Page 32 - BusinessWest May 29, 2023

The end-of-fall 5K is decidedly a colder affair than the spring event, which is scheduled for June 3.
active and what running is.”
Coleen Ryan, program manager at GOTR Western Massachu-
setts, added that, once girls develop a love for running, they find it’s an always-available pastime. “Running doesn’t cost money. Anybody can go out their door and run and be successful.”
She added that the groups at each session are kept to a healthy coach-to-child ratio, so when they’re having discussions or doing laps, they get a lot of individualized attention. “That makes a difference.”
While the girls’ personal growth is exciting, Berman said, perhaps even moreso is the impact of those changes on their families and schools.
“Running doesn’t cost money. Anybody can go out their door and run and be successful.”
“A lot of our coaches who are teachers tell us that they see the kids using the curriculum in the classroom, and they’re becoming leaders in school, like standing up for their friends. So we see the impact at a community level as well. We’ve had some of our teachers, coaches, and principals talk about how it’s also changed the culture of their school and how it’s even gotten guardians and parents more involved.”
And it’s not only the girls who are internalizing lessons and deploy- ing them outside of Girls on the Run, Hoyt said — so are the coaches. “The nice thing about coaching as a parent or a teacher is that you
are learning the same language that the girls are during practice, so you can really support them, at home with your own child or in the classroom with kids in the program. You have that common language and start the lessons from the same page. I think it allows adults to support kids better when they go through the experience with them.”
Mission Accomplished
As one girl stated in a video created by GOTR Western Massachu- setts, “one thing I love about Girls on the Run is that it’s about body positivity and showing that I’m who I am.”
It’s a message, among many others, that has caught on over the years. The national Girls on the Run organization was formed in 1996 and has since reached more than 2 million girls, with at least one coun- cil in every state; three call Massachusetts home.
GOTR claims to make a stronger impact than organized sports and physical-education programs in teaching life skills such as managing
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