Our mission is to educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of high self-esteem and healthy living. The name "Girls on the Run" is somewhat deceiving. Volunteer coaches encourage girls to run, walk, hop and skip their way through games that encourage the girls to understand how the lesson of the day pertains to 'real" life situations (making healthy decisions, being part of a team and part of the community).

Description:
Girls on the Run is a life-changing experiential learning and running program for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade girls. The program combines training for a 5K (3.1 mile) event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goal of the program is to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual (character) and physical development.

Girls on the Run programs meet twice weekly for 10 weeks for one hour and fifteen minutes.

Topics covered during the program are based on the work of psychologists Mario Fantini and Gerald Weinstein. Program participants learn about making healthy decisions based on their own values, how to be part of a team, and how the community affects them and how they can have a positive role in their communities. The girls examine their own core values and uniqueness, body image issues, stereotyping and discriminatory behaviors, as well as the importance of maintaining a realistic and healthy view of themselves.

Girls take from the program a better understanding of how to process the cultural and social messages they receive through media and other institutions. They begin to see a stronger place for themselves within their community. By combining physical activity with positive lessons the girls graduate the program with a higher self-esteem and tools to help them deal with challenging peer-pressure situations.

History:
Girls on the Run International was established in August 1996 and started with a group of thirteen girls at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, NC. Molly Barker, a four-time Hawaii Ironman Triathlete, established the program to celebrate the gifts of girlhood and to address what she calls 'girl box' issues. The 'girl box' is a place where preoccupation with appearance and anxiety over being liked keep girls from fulfilling their true potential and put them at risk for developing eating disorders, depression and succumbing to peer pressure. Currently there are over 90 local Girls on the Run councils in The United States and Canada serving thousands of girls each year. Girls on the Run Idaho held its first program in the Spring of 2001 and currently serves girls in Canyon and Ada Counties.

Contact person: Michelle Wilkin, Program Director, (208) 388-4687, (email)

Address:

1406 N Main St Suite 204 Meridian, ID 83642 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.gotr.org

Directions:

On the corner of Meridan Road and Fairview