Girls on the Run taking site applications
Published 8:52 pm Monday, October 3, 2011
Girls On The Run of Berrien County — a program of United Way of Southwest Michigan — is now accepting site applications from area schools, church or youth groups and home school groups that would like to host the program in 2012.
Girls on the Run (GOTR) is not a running program. It is a character development program for girls in 3rd through 5th grades that teaches life skills in a creative, active and fun format. Girls on Track (grades 6-8) uses the same format but includes more mature content such as dating, internet use and time management. Its mission is to “inspire girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experienced-based curriculum that creatively integrates running.”
The 10-week program begins in early March and ends with the 5K event celebration at the end of May. For more information and a site applications visit United Way’s website at www.uwsm.org/girlsontherun. Site applications are due Nov. 1. Once accepted as a site, United Way staff members and volunteers work with each site to recruit and train volunteer coaches and provides all program supplies including running shoes for the participants.
“We have had such great success with this program,” said program manager Peggy Schaffer. “Our participants experience significant gains in self-esteem, body size satisfaction and attitudes toward physical activity.”
The carefully designed lessons are taught by trained, adult mentors (called “coaches”) and incorporate running to promote exercise and prepare girls for an end of program 5K Celebration Event.
GOTR is working to combat some alarming statistics. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 41 percent of first through third grade girls want to be thinner and 81 percent of 10-year-olds expressed their greatest fear is of becoming fat.
“This program fits so well with United Way’s Health impact area,” explained Rachel Wade, United Way of Southwest Michigan’s director of impact strategies. “We want people to have the information to make healthy choices. This program achieves so much by giving girls a positive experience with exercise while increasing self-esteem.”