How does Girls on the Run work?

Girls on the Run is an 8 week program, consisting of bi-weekly one and a half hour sessions. The curriculum is taught by GOTR Se MI trained coaches. All coaches are CPR and first aid certified.

The girls meet twice a week to participate in fun running activities that develop team cooperation, goal setting and leadership skills. The sessions incorporate focused discussions about critical issues that will affect the girls as they reach adolescence.

The curriculum is divided into three parts:

• Part 1: Understanding themselves and setting personal goals (four weeks).

• Part 2: Learning skills to foster leadership, team building, and cooperation (four weeks)

• part 3: Examining their relationship to the community including development and implementation of a community service projest (four weeks).

Every lesson focuses on a specific issue-related topic and follows a five-part format that provides consistency and structure for the girls’ experience.

Introduction: As the girls arrive and settle into a circle, the coach “checks in” with each girl and gauges the group dynamic for the day.

Getting on Board Activity: The Getting on Board activity is a game that introduces the day’s topic and helps to focus the group.

The Warm Up: The warm-up is a brief activity or game that energizes the girls and warms up their muscles. The Warm Up activity is usually a short active game that incorporates the lesson topic for that day. After the activity, the coach leads a stretching session, during which time the group begins to discuss and “process” the topic.

The Lesson: Each session incorporates interactive uplifting games developed to teach the girls a specific life lesson while training them to run or walk a 5K (3.1 mile) race in the final week. sample

The Wrap-Up: Following the lesson is a cool-down and stretching period where the girls do group processing and discussion. Each session ends with positive reinforcement from the coach, a group cheer, and a snack.

OUR CURRICULUM IS RESEARCHED AND "TRACK" TESTED
Molly Barker, M.S,W. and Dori Luke, M.S.W. developed these curricula based upon their professional experience, their research in the field of adolescent issues, and their "on-the-track" interaction with real, live girls. Molly, Dori, and a number of coaches for the first programs piloted each lesson before it became a part of the curriculum.
All those involved in developing and deliver in these curricula know intuitively that they work. The accolades from parents and children's groups, the heart felt "thank you notes" from the girls and the growth of the program have all supported that intuition. Now, we have objective proof.

OBJECTIVE EVALUATION

In the Spring of 2002, Girls on the Run® International contracted with Rita Debate,Ph. D., CHES, assistant professor of Health Promotion and Kinesiology at UNC-Charlotte, to develop an evaluation tool entitled "Girls on the Run®: An Assessment of Self-Esteem, Body Image and Eating Attitudes." We piloted that evaluation tool at several sites across the country.
After the first phase of her evaluation (Spring 2002), Dr. Debate found that our curricula improve girls self-esteem and body image to a "statistically significant" extent. We await her formal report, but we are excited and inspired by what she has found so far.

DID YOU KNOW?

Girls Today:

• are fifteen times more likely than their mothers to begin using drugs by age 15;
• by age 13, 53% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies. By age 17, this number jumps to 78%;
• are inundated by the media and fashion industry that being emaciated is chic;
• who drink are 5 times more likely to be sexually active than those who don't.

But, Here's the Really Cool News:

• women who exercised as girls feel greater confidence and self-esteem than those who were sedentary as kids;
• according the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, female athletes tend to do better academically and score better on standardized tests;
• The Women's Sports Foundation reports that girls who are involved in sports have a lower dropout rate and are three times more likely to graduate from college;
• girls who spend time with healthy peers live healthier lives.