When the pandemic hit small towns around the nation, many privately-run organizations sprung into action for the health and motivation of youths in particular.
Girls on the Run Western Mass. continues to work hard in its mission to promote the importance of physical and mental wellness through integrating running in girls from grades 3-8. Girls on the Run is an organization designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological and physical skills and behaviors to help them learn how to navigate life experiences. The curriculum enforced by their programs encourages development of character, confidence and connections in young girls.
GOTR focuses on small teams of girls through lessons that promote social-emotional learning in connection to physical activity. They also partake in completing a celebratory, non-competitive 5K event for the girls and their families.
In preparation for the program, volunteer coaches are well-trained, and this training prepares them to build relationships with girls in order to create a positive, inclusive supportive environment (including how to provide an inclusive experience for girls with disabilities). They work to create trauma-sensitive spaces, and to deliver the intentional curriculum as intended.
The program’s 10-week curriculum includes lessons that specifically target girls’ improvements in social-emotional learning. Through the program, girls learn critical life skills and behaviors such as how to manage emotions, help others to make intentional decisions, and to resolve conflict that they can use at home, at school and with friends long after the program’s conclusion.
During the spring of 2020, when the virus began to surface, GOTR had 1,600 girls registered on 75 teams. They shut down but offered GOTR at-home programs, which were virtual lessons that the girls could do if they chose. This past fall, they were able to offer hybrid, virtual and in-person teams for eight week (16 lessons) fall programming.
The volunteer coaches, girls and family involved all had overwhelmingly positive feedback about the season.
“Girls on the Run was a lifeline for my daughter and my family,” one parent said. Another parent said to a coach at the end of the season, “thank you for making my girl happy again.”
Alison Berman, GOTR’s head organizer, has worked extensively to grow the organization for the past six years. Berman said the relationships she has created with these youth girls are nothing but rewarding. She added that the girls she worked close with were thrilled to have taken part in the program.
“When asking the girls what they learned, one girl said, ‘I learned that I can make new friends even though I’m shy sometimes,’ and it gave me some hope during this pandemic,” Berman said. “Another stated, ‘When I really, really try hard and practice I get better. That showed me that practicing can help me get better and things can get easier for me.’”
This current spring season (and in the fall), GOTR has partnered with parks and recreation dpartments in towns around Western Mass., as well as some area YMCA’s like Hampshire Regional.
This spring, they are offering 27 in-person teams with about 340 girls registered. All of their lessons have been adapted for COVID so that girls and coaches can practice safely.
“What I love most about this organization,” Berman began, “is how the coaches create an incredible community for the girls in which they can grow, connect with others, learn new skills and increase their confidence. Over the past six years, we have seen how girls have become leaders in their schools and communities and transferred the skills they have learned in GOTR to their schools, families and communities.”
The impact has been noticeably powerful on the coaching staff and their families as well. Berman commented how seeing their girls taking the initiative to walk/run has empowered parents to do it right beside them. Berman said she is excited to see where GOTR will be in the future coming out of the challenges from the pandemic.
“As we move forward, our aim is to get back to serving as many girls as we were pre-COVID,” she said. “We have an intentional focus on social-emotional learning — such as how to manage emotions, establish boundaries, develop confidence and resolve conflict – and these are skills that girls can use now and, in the future, to cope with life challenges.”
For more information, visit girlsontherunwesternma.org