ESCONDIDO - Hallway gossip, makeup brushes and fashion magazines were cast aside by dozens of Escondido middle school girls Friday as college and careers took the spotlight in an empowerment conference.

Some 55 seventh- and eighth-grade students from Hidden Valley and Del Dios middle schools gathered Friday for an all-day meeting meant to boost self-esteem and awareness of issues facing young girls.

"I feel like I am really lucky," said 13-year-old Saqoia Pfeffer, a seventh-grader at Hidden Valley. "(The conference) is pretty cool. It's a good opportunity to learn how to do the right thing."

The event, held at Hidden Valley, was part of a larger, campuswide program school officials launched last year to reduce violence and create a better sense of community on campus through mentoring and outreach classes for students.

Throughout the year, school leaders and counselors host leadership classes, self-defense courses and special breakout programs geared to girls or boys. Friday's conference was an opportunity for the girls to focus on themselves.

The entire program is funded through a five-year, $497,000 state School Community Violence Prevention grant Hidden Valley received last year. Del Dios was awarded the same grant this school year.

"What we want to do is be able to empower the girls at a younger age, so when they are in high school they are able to make the right decisions," said Gabriela Baeza, a project specialist with the safe schools unit at the San Diego County Office of Education. Baeza oversees the program at Hidden Valley.

"There are a lot of opportunities and options for girls out there," she said. "They just have to learn about them."

Students said some of those opportunities were revealed Friday through discussions about their future, a look at the lives of women who made a difference in their own lives, and speakers who covered everything from dating violence and gang involvement to healthy living. The girls also participated in team-building activities and discussed their own dreams and concerns.

Five girls from Del Dios Middle School attended the conference. The event will take place on their own campus in spring.

"I'm thinking a lot more about the college thing," said 13-year-old Idalia Cardenas, an eighth-grader at Del Dios. "Its a lot easier to talk about (the future) just in front of girls."

In one of the conference's midday activities, for instance, the girls were asked to envision themselves 10 years from now. The girls who answered said they dreamed of doing everything from graduating from college to becoming a professional soccer player to touring the world as a humanitarian who helps schoolless kids in Africa and Mexico.

"You are more likely to make it happen if you write it down and see it," Baeza said to the group. "All of the ladies standing around you, we were all successful because we were all able to see what we wanted to do."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.