The new McNicholas club, Stronger TogetHER, which is focused on empowering young women, was founded by senior Gracie Mastruserio in the fall of 2025. Mastruserio is one of ten girls and twenty women selected to serve The Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls to represent Hamilton County in local policy decisions. The August 2025 McNicholas article, St. Joseph Scholar Gracie Mastruserio selected to serve Hamilton County, described The Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls as “Elevating the voices of women and girls in local policy decisions, while creating leadership opportunities and pathways for civic engagement.” The moderators for Stronger TogetHER are English teachers Mrs. Julie Dill and Mrs. Angie Noble who also served as Mastruserio’s recommenders for the Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls. Dill said, “Since Gracie is a part of the Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls, they are about bringing women to the table, so we are emulating that model. We want there to be representation and for girls to be invited and be part of and recognized as contributors to various organizations and to the overall McNicholas community.”
Mastruserio said her inspiration to create Stronger TogetHER was because she saw a need for change for the girls of McNick because there are many issues and topics that aren’t necessarily talked about that heavily affect the lives of women and girls. She said, “I wanted to create a safe space for girls to be open and honest and making them feel comfortable to come forward and advocate for themselves.” According to Dill, the club meets monthly during CREW because “Gracie and the other leaders wanted the meetings to be held when there weren’t other commitments going on, so girls didn’t have to choose whether to come to that [Stronger TogetHER] or do one of the other activities they are involved in.” The meeting discussions include topics and issues such as self-confidence, body image, self-advocacy, mental health issues like anxiety and stressors, and women’s health. Mastruserio said, “I want people to feel empowered to be a young girl and not embarrassed to have issues because it’s normal.”
Dill said, “Gracie came to me at the beginning of this year when we felt there was a gap in attention to girl focused activities at McNick. We are a co-ed school and we embrace that, but sometimes it seems like the focus is more on male sports and raising up boys as leaders. So, we just thought it might be nice to focus specifically on girl centered issues.” She said the club’s goal is to “empower girls and give them that boost of confidence that often they are lacking. Even though they are leaders and do so much good and service, girls tend to ask themselves why am I not good enough? Or why do I look the way that I do? There are a lot of issues that girls focus on that are not part of the guy experience. And so, this [Stronger TogetHER] was a way to address this.”
Mastruserio said that next month’s meeting topic will potentially cover self-advocacy, where she plans to bring in a guest speaker from Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls. Her reason for centering a meeting around this issue is because, “a lot of our members are going to be graduating, and as a young woman it can be easy to be taken advantage of and made to feel powerless in your voice. We want to make sure that young women feel comfortable and empowered to talk and fight for themselves, whether that be in a job or school community.”
The next Stronger TogetHER meeting will be held during CREW on a future date TBD. Dill said, “We would love to have more representation from freshmen, sophomores and juniors because it’s definitely heavy on the seniors, so that girls can continue to find that empowerment and support that they need.” Mastruserio said, “I want the women here to feel empowered and that it’s okay to talk about hard issues, that their voices matter, and that even though society might say one thing, we’re saying a different thing.”The new McNicholas club, Stronger TogetHER, which is focused on empowering young women, was founded by senior Gracie Mastruserio in the fall of 2025. Mastruserio is one of ten girls and twenty women selected to serve The Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls to represent Hamilton County in local policy decisions. The August 2025 McNicholas article, St. Joseph Scholar Gracie Mastruserio selected to serve Hamilton County, described The Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls as “Elevating the voices of women and girls in local policy decisions, while creating leadership opportunities and pathways for civic engagement.” The moderators for Stronger TogetHER are English teachers Mrs. Julie Dill and Mrs. Angie Noble who also served as Mastruserio’s recommenders for the Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls. Dill said, “Since Gracie is a part of the Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls, they are about bringing women to the table, so we are emulating that model. We want there to be representation and for girls to be invited and be part of and recognized as contributors to various organizations and to the overall McNicholas community.”
Mastruserio said her inspiration to create Stronger TogetHER was because she saw a need for change for the girls of McNick because there are many issues and topics that aren’t necessarily talked about that heavily affect the lives of women and girls. She said, “I wanted to create a safe space for girls to be open and honest and making them feel comfortable to come forward and advocate for themselves.” According to Dill, the club meets monthly during CREW because “Gracie and the other leaders wanted the meetings to be held when there weren’t other commitments going on, so girls didn’t have to choose whether to come to that [Stronger TogetHER] or do one of the other activities they are involved in.” The meeting discussions include topics and issues such as self-confidence, body image, self-advocacy, mental health issues like anxiety and stressors, and women’s health. Mastruserio said, “I want people to feel empowered to be a young girl and not embarrassed to have issues because it’s normal.”
Dill said, “Gracie came to me at the beginning of this year when we felt there was a gap in attention to girl focused activities at McNick. We are a co-ed school and we embrace that, but sometimes it seems like the focus is more on male sports and raising up boys as leaders. So, we just thought it might be nice to focus specifically on girl centered issues.” She said the club’s goal is to “empower girls and give them that boost of confidence that often they are lacking. Even though they are leaders and do so much good and service, girls tend to ask themselves why am I not good enough? Or why do I look the way that I do? There are a lot of issues that girls focus on that are not part of the guy experience. And so, this [Stronger TogetHER] was a way to address this.”
Mastruserio said that next month’s meeting topic will potentially cover self-advocacy, where she plans to bring in a guest speaker from Hamilton County Commission on Women & Girls. Her reason for centering a meeting around this issue is because, “a lot of our members are going to be graduating, and as a young woman it can be easy to be taken advantage of and made to feel powerless in your voice. We want to make sure that young women feel comfortable and empowered to talk and fight for themselves, whether that be in a job or school community.”
The next Stronger TogetHER meeting will be held during CREW on a future date TBD. Dill said, “We would love to have more representation from freshmen, sophomores and juniors because it’s definitely heavy on the seniors, so that girls can continue to find that empowerment and support that they need.” Mastruserio said, “I want the women here to feel empowered and that it’s okay to talk about hard issues, that their voices matter, and that even though society might say one thing, we’re saying a different thing.”
The McNicholas Milestone 