Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

|| High Country Press Newswire

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 ISSUE

Girls on the Run Continues To Seek Participants in Grades Third Through Fifth

Local girls in grades third through fifth are invited to participate in Girls on the Run of the High Country (GOTR), a successful self-esteem building program for pre-adolescents.

Girls on the Run International, which began in 1996 in Charlotte, is a non-profit prevention program that encourages pre-adolescent girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through physical activity. There are Girls on the Run programs in more than 150 cities in the United States and Canada.

The local group is open to 12 students, who will be coached by four adult volunteers. The group will meet on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. at the Appalachian Regional Health Care System’s Wellness Center in Boone. The 2009 fall session will operate from Tuesday, September 22, to Thursday, December 17, and the girls and their running buddies will participate in a 5k run/walk/skip/hop/crawl on Saturday, December 12.

The program’s curriculum and activities will address girls’ physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being. Local organizers say they believe the program is important in order for girls to resist peer pressure as they enter middle school and high school.

Girls on the Run of the High Country is made possible by ASU’s Institute for Health and Human Services, the Be Active-Appalachian Partnership, Appalachian District Health Department, Zap Fitness, the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System’s Wellness Center, Dianne DaVant and Associates, Chip and Amanda Williamson, Rob and Jackie Dyer of the Best Cellar/Inn at Ragged Gardens, High Country Energy Solutions and the Walter J. Hoyt Family.

To register or for more information, contact Mary Sheryl Horine at ASU’s Institute for Health and Human Services at 828-252-7557 or horinems@appstate.edu. Learn more about Girls on the Run International by clicking to www.girlsontherun.org.