September 26, 2018:

Today, Lorianna and Leslie started Girls On The Run at school.  For those who don’t know what Girls On The Run is, it’s a program that inspires girls to learn about themselves and what they can do.  The program is nation wide, so girls all over the US are doing it at the same time.  It’s for girls from 3rd grade and up.  There is a program for 3-5 grades and another for 6-8 grades. They have a curriculum that helps them build up their self esteem and learn how to encourage others to do the same.  They also do a small community service project about halfway though and at the end of the 10-week program, they finish with a 5K run.

Lorianna participated 2 years ago when she was in the 3rd grade and when she found out the school was doing it this year, she came home excited.  Of course, Leslie also wanted to do  it as well.  My little energetic runner was all about participating.  Leslie is the only 3rd grader as of this post who is participating in the program at their school. At today’s meeting, she easily outran all the 5th graders. She had a positive attitude and was very energetic, a little too energetic for one 5th grader who commented “she just has way too much energy.” That’s my girl! Lorianna of course does it because she wants to do everything she can at school, participate in every activity and hang out with her friends. Lorianna’s friends, Tekeyah and Tekiyah (yes they are twins), are also participating.

According to the Girls On The Run Website, “Girls face social pressures and conflicting messages about how they should act and who they should be. Studies show that by adolescence, girls’ confidence drops about twice as much as boys’. Friendships become more complicated and challenging, girls’ perception of their academic ability declines, the likelihood of anxiety and depression increases and participation in physical activity plummets.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We believe that EVERY GIRL is inherently FULL OF POWER and POTENTIAL. By knowing they are the leaders of their lives, these are the girls who WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.”

Girls On The Run focuses on empowering girls to be able to do anything they set their minds to. The program teaches confidence, character, care, connections and competence. These are the biggest issues that girls face as they grow up in today’s society and the Girls On The Run program helps them learn how to overcome each of these barriers as they go through the program. Today’s lesson was “BUILDING OUR GIRLS ON THE RUN TEAM” It was a get to know you, your friends and coaches. The girls are lucky to have such supportive and caring coaches this year!

I will be adding to this post as Lorianna and Leslie work their way through the program, so check back frequently for updates.