Featured in the Royal Oak Review
By Victoria Mitchell
The South Oakland Family YMCA is ready to begin one of its initiatives next week that is designed to empower young women throughout the area in both mind and body.
The Girls on the Run program will kick off March 9 at the Royal Oak facility and at participating elementary schools in Royal Oak, Berkley and Madison Heights.
“It’s a powerful program that teaches girls important life lessons about confidence and character through running exercises,” said Meagan Scaringe, Director of Marketing and Communications for the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit.
“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever been involved with,” said Sandy Gossett, Girls on the Run coordinator through the South Oakland Family YMCA. “It helps young ladies develop self-respect, self-esteem and respect for others.”
Gossett said that when she started administering the program a couple of years ago, she only had one team of six girls.
Her team operated out of the Royal Oak YMCA on 11 Mile Road, but it quickly spread to local elementary schools. There are now 13 teams.
“Being in the schools is a natural fit because these programs run right after school,” Gossett said.
Unlike some other girl-empowerment programs, Girls on the Run folds in the element of exercise.
By the end of the 10-week program, girls in third grade through fifth grade throughout the county will join participants in the Wayne and Macomb programs on May 17 to run a 5K at Kensington Metropark.
Gossett said the program welcomes girls of all levels of physicality. The team coaches will work with the girls throughout the program until they are able to achieve the run at the end.
“It includes everybody and it shows you no matter what size or type, you can be an athlete,” she said.
The girls meet twice a week and follow a curriculum-based program. All coaches are volunteers and attend an all-day training session held in Royal Oak.
“Each time they meet, they have an actual lesson, then we incorporate a couple of running games, and then we actually go out and run,” Gossett said.
Some of the topics covered during the curriculum portion include the importance of self-respect, choosing friends wisely, navigating the Internet, proper hygiene, making healthy decisions, contributing to the community and learning how to center yourself.
“You learn a lot about yourself physically, emotionally and socially,” Gossett said.
Girls on the Run is a nonprofit organization throughout the United States.
The program will be hosted at Addams, Upton and Oakland elementary schools in Royal Oak.
“Our program is strongest in Berkley right now,” Gossett said, adding that with the addition of Norup International School this year, all elementaries in the district are participating.
Norup International School fourth-grade teacher and Girls on the Run adviser Katie Kaunelis said she credits parents Nanci Hambrick and Michelle O’Brien for stepping forward to volunteer their time as coaches and talk with school administrators about bringing the program to the school.
“Staff were invited to volunteer as coaches after that,” Kaunelis said.
To learn more about Girls on the Run, visit www.gotrdetroit.org.