What do you get when you combine the creativity of a group of elementary school aged girls and a newfound appreciation for what it means to be part of a community? Pure magic!
As part of the Girls on the Run curriculum, program participants spend several weeks learning about teamwork and practicing the skills necessary to successfully work together before moving into lessons and activities that help them understand what it means to be part of a community. Whether it's a group of like-minded individuals participating in a club or sport, the entire student body, or their surrounding neighborhoods, girls learn about the many kinds of communities they are a part of and gain an understanding of the role they play within those communities.
Armed with their newly acquired teamwork skills and an understanding of their place in the world, girls discover that even small actions can lead to big impacts. Through discussions and brainstorming, teams are instructed to dream up a community impact project that they can complete to help an individual, group or organization. While coaches help guide and support their efforts, the project is completely designed and implemented by the girls.
Here are a few ways that our GOTR teams impacted their communities this season:
Crafty Cards: The Henry Defer team chose to make cards for their local nursing home and the team at Rocky River UMC had a similar idea to make cards for teachers at their school.
Kindness Rocks! Art can be both therapeutic and impactful! Our teams from Holy Trinity, Central Intermediate and Avon elected to put their art to work by painting rocks with positive messages for community gardens and public places.
Cheering up Children: Our team at North Royalton Elementary decided to get creative with their artwork as well, by making hand drawn coloring books to donate to patients at MetroHealth Hospital.
Furry Friends: Our teams at Kensington and Park Elementary shared a passion for animals and were also likeminded in how they wanted to approach their project. Both teams elected to host a bake sale/lemonade stand to help raise funds for their local animal shelters. Avon’s team was also feeling the love for our furry friends and went a little more hands-on with a plan to make dog toys for their local shelter.
Passionate Ploggers: Some teams chose to get down and dirty right in their own backyards. Plogging is a Swedish fitness trend that combines jogging with picking up trash and our teams from Avon and Boulevard chose to help their own school communities by cleaning up around their schools while getting their steps in at practice.
Blessing Boxes: The girls at Lomond Elementary got creative with some leftover plastic boxes by turning them into Blessing Boxes. Each box had a folded note inside that said “May you find an abundance of whatever word is on the back. Carry it with you today and know that you are not alone. Then, please pay it forward by hiding it for someone else to find.” The back of each note had a single word such as forgiveness, beauty, love and gratitude. Each box was decorated and placed somewhere in the Shaker Heights community for community members to find.
Flower Power: The girls at Sacred Heart of Jesus made flowerpots for teachers at their school.
Wonder(ful) Women: A few of our teams felt inspired to focus on women’s needs for their projects, with the girls from Shaw JCC creating a hygiene basket for their women’s locker room, and the Rootstown team collecting items to donate to women in the military.
“We are so proud of these girls,” says Program Director Tricia Miller. “Every season, our teams come up with some of the most incredible community impact projects. To see them work together as a team to make a difference in their community is really something special.”
These projects are so much more than feel-good activities. Through these lessons, the girls gain invaluable leadership experience, strong social connections and enhanced emotional intelligence that they carry with them long after the season ends.
To learn more about the Girls on the Run curriculum, visit https://www.gotrnortheastohio.org/programs.