The Daily Tar Heel

Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: City

Media Credit: DTH/Julie Turkewitz Rashkis Elementary students stretch and hold hands Wednesday during Girls on the Run, an after-school healthy living program for girls.

Beginning in Charlotte in 1996, Girls on the Run International has combined physical fitness with emotional, social, spiritual and mental well-being for more than a decade.

Since its founding in 2000, Girls on the Run of the Triangle has expanded to serve 19 locations and now has a program in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system at Glenwood Elementary School.

The program is a 12-week curriculum covering topics ranging from drugs and alcohol to nutrition and health. It also trains participants for either a one or 3.1 mile noncompetitive walk or run.

Caroline Johnson, the Triangle program manager, said that teaching girls to make healthy decisions is the overall goal of Girls on the Run.

Lucille Conrad, a fifth-grade student, said that through the program, she is learning about healthful living.

"If you do all good stuff, you won't have to start over and think about what you've done," Conrad said. "If you do bad stuff, something's probably gonna happen to your body."

Conrad participates two hours a week with Girls on the Run at Glenwood along with 13 other girls ranging in age from eight to 12.

Each session begins with an introduction of the theme of the day. The girls brainstorm about the topic and warm up.

For a warm-up Oct. 10, the girls were presented with scenarios and questions about whether they would always, sometimes or never disagree with answers from their coach, Sheri Branson.

"There's no right or wrong answer," Branson said, explaining that the statement motivates the girls to think for themselves and evaluate situations honestly, regardless of the way their peers might respond.

"It makes me feel confident. I can do anything that I want to," said Khalifah Muhammad, a fifth-grader. "No one can stop you from doing things you want to do. No one can stop you from running but you. You can make your own choices."

Muhammad's point of view embodies the purpose of the international nonprofit organization.

The workout session of each meeting allows the girls to physically reinforce the theme of the day. The organization's 24-lesson curriculum culminates in a 5K event.

Continued...

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