INDIANAPOLIS — Each week on Community Link, Carolene Mays takes a look at an organization or business that is making a positive impact on the community.

This week, Mays was joined by Deana Potterf, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.

A new statewide report finds Indiana girls are graduating from high school at the highest rate in a decade, while also facing challenges with mental health, belonging and cyberbullying.

The 2026 Indiana Girl Report examines how girls are doing academically, physically, emotionally and socially. Potterf said the report aims to help improve girls’ well-being across the state.

“The most encouraging in the Girl Report is the academic progress that girls are making,” Potterf said. “Girls are actually graduating from high school at about 94% of all girls in high school. That’s the best in a decade that we’ve seen.”

Potterf said academic success can help shape girls’ long-term futures.

The report also highlights the importance of connection and support. “Girls really need their people. They need to feel like they belong. They need a spirit of community,” Potterf said. Adults should listen to girls and help them find ways to make a difference in their lives and the world around them, she said.

Potterf said girls face mental health challenges and need supportive friends and communities. She described “lunch shaming” as a form of bullying in which people take unflattering photos of girls eating in school cafeterias and post them on social media.

“We’re seeing girls being cyber-bullied at three times the rate of boys,” Potterf said. Supportive groups, including Girl Scout troops, can help girls feel included and supported, she said.

Social media can help girls feel connected, Potterf said, but it can also be isolating. Girl Scouts encourages girls to spend time outdoors and away from their phones.

“The real power of Girl Scouts is we get them outside into the outdoors,” Potterf said. “So they get disconnected from their phones a little bit and they really experience nature.” Spending time outside with friends can support girls’ well-being, she said.

Potterf urged parents, caregivers, school administrators and community leaders to learn about the challenges girls face and listen to them.

“Listen to the girls in your life, really listen to them, listen to understand,” she said. Adults can offer tools and resources to help girls make decisions and care for themselves, Potterf said. Girl Scouts also provides caring adults who support girls’ well-being, in addition to their friends.

The interview was part of WISH-TV’s Community Link. Viewers can share the story or learn more at wishtv.com.