5k Celebration – WMU Turkey Trot
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The girls’ experience will culminate on Saturday, November 22
when they participate in the Turkey Trot 5k (3.1 miles) run/walk at
Western Michigan University.
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What is Girls on Track?
 Girls
on the Run is the name of our organization, but we have two programs:
Girls on the Run -- for 3rd-5th graders
Girls on Track -- for 6th-8th graders
The Girls on the Run curriculum has been in use since the fall of 1996.
Since that time thousands of girls have been through the program-but what
we soon discovered is, they were having so much fun and getting so connected,
they wanted something that would carry them through middle school. We
originally wanted to call it Girls on the Run for Middle Schoolers. The
girls who were participating told us they wanted something they could
call their own. Hence the birth of Girls on Track.
 The
principal philosophies and psychological research for both programs are
the same yet the depth of processing the topics varies with the two different
curricula. We can go into more targeted and age-appropriate discussion
regarding certain topics (eating disorders, tobacco and alcohol use, personal/internet
safety and harassment to name a few) with the middle school participants,
whereas with the younger girls the discussion remains a bit more vague
or may not occur at all.
Beginning the week of September
22, Girls on Track will be delivered at 14 locations in the Greater
Kalamazoo Area as follows:
SiteName
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Arcadia Elementary
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Boys & Girls Club
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Comstock Northeast Middle School
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Gull Lake Middle
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| Hillside Middle School
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| King Westwood |
| Lincoln |
| Maple Street YMCA |
| Paramount Charter |
| Parchment Middle |
| Plainwell Middle School |
| St. Augustine |
| St. Monica |
| Vicksburg Middle School |
Girls on Track Session Overview
This is an overview of
all 24 lessons from the Girls on Track curriculum indicating which lessons
will be combined as well as 2 optional lessons from which one will be chosen
to be delivered at each site.
Part I – All About Me…Getting to Know who I am and What I Stand for
SESSION 1. Lesson
1 GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER
- To provide our girls with the
opportunity to learn each other’s names and learn more about each other.
SESSION 2. Lesson
2 SETTING OUR LIFE GOALS
- To get the girls thinking about
what some of their short-term and long-term goals are, and what they
could be
doing now to achieve those goals.
SESSION 3. Lesson
3 GIVING MY BODY WHAT IT NEEDS
- To discuss the importance of
healthy eating and moderation
- To learn about the importance
of physical fitness
- To discuss when too much exercise
is a bad thing
SESSION 4. Lesson
4 NORMAL EATING VERSUS DISORDERED EATING
- To discuss eating disorders and
how they are damaging to the self and family
- To get girls thinking about how
body shape and size is strongly affected by heredity
- To have the girls define their
body strengths and ways they might improve their body image
SESSION 5. Lesson
5 EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND DEALING WITH ANGER
- To teach our girls the importance
of expressing their emotions
- To teach our girls that uncomfortable
emotions, such as anger, sorrow, and frustration are not “bad” or “unhealthy”
in and of themselves
- To learn how they personally
deal with and express their emotions
SESSION 6. Lesson
6 FINDING THE SPIRIT IN ME
- To introduce our girls to the
concept of spirituality (as opposed to religion)
- To begin the process of finding
their own spiritual basis and learning the benefits of quiet time and
relaxation
-- Or-- Lesson
15 BOYS, GIRLS, AND DATING
- To learn what it takes to make
a relationship healthy
- To discuss the similarities and
differences between the qualities we look for in a crush versus a best
friend.
SESSION 7. Lesson
7 DRUGS SUCK! THE LIFE OUT OF YOU
- To get the girls thinking about
the impact drugs could have on their lives
- To educate the girls about why
it is so important to stay away from all drugs
SESSION 8. Lessons
8 & 21 WHAT ARE MY VALUES? /DETERMINING THE COMMUNITY PROJECT
- To learn how to recognize personal
values
- To increase understanding of
how personal values affect lifestyle decisions
- To explore similarities and differences
among the group members’ personal values
- To determine and finalize what
the group’s community project will be
Part II – Building My Team…Understanding
the Importance of Cooperation
SESSION 9. Lesson
9 POSITIVE SELF-TALK IS KEY
- To learn about cognitive distortions
that often make us think negatively about ourselves
- To learn how to overcome those
negative thoughts when they are getting us down
SESSION 10. Lesson
10 BUILDING OUR TRUST IN THE TEAM
- To begin the process of team
building with the girls
- To build trust among the team
members
SESSION 11. Lesson
11 FRIENDSHIP AND LISTENING
- To introduce our girls to the
key principals of good listening
- To discuss the important qualities
of being a good friend
- To have our girls practice good
listening skills by designing a workout that will best reveal the talents
and likes of their individual team members
SESSION 12. Lesson
12 GOSSIP HURTS EVERYONE
- To communicate the destructive
nature of gossip
- To understand that gossip hurts
both the person about whom the gossip is being spread and the person
who is spreading it
- To gain a better understanding
of why people gossip and how not to be a part of it
SESSION 13. Lesson
13 POPULARITY AND CLIQUES
- To learn the different ways girls
can be popular, and to determine whether “real” popularity or “surface”
popularity makes for a better friend
- To define the important characteristics
of a good friend
SESSION 14. Lesson
14 IT’S ALL ABOUT SELF-RESPECT
- To learn the definition of self-respect
- To discuss the importance of
and methods of treating yourself with respect at all times
SESSION 15. Lessons
16 DOING A 5K! and 17 JUST PLAYING
- To give the girls as much time
as needed to either run or walk a 5k (3.1 miles)
- To provide our girls with an
opportunity to simply PLAY!
Part III – Community Begins With Me…Learning
About Community:
How It Impacts Us and How We Can Impact
It
SESSION 16. Lesson
18 THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING PRIORITIES
- To have the girls make a list
of all their top priorities
- To encourage their thinking about
the importance of recognizing priorities
- To build the team as they work
together in designing a workout that maximizes individual strengths
SESSION 17. Lesson 19 ASSERTIVENESS AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT
- To teach the girls the difference
between flirting and sexual harassment
- To give them tools on what to
do if they are being harassed
- To learn how to use the assertiveness
statements, “I feel…when you…because…, and I need you to…”
SESSION 18. Lesson
20 MEDIA AWARENESS AND YOU
- To teach some of the tactics
the media uses to get our attention
- To learn what we can do when
we are upset by media tactics
SESSION 19. Lesson
22 DOING THE COMMUNITY PROJECT
- To work diligently on the community
project, and to have FUN!!
SESSION 20. Lesson
23 THE FINISHING TOUCHES
- To enjoy the last official day
of Girls on Track before the closing banquet
- To provide feedback to the coach
about what they learned from Girls on Track and about what they
liked and didn’t like about Girls on Track.
- To see how fast the entire group
can run a 5k.
SESSION 21. Lesson
24 CELEBRATION: THE BANQUET!
- We will close with a banquet where
each girl will receive her own award!
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©2004
Greater Kalamazoo Girls On The Run