POWNAL, Vt. – Having a role model to look up to can certainly help a young child succeed in various facets of life, it's just a matter of having that opportunity to forge such relationships. Recently, two Southern Vermont College women's cross country members stepped up to help local girls utilize running in order to better their daily lives.

 

Girls on the Run is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that dedicates itself to helping younggirls realize and activate their limitless potential through running. Started in Charlotte, N.C. in 1996, the organization has grown every year and now serves over 130,000 girls in more than 200 cities across North America.

Mountaineer freshmen Casey Geary (Bradford, R.I.) and Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) visited the Pownal Elementary School last week and spent the afternoon running around the school campus with six students in grades 3-5. Assisted by school counselor Kelly Johnston, the two Mountaineers helped inspire the girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.

"It was really special to see my student-athlete inspiring young girls to run and be active," said SVC head cross country coach Maria Stuber. "The Girls on the Run program is for elementary school aged kids, but the values are timeless and can easily be forgotten in college. I believe that you never truly understand a topic until you are capable of teaching it to someone else."

Geary and Omasta enjoyed their time spent with the youngsters and look forward to future trips to Pownal.

Geary commented that, "Girls on the Run is truly an amazing program. The people who run the program have a clear understanding that looks are not everything and that the inner beauty is what these girls should be focusing on. It's honestly an inspiration to see such young girls working with one another, and to use running as their tool is even better."

The 24-lesson curriculum is taught by certified Girls on the Run coaches and includes three parts: understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork and understanding how they connect with and shape the world at large.

"In Pownal, I watched as my athletes showed impressionable young girls the importance ofbody image, inner beauty, and self confidence," continued Stuber. "They left with a new level of energy and a renewed understanding of these topics for themselves."