Campus Celebrity: Girls on the Run
Year club began: 2013
Describe Girls on the Run with four adjectives.
Wonderful, Supportive, Community-building, Fun
What is Girls on the Run? What do your members do?
Girls on the Run at Evanston Academy serves 15 third- and fourth-grade girls per semester/season. Seasons take place in the fall and spring, lasting twelve weeks each. In order to meet the needs of our girls, we select 14 totally awesome coaches through an application process, 7 who come on Mondays and 7 who come on Wednesdays . Our coaching staff thus can interact at a 1-1 ratio with our amazing girls, incorporating a mentorship opportunity into the coaching role and providing needed support for the unique population of students with whom we are working.
Throughout the season, the girls engage in lessons that promote social, emotional, and physical health. We talk about everything from bullying to inner beauty, gossip to gratitude, confidence to community. All of the lessons are done through a training schedule leading up to a final 5k. The goal is to empower girls to live their lives in a healthy way on their own terms! We provide the girls with everything they need to get there – a supportive coaching staff, healthy snacks, shoes, shorts, shirts, water bottles, reflection journals, and interactive lessons. The girls have really taken to the program and we’ve seen them realize they can make the seemingly impossible very possible when they cross the finish line at the race. We have been able to watch our shyest girls come to soar with confidence, our most troubled girls transform into kind hearts, and our least supported girls find a community that embraces them for exactly who they are.
Why is Girls on the Run important to the Xavier students who participate?
Girls on the Run provides a great opportunity for Xavier female students to empower young girls and form an amazing bond with their running buddy. It is such a fun program and totally rewarding as coaches see the girls really become comfortable in their own skin and have an amazing coaching staff around them.
What have you all learned from working with this organization?
We’ve honestly learned so much that “what haven’t we learned?” is probably a more accurate question. When we first started Girls on the Run, we had no clue that it would catch on as much as it has in the Evanston and Xavier communities! Each practice, we find ourselves learning something from each girl and coach. It’s truly a beautiful experience that all of us are so grateful to be a part of.
What can Xavier do to support the girls?
The best way to start is by liking our Facebook page!
Spreading word about the program is so beneficial to us! We also have a Practice 5K each season, and need lots of volunteers to make the event a success. We’ve heard from so many of our volunteers that it’s one of their favorite events they’re a part of each semester! It’s a whole lot of fun and the more Xavier students who volunteer, the merrier!
How do interested students join your group?
Xavier females can apply to be a coach! Through May 4th, the coaching application is available here. We take 14 coaches per season and make selections through a blind application review. Although we only take these 14 coaches we always need volunteers at our 5Ks!