left, listen as Joanna Miller, right, provides guidance during a session of The Girls Take the Stage.

The Girls Take the Stage is a music program for ages 15 to 22, although Schultz said the involvement of mentors, most of whom are women, does keep the original spirit of her dream.

Among those joining Schultz in providing skills development and mentorship in the program have been Joanna Miller, Kaylee Capp, Ellen Fenner, Candace Brekke, Maria Cree, Lindsey Bertsch and Chris Brown. Ackerman and Americorps volunteers with Levitt AMP Minot have assisted in support roles.

The program started in April with once a week meetings that have included mentor guidance and rehearsals.

Johnson, who graduated from Minot State University this spring with a general studies degree, said she signed up to meet more people her age who are interested in music and to learn more about the production side of the industry.

Her biggest takeaway came from the songwriting sessions.

“That was really eye-opening and taught me a lot about how you go into the creative process. A lot of us are hard on ourselves and we critique ourselves too much, so we’ll never get to an end product, whereas this created a safe space to really experiment with that aspect of creating art in a judgment-free zone,” Johnson said.

Johnson performs with the band, Legion of Sound, which opened for Sawyer Brown at the North Dakota State Fair and also played at Citizens Alley last year. She is looking at schools around the country to further pursue her musical interest through a sound engineering program, with the goal of working behind the scenes in sound or event management.

“I just always really loved music,” Johnson said. “I love classic rock. I’ve always been a rock n’ roll fan.”

However, she added, she has a soft spot for pop-soul performer Adele, whose music she plans to perform in the showcase Thursday.

Selah Miller, a home-schooled student going into her junior year of high school, has been immersed in music for much of her life. She studied piano for seven years and has participated with Western Plains Children’s Choirs and in jazz band and choir in public schools.

“Music has always just been a part of my life, and I really love it,” said Miller, who comes from a musical family. She said she was encouraged to join The Girls Take the Stage by her mother, who has been one of the adult mentors in the program.

“I would have not chosen to do this on my own. I’m not a very outgoing person at all,” Miller said. “Doing this is stepping way out of my comfort zone.”

Accustomed to blending into a choir, the program eased her fear of writing a song or singing solo. The program changed her perfectionist tendency to view music as needing to be a certain way, she added.

“It’s the beginning of melting that away and just having a more confident music experience and also more loving of other people and of myself, and just being comfortable in who I am and who other people are through music,” she said. “I just learned a lot more confidence and I learned a lot more about having a sense of identity in musicianship, which is really important to me.

“The female experience is just so interesting when it’s captured through something like music, so inspiring other girls is really important to me in music – that they can do it, too,” she added.

Zoey Miller, entering her senior year in high school, also has performed with Western Plains and school choirs and was a percussionist. However, she said, she had reached a point where she felt music was too stuffy and she was ready to give it up. Her experience with The Girls Take the Stage changed her perspective.

She said she joined the program because of the variety of skills she could learn.

“The idea that we would get to learn things that I wouldn’t just use once and that we would get to have a lot of say in what kind of music we were doing really kind of enticed me,” Miller said.

Monley, a senior this fall at Minot High, sang with Western Plains and middle and high school choirs but her first love since early childhood has been musical theater. Her Thursday performance will have her performing a song from singer and actress Olivia Rodrigo.

Monley said she joined The Girls Take the Stage to learn more about merchandising and stage technology and was especially excited for the poster making and social media promotion. Vocally, she also learned about using her voice to its best advantage and improving her breath control.

“I also kind of just wanted to meet some new people and to be able to learn from them and be able to share my talents with them, too,” she said.

Monley said she is sad to see her time in The Girls Take the Stage come to an end but also excited about a new chapter in the program next year.

Schultz said the goal is to offer the program again next summer, with opportunities for this year’s participants to return to be part of a new, larger group of girls. Applications will be made available through Local Motives.

Having a peer program like The Girls Take the Stage and a venue like Citizens Alley is special, Johnson said.

“I know there’s people out there who love music,” Johnson said. “The goal is to just get the community excited about young musicians and to support them, and I think that’s a big thing, because we have tons of talent in this town.”