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Running Towards Better Social Skills
Heartspring Girls on the Run Tackles New Territory
By: Heartspring
Heartspring has a commitment to finding new opportunities for our students. In the 2010s, Heartspring expanded some of our students' horizons by starting a Girls on the Run program on campus. Girls on the Run allowed our students to gain confidence and improve health while having fun. All the hard work ended with a 5K where they could show off the strength and skills they built over the season.
After the success of the first Girls on the Run season, Heartspring continued to grow the program. And when there was an opportunity to try something new, the coaches took every opportunity given. including the chance to create and implement a summer curriculum for Girls on the Run at Heartspring. They worked with the current director of Girls on the Run of Sedgwick County, Christy Thomas, to make something that fit the needs of the students. They took a week-long program and made it one that met twice a week for six weeks throughout summer of 2022.
The summer program focused on fitness as well as art and crafts. This gave the students new opportunities.
“The art activity was really different because we did more talking than we normally would do in a regular season,” Shelby Forrest, assistant director of residential services and Girls on the Run coach said. “We talked more about our feelings. I think we had more communication opportunities.”
The summer program does not typically end in a 5K. So, the girls and the coaches ran in the CAREfest 5K instead in August. However, the race was not the only accomplishment of the summer season. There were other important lessons learned.
“The students support each other," Forrest said. "They are not all in the same classes, but they’ll talk about each other and that shows growth, maturity and care and respect for each other. They cooperate together more. I saw a lot of that this season.”
If you’d like to be a part of this transformative group and help coach, let us know at marketing@heartspring.org.
