We are pleased to be hosting Mayor Wright from Portsmouth, Mayor Sessoms from Virginia Beach and Chairman Walt Zaremba from York County at our 5k run/one mile May 11. These men will be running/walking with the  a school team from their area: James Hurst Elementary, BF Williams Elementary and Coventry Elementary. We love our City officials! Join us in the fun – register now.

Compass Keepers Club: Holland’s Girls on the Run

When you hear a club has a name like Girls on the Run, you would assume the most important part of membership is, well, running.

However, Kayla Clark, Kyonna McPherson and Ceniya Ferguson, all fifth-graders at Holland Elementary School, are the first to tell you just how wrong you would be.

Girls on the Run is a national program for girls ages 8-13 that uses a fun, experience-based curriculum to inspire its members to be more confident, team-oriented and healthy. The curriculum creatively incorporates running into its activities, hence the name Girls on the Run.

Clark, McPherson and Ferguson are veteran members of Holland’s Girls on the Run program, and they serve as ambassadors for the club in their homes, community and school. While each say they love the chance to get out and run, the real importance of Girls on the Run is creating an environment of support, encouragement and positivity for all its members.

“Almost everyone I’ve met from Girls on the Run is confident and really fun,” Clark said. She credited the teambuilding activities and lessons as why that’s the case.

For instance, members must “plug into the positive cord” –an imaginary outlet of sorts where they visualize “sparkles, rainbows and nice things” so they can only be supportive, encouraging and generous to one another.

“Everyone is plugged into the positive cord,” McPherson said. “I can share my feelings and no one would joke or make me feel bad.”

“It’s all about being positive,” Clark added. “We don’t have bad attitudes because that’s not what Girls on the Run is about; it’s about being a friend to everyone.”

However, the positive cord is not just for members to experience. The girls say one of the biggest lessons is sharing that same mentality with everyone.

“We should always be in the positive cord, all the time, and share our joy,” Ferguson added. “How we cooperate in here helps us to cooperate out there…and we make a lot of new friends.”

In an effort to share their joy, the girls recently led a clothing drive for families in need this winter season. The teams not only brought in new and slightly used hats, socks and gloves, but also became a staple on the school’s morning announcements encouraging their classmates to donate as well. Members would then go from classroom to classroom to collect donations from fellow students. By the end, the girls had brought in more than 100 items to donate to local families.

Holland’s Girls on the Run program is one of the more successful in the Beach division. It is so popular the school had to split the program into two teams to accommodate the demand. The success of the program, including the examples of Clark, McPherson and Ferguson, has also inspired the boys in the school to want their own version of the program.The girls say they are ok with the boys following suit. In fact, they hope students everywhere have the same opportunity they have had – especially their friends.

“We’ll tell some of our friends about it and they’ll say, ‘Man, I should have done that,’” Ferguson said.

Compass Keepers Q&A:

What is your favorite book?
Kayla — The Hunger Games
Kyonna — The Warriors
Ceniya — Twilight

What is your favorite subject?
Kayla — Language Arts
Kyonna — Language Arts
Ceniya — Science

Who is your favorite teacher?Why?
Kalya — Ms. Colohan: She’s an advanced teacher and she teaches us new things and really inspires us to be teachers.
Kyonna — Ms. McNulty and Ms. Clifford: Ms. McNulty is really funny and she has good books on her bookshelf. I’m difficult in math, but Ms. Clifford helps me learn new things and I think she’s funny too.
Ceniya — Ms. Carawan: She was really funny. We only had her for a little while, but she made every assignment fun. If we achieved something, she made it a really big deal.

What’s your favorite TV show?
Kayla – Shake It Up
Kyonna – Glee
Ceniya – Hip Hop Harry

Who/what inspires you?
Kayla – Girls on the Run
Kyonna – My grandmother
Ceniya – My mom

Girls on the Run South Hampton Roads is pleased to announce a partnership with Reed & Associates Marketing. This successful, performance-based marketing firm is donating their services to six very specific projects GOTR has planned this year.

Reed & Associateas Marketing specializes in Media Planning/Buying, Branding, Performance Based Goals and Measurement, Television Production, Creative Services, Concepting, Copywriting & Design, Public Relations, Grassroots Marketing and Consulting. We are thrilled to have them on board as our council seeks to grow and expand our reach in the Hampton Roads community.

Want to see passion in action? The following Hampton Roads women are training right now for an April half marathon while raising money for our 2013 scholarship fund. Click here to read their stories. Click each woman’s name to go straight to her fundraising page to read more or donate!

Want to help in another way? Print this flyer below, go to California Pizza Kitchen on Tuesday, Feb. 26 and 20% of your check gets donated to GOTR Solemates.

Register now for the Girls on the Run 5k on May 11th! There is a one mile option too so everyone can participate. Every registration helps support our fall scholarship fund so that no girl is turned away from our program due to her financial situation at home. Join in the fun! Register now!

Save the Date! The Girls on the Run 5k will take place in Norfolk’s Town Point Park Saturday, May 11. Registration will be open soon. In the meantime, join our mailing list so that we can contact you immediately with race info!

Girls on the Run South Hampton Roads is pleased to welcome the following new 2013 sponsors: Davenport & Co. and Monarch Mortgage. Through our sponsorship program, businesses can support our scholarship fund that ensure no girl is turned away from our program due to their financial situation at home. Please support the companies that support GOTR!

Maybe it’s the cold weather keeping us from playing outside, but inside we are playing on Pinterest. Check out our page to see what is inspiring us lately.

My name is Meredith McDuffie and I participated in the Fall 2008 season of Girls on the Run.  Girls on the Run taught me many things about fitness and self esteem.  At such a young age, I was taught to take care of my body and appreciate myself.  I owe a lot of this understanding to Girls on the Run.  I learned how to eat right, and how to enjoy exercise.  I also grew physically and mentally stronger through the running and education program.  The knowledge I gained at Girls on the Run sent me into middle school and high school knowing how to care for myself and how to get the most out of all of my experiences by being physically fit.

I am now 16 years old, and I’m a junior at Norfolk Academy.  My two passions are horseback riding and volunteering.  I love my two horses and Operation Smile.  Right now, I couldn’t tell you what I want to be when I grow up, or even what I want to major in; I do know that I plan to continue living a healthy lifestyle through college though!  Even though I change my mind about my “dream school” every day, I’m finding my way slowly but surely and I know I will end up at the college that is perfect for me as long as I work my hardest at everything I do.

Are you a GOTR alumna? Send us your story!