
Photos by Stephanie Ramirez with GOTR
Girls on the Run, a North American nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging girls in grades 3rd-8th to recognize their inner and outer strengths through a curriculum that combines running with emotional and social skill development, has recently opened a council in Memphis.
Due to begin its second season Monday, February 11th, Girls on the Run (GOTR) Memphis will teach girls various lessons surrounding building confidence and self-esteem, facing challenges, and fostering healthy relationships with peers and the world through running, games, creative writing exercises, and interactive role playing.
“The program spends a lot of time in the curriculum talking about peer pressure, bullying, finding your own strengths, and reframing negative thoughts,” says Joanna Lipman, executive director for GOTR Memphis. “The hope is that girls will develop new skills that will help them navigate the world more confidently. Running is interwoven into every lesson, but in a way that really focuses on the social and emotional themes of that lesson. And then the physical lessons also help to relieve stress and anxiety.”
Lipman adds, “It’s not about competition and winning. The physical part is not about being the best. It’s about setting goals and realizing that there are things you thought you could never do in life but can.”
The program is split into two different age groups: 3rd-5th grade Girls on the Run and 6th-8th grade Heart & Sole. “The biggest difference between the two programs,” says Lipman, “is the Heart & Sole girls participate in community service as part of the culmination of the program.”
At the end of the season, all girls will participate in a celebratory 5K run.
Lipman says anyone can participate in GOTR. Parents and adults can participate by signing up to volunteer as coaches, team volunteers, or running buddies for the girls; and teenagers can volunteer as junior coaches. Anyone interested in volunteering can visit GOTR Memphis' official website here.
Parents interested in registering children for the spring season can register here. The spring season begins February 11th and continues through May 16th. Registration ends Wednesday, February 6th. Registration fee is $175 for each girl, but if financial assistance is needed, parents can answer scholarship questions on the online registration form. Anyone who missed the registration deadline can sign up for the fall season (dates and information to be determined).
