Girls on the Run, Not just a running program
Jessica picks out her outfit and lays it out on the bed; she sets another outfit aside in case the first one is not flattering towards her tomorrow. She wakes up extra early, not to eat breakfast, but to make sure every hair is in place and that she is ready for the day…at school. Jessica is only eight years old.
Jessica is not the only young girl that has a routine like this, many girls do. Today's society makes many girls feel that they are never enough. Never pretty enough, never smart enough, never thin enough, never popular enough, never enough. With this attitude many girls fall into what is called the "Girl Box". The Girl Box is a place where some girls fall into and completely change their personality. This is a place where girls are valued more for their outward appearance than what they have on the inside. Girls feel they have to look a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way, and participate in poor lifestyle choices.
Girls on the Run was created to address these problems. Molly Barker founded Girls on the Run in 1996 with 13 girls participating and now we serve over 40,000 girls per year. There are 110 communities that offer this program, including Sioux Falls.
Girls on the Run was started to educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. This program is an interactive life skills/running program designed to increase physical activity and emotional health and reduce the display of at-risk behaviors among our participants (including teen pregnancies, eating disorders, depression/suicide and substance abuse problems) by providing the girls with the tools to make healthy decisions and form healthy self-images.
This program is for girls, of any athletic ability, in grades 3rd-8th. This curricula based program is 12 weeks in length, meeting twice a week for one hour. Girls on the Run will have sessions take place after school at select elementary and middle schools. The YWCA will also be hosting a session at the downtown location. Girls on the Run is being presented by the YWCA and the Sioux Empire United Way, with New Balance as a national sponsor.
If you are interested in participating in this program or volunteering to be a coach for a group of girls, please call Catrina Wilson at 336-3662 ext. 40. You may also e-mail Catrina at cwilson@ywca-sf.org
