Serving Greater Kansas City51dd2465b56688d68c55-598f377eccf2d9e6374ac45b7946d27f.r35.… ·...

Girls on the RunServing Greater Kansas City

New Program Site Information

2 Girls on the RunServing Greater Kansas City

Thank you for your interest in becoming a new program site of Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole!

Please read through the following information before completing the New Program Site Application for Girls on the Run (3rd-5th grade) and Heart & Sole (6th-8th grade).

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About Girls on the Run Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program designed to develop and enhance girls’ social, psychological, and physical competencies to successfully navigate life experiences. Girls in the 3rd-8th grades combine training for a five kilometer running event with healthy living education. Our program instills self-esteem through health education, life skills development, mentoring relationships, and physical training – all of which are accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff, and the community.

The program is taught in elementary and middle schools, corporations, and community centers around the Kansas City area. Teams meet twice a week for 10 weeks. Each hour-and-a-half session is led by trained volunteer coaches and includes lessons dealing with issues such as body image, negative self-talk, resisting peer pressure, gratitude, gossip, nutrition, substance abuse, making healthy decisions and contributing to the community. Running is woven into our program to inspire an appreciation of fitness and to build habits that lead to a lifetime of health. At the end of the 10-week session, the girls participate in a celebratory, non-competitive Girls on the Run 5K event.

Each team has between 8-20 girls. Because much of our curriculum is related to team building and group dynamics, fewer than eight girls may make it difficult to provide the experience we want to offer to the girls. Additional girls above the maximum of 20 will either be put on a wait list or additional girls will be added if enough coaching staff can be found.

Girls on the Run currently operates in fifteen counties in the Kansas City metropolitan area:

Missouri: Buchanan, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte and Ray counties

Kansas: Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Wyandotte counties


Program Seasons

Begins in September and ends in November with our Girls on the Run 5K.

If interested in hosting a fall site, plan-ning should take place between March and May.

Site applications, all coach applica-tions and the financial assistance application (if applicable) should be submitted by June to be prepared for the program in September.

Begins in March and ends in May with our Girls on the Run 5K.

If interested in hosting a spring site, planning should take place between September and December.

Site applications, all coach applications and the financial assistance application (if applicable) should be submitted by December to be prepared for the program in March.

Fall Spring

Site InvolvementThere is NO cost to the school to bring Girls on the Run to your community!

Girls on the Run provides:

• Curriculum training and background checks for volunteer coaches

• CPR and First Aid training for lead coaches

• Healthy snacks at each practice

• One free 5K entry for your principal to run with your school’s team

• Insurance to cover your practice space

Your School provides:

• An outdoor space for twice-weekly practice and an indoor space to use in case of inclement weather

• A willingness to distribute our marketing materials to promote the program to girls and their families

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Program Fees and Financial Assistance

The program registration fee is $165 per participant.

Building confidence and setting young girls down the path of a healthy lifestyle is priceless! However, there are real costs associated with operating a non-profit organization and delivering the Girls on the Run program to more than 4,000 girls each year.

The registration fee includes the following for each girl:

• 20 lessons conducted by trained Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole coaches• All program materials, lap counters, and stickers• An official Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole program t-shirt• A healthy snack at each practice• An entry fee to the Girls on the Run 5K• A Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole 5K water bottle• A 5K finisher’s medal• Friendships, fun, and lessons that will

last a lifetimeThis fee also helps to underwrite the cost of program supplies, curriculum, liability insurance, coach training and staff support.

The true cost for our program is over $250 per girl.

Through the generosity of individuals, corporations, foundations and grants we are able to provide financial assistance and subsidize the program fee for all girls.

How does Girls on the Run compare to other activities?

After School Care: $220+ (20 days)Piano: $450 (20 thirty-minute lessons)Dance: $300 (20 one-hour classes)Soccer: $520 (one season of U10)

Plus, all these activities include additional expenses.


It is the mission of Girls on the Run to offer our program to any girl who wants to participate, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. Scholarships are available for those that qualify. Speak to your Site Coordinator for more information.

How is Girls on the Run Structured?Lessons are divided into activities designed to enhance the learning process.

Lesson plans are clearly laid out with required materials listed at the beginning. The 20-lesson curriculum is divided into three sets and explores the following concepts:

• Identity: Self-Care, Self-Awareness, Knowing Self• Connectedness: Selecting Healthy Relationships and Keeping Them Healthy• Empowerment: Celebrating and Sharing Our Strengths

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What is Heart & Sole?At Girls on the Run, we believe that adolescents have amazing gifts and strengths to cultivate! Heart & Sole creates a positive, structured space for middle school girls to learn about themselves, explore new ideas, cultivate empathy, strengthen connections and develop skills that will help them as they move through adolescence and beyond.

The Heart & Sole curriculum was developed by Girls on the Run International to meet the unique needs of middle school girls. Rich with themes girls can relate to, the curriculum addresses the whole girl – body, brain, heart, spirit and social connection – and builds important life skills.

The program teaches life skills such as:

• Team-building • Creating a support system• Boundary setting • Making connections & friendships • Goal setting • Problem solving • Emotional regulation • Standing up for themselves and others • Self-care • Overcoming obstacles • Decision making • Asking for and providing help


The “Girl Wheel” is the central concept of the program and focuses on the whole girl. In each lesson, girls participate in activities related to the Girl Wheel components:

Body, Brain, Heart, Spirit and Social.

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Call Me “Coach”Volunteer Coaches facilitate the easy-to-follow, well researched curriculum at each program site. Coaches do not have to be runners; they only need to have the desire to serve as a role model for the girls by showing positive behavior, being interactive with them and listening attentively. These volunteer coaches can be faculty, staff, parents or community members. It is mandatory for there to always be two volunteer coaches on site with Girls on the Run participants, preferably a head coach and an assistant coach.

On the following pages are descriptions of volunteer lead and assistant coach requirements and responsibilities.


Lead Coach

• A strong commitment to girls’ positive development

• Experience working with youth

• The ability to recognize conflict and have the skills to help resolve it

• The capacity to work in a partnership with a co-coach and/or assistant coaches

• Understand and support the mission of Girls on the Run

• Attend the Girls on the Run program two days a week

• Lead the coaching team in decisions regarding curriculum facilitation, communicating with participants’ families, storing and bringing coach box supplies and healthy snacks

• Arrive at the program site at least ten minutes before the lesson begins and wait to leave until all girls have been picked up

• Be the main contact of the team for the GOTR Program Manager and families

• Communicate regularly with the Program Manager/Coach Ambassador

• Attend the end of season 5K event and supervise program participants

• Practice positive behavior management

• Serve as a role model for the girls by being on time, dressing appropriately, having a positive attitude, and leading a healthy lifestyle

• 21 years or older

• Submit a Coach Application to Girls on the Run of Greater Kansas City (online)

• Attend one coach training session (required for new coaches)

• CPR certification (provided by Girls on the Run)

• Consent to a background check

Qualifications Responsibilities

Requirements

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Assistant Coach

• A strong commitment to girls’ positive development

• Experience working with youth a plus, but not a requirement

• The ability to recognize conflict and have the skills to help resolve it

• The capacity to work in a partnership with a Lead Coach

• Understand and support the mission of Girls on the Run

• Attend the Girls on the Run program one or two days a week

• Support the Lead Coach by handing out supplies, snacks, setting up for activities, filling water bottles, etc.

• Provide one-on-one attention to girls as needed

• Run or walk with girls and encourage them to put their best effort into the activities

• Communicate regularly with the Program Manager/Coach Ambassador

• Attend the end of season 5K event

• Be willing to lead the lesson in the absence of the Lead Coach or alternating with the Lead Coach

• Serve as a role model for the girls

• 18 years or older

• Submit a Coach Application to Girls on the Run

• Attend one coach training session (required for first time coaches)

• Consent to a background check

Qualifications Responsibilities

Requirements


Marketing Your Team As we know, Girls on the Run is not complete without those wonderful girls. But how do we get them to sign up? Here are some tips for marketing your Girls on the Run Team at your site. Getting the word out about the program and program registration to all the girls and parents in your community will get you a huge, wonderful Girls on the Run team!

These Girls on the Run marketing materials are available to you!

We will send your site a marketing toolkit that includes customizable posters and email blurbs, language written by Girls on the Run International, and our logo.

If you’d like something more specific to your site—make your own! Your materials don’t have to be fancy but they should include:

• The Girls on the Run or Heart & Sole logo and a brief description of the program.

• Your site’s meeting dates and times as well as the dates of your first day of practice and the season-ending 5K.

• Info about how to get registered (direct people to gotrkc.org) and who to contact with questions (you or your site liaison).

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Don’t miss an opportunity to get the word out!

Does your site have any of these events of communication tools? Can you ask for a table, a spot to advertise or a moment to speak so you can get the word out to parents and girls about what Girls on the Run is and how to get involved?

• Back to School Night• Pep Rallies• Parent/Teacher Conferences • Monthly newsletter• Morning announcements• Website or Facebook page

It never hurts to ask!

And, by talking about Girls on the Run in these forums, you’ll be reaching a much larger population than by word of mouth alone.

Marketing is not done when the season starts…

We’re already thinking about the next season! Keep Girls on the Run on the minds of everyone at your site. Put up posters in the halls about the lessons you’re doing, have the girls honored at a pep rally after the 5K, ask around the school for helpers at the practice 5K and to come out to the 5K to support the girls. Keeping up the conversation at your site will make even more girls (and grown-ups) want to be involved next season and every season after to make your site a huge success!


There are no comparable programs to Girls on the Run and Heart & Sole.

It is a unique curriculum in the genre of youth development programs. It incorporates physical activity to teach very specific and well-defined social and personal skills. Research validates that the development of these skills prevents the future display of at-risk behaviors including early onset of sexual activity, disordered eating, depression and anxiety, substance and alcohol abuse and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

Thank you again for your interest in starting a Girls on the Run program at your school or organization.

We look forward to working with you to have a successful program!

Where girls made the greatest gains

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Who we are

What we do Why it matters

85%

40%

97%

Girls on the Run® is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams. Our 10-week program drives transformative, sustained change in the lives of third- to eighth-grade girls across all 50 states.

Using an intentional curriculum that integrates physical activity, our trained coaches teach girls critical life skills and strategies they can apply to all aspects of their lives.

• Girls’ self-confidence begins to drop by age 9• 50% of girls ages 10 to 13 experience bullying such as name calling and exclusion• Physical activity levels decline at age 10 and continue to decrease throughout adolescence

Girls on the Run has a

POSITIVEIMPACT on

girls during the program and

beyond.

Our Results

Improved in CONFIDENCE, COMPETENCE,

CARING, CHARACTER or CONNECTION.

LearnedCRITICAL

LIFE SKILLS

Girls who were less active at the start

increased inPHYSICAL ACTIVITY

by more than

Where girls made the greatest gains CONNECTION How supported they feltby their peers

CONFIDENCE How much they liked the person they are

“AT GIRLS ON THE RUN,

I learned that I can achieve

anything Ican imagine.”

- Jada, 4th grade

[email protected] • 913.766.1728211 West 18th Street • Kansas City, MO 64108

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