Tag Archives: Girls on the Run

Posted on by

Girls On The Run Closes In On Goal

Miss Michigan visited Girls On The Run during the fall season.

Asked how the spring season of Girls On The Run has gone, council director Jackie Kippen says “it’s been incredible.” She was expecting about 1000 girls to participate, between sites at YMCA branches and at local schools; instead, more than 1200 signed up. Between the girls, their coaches, and parents and friends who want to run with them, they’re expecting around 2,000 at the 5K that marks the finish line of the season. The 5K is May 19 at Oakland University, and represents the achievement of one of the Girls On the Run goals that the girls in the program have been working toward since the beginning of the season.

The other, of course, is to develop their self-respect and capacity for healthy living. The core of Girls on the Run  isn’t so much the running, Jackie notes, as the activities the girls do that help foster self-esteem, show them how to resist peer pressure, and teach ways of resolving conflicts and relating to each other positively.

Jackie’s seeing the magic of Girls On the Run close up this year — she’s volunteered as a coach at REACH Academy in Warren. “I am more committed to the program than ever” she says, adding with a laugh “I drank the Kool-Aid!”

Over the nearly ten weeks her team has been together, she’s been noticing the lessons of Girls On The Run really taking shape. “I’ve seen the girls use conflict management skills at practice,” she says. “If they are mad at someone or someone cut them off while they were running I’ve seen them talk it out  — that has been amazing.” They’re also cheering each other on and encouraging each other to participate in the conversations as well, and have built a lot of trust in each other. “They have started to really open up,” Jackie says. “The more discussions we have, the more they talk about things they wouldn’t normally talk about with other people.”

Coaching helps her understand the challenges her fellow coaches are facing as well and makes her more effective at working with them, she says. Often when a coach calls her with a problem, she’s faced it herself as well and can talk it through with them. “I’m not just telling them what to do, I’m living it with them,” she says.

Overall, it’s been a great experience working with the girls this year, she says, and has reinforced what an amazing program Girls On the Run is. “Its been an awesome experience seeing he confidence the girls develop,” she says.

 

Posted on by

New Neighbor Helps Girls On The Run

Sometimes an interaction can have wide-ranging impact, not only on the people involved but on the community around them. That was the case with Jeff Lambert, president and managing partner of Lambert, Edwards and Associates. The public relations firm recently moved their offices from Troy to the block of Broadway in Downtown Detroit that also is the location of the Boll Family YMCA. That move was catalyzed in part, Lambert says, by a visit to the Boll.

Lambert, a longtime board member of the Y in West Michigan, wanted to make a donation to provide swim lessons to needy children. He connected with the team running Detroit Swims, which has the goal of providing swim lessons to every child in Detroit, and gave a $10,000 donation. The Boll staff held an event to thank him, and Lambert was taken with the activity and energy in the neighborhood surrounding the Boll.

“That was my first introduction to that area,” Lambert says. “Fast forward a year and half or so, and now we’re neighbors.”

Lambert, Edwards and Associates moved into an abandoned office suite that is now a vibrant, open plan office that’s drawn notice for its sports theme.

The firm wanted to mark their new space in a special way, so they crafted a creative donation to Girls On the Run. At Christmastime, they gave each of their clients a gift certificate for a pair of shoes from Wolverine Worldwide, which makes Saucony running shoes as well as iconic brands such as Hush Puppies, Merrell and Stride Rite. When clients redeemed the certificate, Lambert, Edwards and Associates donated a pair of shoes to Girls on the Run. “We celebrated our new offices by paying it forward,”Lambert says.

All told, Lambert, Edwards and Associates donated 100 pairs of shoes. Many of the young women who participate in Girls On the Run can’t afford quality running shoes, so the donation will allow a lot more girls access to the program. It teaches girls about resisting peer pressure, raising self-esteem and making healthy choices wile also training for a 5K race.

As a longtime Y member and board member, Lambert believes in the Y’s commitment to all forms of healthy living and to a diverse community.

“The Y is a great example of a public/private partnership,” Lambert says. “It’s evolved from the traditional gym and swim to being a community advocate for everyone from the youngest to the oldest members of the community. It touches all aspects of a person’s wellness, and that’s something we really believe in.”

Posted on by

Raising Funds for Girls On The Run

Girls On The Run has become a signature program of the YMCA of Metro Detroit. Not only does it get girls hooked on running, it helps them set goals, boost their self-esteem, and learn how to resist peer pressure. They form strong bonds with their teammates and develop self-respect and an understanding of healthy lifestyles.

It’s an amazing program, and it costs money to run. To ensure that girls who might not otherwise be able to afford to participate in Girls On The Run can enjoy all the benefits of the program, a team of women is heading up a Crowdrise fundraiser to cover costs at the Boll Family YMCA for 80 girls during the Spring and Fall seasons. Their aim is to provide healthy snacks, program fees, and proper running gear (shoes, shorts, shirt, and socks). Their goal is to raise $14,000 and about $3,600 has been raised so far.

Suggested levels of giving are:

5k Level: $50 – sponsor one girl’s gear
10k Level: $125 – sponsor one girl’s program fees
½ Marathon Level: $175 – total sponsor for one girl (including gear & fees)
Marathon Level: $2,500 – sponsor a full team of girls.

Donors can give whatever amount they choose outside those giving levels, of course, and donations are accepted right on the Crowdrise site. And donors can feel good about launching girls on the path to an emotionally, socially and physically healthy life.

 

 

 

Posted on by

13 Reasons to Support the Y in 2013

Most people know the Y as a place for “gym and swim,” and fostering healthy living is a core part of the Y’s mission. But the Y does much more than that in the community and for the community. Over the last year we’ve shared some of those stories of how the people at the Y — members and staff — go above and beyond to do everything from ensuring everyone has a place at the Y to fostering future Olympians to raising student performance in school. Here’s a look at some of those stories….and we look forward to bringing you even more in 2013!

1. Everyone belongs at the Y. If there’s one thing that defines the Y more than anything else, that’s it. From people with disabilities to seniors to single parents and everyone in between, the Y, through the Strong Kids Campaign, ensures everyone who could benefit can be a part of the Y. More than that, though, the welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff make people feel like valued members of the Y family.

2. The Y provides access to the arts to people who might not otherwise have a path discover their creative spark. The Detroit Creativity Project, supported by a group of successful Detroit-expatriate actors and comedians now mostly living in Los Angeles, has provided more than 100 high school students with improvisation classes taught by local professionals. Y-Arts instructors are prominent in their fields in addition to teaching kids the fundamentals of visual arts, hip-hop, acting and more. And the lobby gallery of the Boll Family YMCA provides a space for the community to see the work of well-respected artists in all media.

3. The Metro Youth YMCA, or MY-Y, encourages youth to achieve their dreams — and beyond. From showing them a path to college to actually driving them to out-of-state scholarship interviews, MY-Y impacts at-risk young people’s lives for the better.

4. More than 700 Detroit school kids learned to swim for free through the Detroit Swims program. African-American and Hispanic youth are at much higher risk of drowning than Caucasian children; teaching them to swim will reverse that tragic toll. The eventual goal is to have every child in the city of Detroit able to use basic survival skills in the water.

5. More than 800 girls learn life lessons through running with the Girls on The Run program. Not only do they develop themselves as runners — a physical activity they can enjoy for a lifetime — they learn lessons about self-esteem, peer pressure, and stress management, among other themes. One group even got a visit from the reigning Miss Michigan, Angela Venditti. The Girls on the Run philosophy is to teach girls to Honor Their Bodies, Celebrate their Voices, Embrace their Gifts and Activate Their Power.

6. Y staff believe in the mission; their work goes far beyond just a paycheck. Lifeguard Chelsea Cheek, a college student working two jobs, donates a substantial percent of her paycheck from lifeguard duty at the Macomb YMCA to the Strong Kids Campaign and has raised money through community events. Staff at South Oakland have donated time to teach classes, help with a Mom-To-Mom sale, and more to raise money for Strong Kids scholarships. And even the youngest members step up with creative ways to fundraise.

7. The Y encourages fathers to bond with their kids. The Adventure Guides program, which will be expanding to more branches in 2013, sends fathers and daughters off on adventures from ice skating to camping, creating bonds that last a lifetime.

8. The Y rallies behind its staff and members in tough times. Health worries, job losses, sudden disability, even unimaginable tragedy — the Y steps up.

9. Even people who never fit the fitness-enthusiast mold learn to enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle at the Y. Alexis Sumner went from weighing 400 pounds to doing sprint triathlons, and new mom Dani Keith-Marchment finished her first 5K when she never thought that was possible thanks to the help of her trainer.

10. Providing quality education and improving skills is a key part of the Y’s impact. The Y runs two schools locally, Detroit Leadership Academy and Detroit Innovation Academy, both of which have received gorgeous playgrounds through the hard work of volunteers. And the Y’s summer program for at-risk students, Camp Phoenix, serves students’ entire families and has a measurable impact on academic performance.

11. Day camp at all branches provides children, from toddlers through teens, with a high-quality and fun experience, and parents with peace of mind that their children are in a safe, caring environment.

12. Middle-school age youth throughout the Detroit Metro Area learn about the importance of making smart decisions about sexual activity — and that staying abstinent is the healthiest choice for them — through the Y SWIFT (Sexual Wellness Information for Teens) program.

13. The Y launches future Olympians. Three-time Olympic medalist Peter Vanderkaay began swimming at the Y at age 7, and continues to give back through helping raise awareness of the Detroit Swims program.

 

 

 

 

Posted on by

Miss Michigan Pays a Visit to Girls on The Run

Girls on the Run are reaching the height of their fall season with their run at Kensington Metropark at 9 a.m. Sunday. About 550 girls in grades 3 through 8 at various school and YMCA-based sites have been training since September to reach their goal of running a 5K, and learning some important lessons along the way.

Girls On The Run’s mission is to educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living. Girls not only develop the strength to run three miles, but they develop emotional and mental strength as well, and the pride that comes with reaching a goal.

The team at the Lakeshore Family YMCA had a special visitor to one of their final practices before the big run: Miss Michigan Angela Venditti. Her platform is keeping kids off drugs, which fits well with the Girls On The Run mission, so she visited  to talk to the girls about goals, peer pressure and what it’s really like to be Miss Michigan.

She’s a friend of volunteer coach Elizabeth Alloush, who asked her to come and speak to the girls. Angela, who was as glamorous as a pageant winner could be, wore her crown and sash while she chatted with the team. Despite the glitter, she was as warm and friendly to the girls as a big sister. She even let each girl (and a few of the adult coaches!) try on her crown.

One topic she addressed was the importance of setting goals like they did in Girls On The Run. In her case, she said, she really wanted to win Miss Michigan, and entered about 14 local pageants before she made it to the statewide one. Then, she did the Miss Michigan pageant three times before she finally won on her fourth try. She’ll be competing in the Miss America pageant in January.

She also talked about resisting peer pressure, something Girls on the Run talks a lot about as well. “Girls are strong,” she says. “You have to remember how strong you are and that you don’t have to do those things” that friends might pressure them to do. She even ran through a few role-plays with the girls about what they would do if a friend pressured them to do something they knew they shouldn’t.

Another message of Girls on the Run is the importance of positive self image– they talk about unplugging the cord that feeds them messages that tell them they aren’t good enough and plugging in the Girls on The Run cord that does. That’s something Angela endorses as well, and told the girls that setting goals like they did in Girls On The Run can help them believe in themselves. “Sometimes we doubt ourselves and don’t think we can, but when we do the hard work, we know we can,” she told the girls.

Girls On The Run director Jackie Kippen said she was just thrilled to have Miss Michigan visit. “She spent so much time with them, and I think they really liked it,” she said.

Girls On The Run provides positive role models in many ways, and the visit from Miss Michigan was a particularly exciting one for the girls who’ve trained so hard. Mary Jennings, 9, has been a veteran of three Girls on The Run seasons and says she likes the program because it lets her hang out with her friends that she’s made, and it’s made her a better runner. “I like it because we group up and talk with our friends,” she says.

The Girls On The Run spring season starts in March. Stay tuned for more information about the spring run and how to join or coach a team.

Posted on by

New Director for Girls On The Run

Girls On the Run is one of the YMCA’s signature programs here in Metro Detroit. More than 50 teams in the fall, and more than 100 in the spring, spend weeks training for a 5K race, while also learning about healthy living, positive self-esteem, goal setting and other self-development activities.

Jackie Kippen joined the Y this fall as Girls On The Run council director. In her role, she coordinates the program’s sites at schools and at the YMCA branches, works with volunteer coaches and promotes the program. She also organizes Girls On the Run’s culminating event, a 5K race that all the girls who have completed the training will run. The fall 5K will be Nov. 18 at Kensington Metropark.

Jackie says she’s excited to be working with Girls On the Run because it encourages girls to compete with themselves and do the best they can without concerning themselves with beating others. Learning that their own standards are what they should be judging themselves by is crucial t their future growth.  Combining a physical challenge with more emotional and social growth activities that help girls get to know themselves and their peers in a new way is also really effective, she says.

Jackie graduated from Central Michigan University. She worked at the  Warren YMCA in the day camp program for a few summers during college. For the last three years, she’s run youth development programming for Clemson University in South Carolina. She says she’s excited to be back heading up such a great program.

For more information, visit the Girls on the Run of Greater Detroit web page or find them on Facebook.

 

 

Posted on by

Girls on The Run Finishes Strong

More than 800 girls and their coaches, parents and friends descended on Oakland University’s Rochester Hills campus last weekend for the Girls on The Run 5K.

The run is a culmination of months of training for the girls who spent the spring participating in either the Girls on the Run program for ages 8-10 or the Girls on Track program, which reaches middle school age girls. The girls meet twice a week to do training runs, but the focus goes far beyond exercise. Led by volunteer coaches, the girls also learn about self-esteem, stress management, and being true to themselves, among other life lessons.The Girls on the Run philosophy is to teach girls to Honor Their Bodies, Celebrate their Voices, Embrace their Gifts and Activate Their Power

The Y sponsors the program locally; Ashleigh Schiffler directs it from her office at the Plymouth YMCA. Several programs happen at local schools, but many of the local Y branches host teams as well.

While the unseasonably warm weather on race day provided some hurdles, overall it went very well, Ashleigh says. Girls and their families and coaches enjoyed face-painting and hairdo stations, refreshments and other fun things in addition to the race. And most importantly, it showed hundred of young girls the importance of goal setting and gave them a taste of what they can accomplish if they set their minds to something.

 

Posted on by

Girls Get Life Lessons Through Running

Middle school is a pretty brutal time. Kids are struggling to define themselves amid intense peer pressure, changing roles at home and in school, and the hormonal welter of early adolescence.

Girls On Track aims to combat those difficulties with a program that combines running with personal development activities and games. Girls ages 11-13 meet twice a week to train for a 5K race, learn about things like stress management and healthy self-expression, and do some getting-to-know-you exercises together.

Several Ys across the Metro Detroit association run Girls on Track programs or its sister program for younger girls, Girls on the Run.

Amy Hochkammer is on the board of the Birmingham Y and helped get the program started there. Her daughter, Jenna, is part of it and got several of her friends involved.

“I thought it would be perfect because it’s stressing the importance of doing things for yourself, being healthy and enjoying running,” Amy says. “I really wanted her to have the idea of enjoying a sport for herself.”

Girls on Track is noncompetitive; the girls are encouraged to concentrate on achieving their best, not beating someone else.  Even more important than the sports aspect, though, is the personal development the girls experience. “It uses running as a medium to teach so many valuable life lessons,” says Jenny Paffi, youth and family program director for the Birmingham YMCA.

Middle school is a crucial time for girls to begin making positive life choices that will carry them through high school and beyond, and Girls on Track helps give them the confidence to do that…confidence many, if not most, kids are lacking at that age. “You may think lots of kids have it together, but even those popular kids are facing a different set of pressures,” says Jenny.

Helping girls discover things about themselves and develop a strong sense of self is very important to helping them navigate this time in their lives. Too often, girls feel pressured to look a certain way, have a boyfriend, not seem “too” smart, and so on. “We talk a lot about the importance of getting out of the ‘girl box’…the idea that they have to do things a certain way or look a certain way,” Jenny says.

Since the program at the Birmingham Y is not a school program (although several Girls on the Run and Girls on Track programs are done through schools), it allows girls who would not otherwise know each other to come together. That can help them see themselves and each other in a different way than they might if they were part of a school social scene.

The program wraps up with a big 5K race that brings together all the Girls on the Run and Girls on Track participants. It’s really moving to see all the girls who worked so hard come together to achieve their goal, Jenny Paffi says. “It’s one of the days I am just so proud I work at the Y.”