The G3 Girls Running Club at St. Teresa of Calcutta elementary school has been training for the past few weeks with the goal of completing a 5K run/walk at the end of the month.
The running group of 32 female students in Grades 4-6 meets once a week after school to train, led by five female coaches/teachers: Mrs. Neto/Coach Neto, Mrs. Dias/Coach Pink, Mrs. Lapa/Coach Laps, Mrs. Gentilli/Coach Gentle, and Mrs. Malito/Coach M&M.
The group is more than just a fitness club, says school principal Susie Rego-Newman.
"It's about empowering young ladies, talking about resiliency, perseverance, working towards a goal," she said.
The idea for the club, which stands for 'God's Girls on the Go', came from Rego-Newman and a former colleague, who wrote the curriculum for the program in order to meet the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations.
The Expectations are set for Catholic school graduates, encompassing Catholic teachings on how to be responsible citizens, effective communicators, creative thinkers, caring family members, lifelong learners and collaborative contributors.
"It's a great club for girls, just to get us active and moving and thinking positively about ourselves; there is a lot of positive engagement," said Coach Neto.
Best friends Brooklyn and Sienna are happy to be part of the club together.
"It gives you a lot of confidence," said Brooklyn.
"A lot of my teachers are here too," added Sienna.
Grade 4 student Leah said she was happy to be part of the club, after spending all of last year doing online learning, physically away from her classmates.
"Last year I was online and my mom wants me to get back with my old friends so I thought this would be a good opportunity," she said.
One of the lessons the girls have been learning this month is about giving back and helping out the community. The girls then came up with the idea of a food drive, inviting fellow students to bring in non-perishable food items for Bradford's Helping Hand Food Bank.
"It's been a tough year and we can feel it," said Rego-Newman, who also helps out at the food bank in her spare time. "It's nice that they could give back."
On Tuesday afternoon, the food bank's Vice-President Bill Jermyn stopped by to load all the donations into the food bank van. As part of the girls' training exercise, they ran the 2.5km route to the food bank to help sort the goods, then back for parent pickup.
The girls are excited to take part in 'The Big Run' on May 31 taking place at the outdoor track at Holy Trinity High School, where they will be able to showcase all they have trained for over the past month to family and classmates. Each girl will receive a medal upon completion of the run.
