Girls on the Run of Northwest Illinois has now opened registration for their transformative program, Girls on the Run for the 2018 year.
A recent independent study provides compelling evidence that Girls on the Run is highly effective at driving transformative and lasting change in the lives of third to fifth grade girls. The program’s intentional curriculum places an emphasis on developing competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution in young girls through lessons that incorporate running and other physical activities.
Throughout the course of the ten-week program, girls learn critical life skills including managing emotions, resolving conflict, helping others and making intentional decisions. It is the combination of the research-based curriculum, trained coaches and a commitment to serve all girls that sets Girls on the Run apart from other after-school programs.
The independent study was conducted by Maureen R. Weiss, Ph.D, a leading expert on youth development. “Girls on the Run participants scored higher in managing emotions, resolving conflict, helping others, and making intentional decisions than participants in organized sport or physical education,” confirms Weiss. “Being able to generalize skills learned in the program to other situations such as at school or at home is a distinguishing feature of Girls on the Run compared to traditional youth sports and school physical education, and suggests that the intentional life skills curriculum and coach-training program can serve as exemplars for other youth programs.”
“We’re especially excited about this upcoming season! Not only are we experiencing growth in DeKalb County, we will be piloting an adapted curriculum for girls with mild to moderate special needs this Spring. This new initiative is important to us because we believe that this program should be accessible for all girls,” said Laurie Dayon, Executive Director of Girls on the Run of Northwest Illinois (GOTRNWIL). “Bringing girls of all abilities on to a team together, to learn to support one another, encourages these girls to build each other up instead of tearing one another down.”
Girls on the Run of Northwest Illinois serves girls in Boone, DeKalb, McHenry and Winnebago Counties. For a listing of sites offering the program this Spring, you can visit their website at www.gotrnwil.org.
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