- May 4, 2024
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As each girl stood in the center of the circle, she belted out something she did daily to keep healthy.
“I drink milk,” one girl said. “Scramble.”
With that, the group of Belle Terre Elementary School girls ran around the field looking for a pink paper, and the cycle started over.
The group was Girls on the Run, an afterschool club to empower girls to be who they are and stand up for what they believe in through physical fitness.
The Jacksononville-based nonprofit group was brought to Belle Terre by teacher Donia Rinaldi.
“It teaches them that they’re beautiful inside and outside,” Rinaldi said of the curriculum.
The program not only focuses on running, but also getting healthy and building self-confidence through a curriculum designed for third- through fifth-grade girls.
Rinaldi said she has started to see a change in the girls.
“They’re so much more positive,” she said. “They are encouraging to one another and have started to let their social guard down.”
Rinaldi is joined by fellow coaches Catherine Ryan, Kristin Raffo and Theresa Altman.
The girls in the local program will join others from the Northeast Florida area for a 5K Dec. 3, at University of North Florida.
For more information, visit www.girls ontherun.org.
Contact Shanna Fortier at [email protected].
