My wife Nadia and I completed our final Girls On The Move (GOTM) and Boys On The Move (BOTM) program this morning. The idea was brought to us by a friend from Seattle whose daughter participated in a Girls On The Run program. We wanted something adapted for our international school so she came up with a different version and called it Girls On The Move. GOTM is a club for young girls that discusses issues such as body image, relationships with boys/parents, happiness, self confidence, intercultural understanding, etc. After each session they train for a five kilometer run. Most of the girls have never done any distance running before, and this opens a new lifelong activity for them. It also is an example of some of the things Nadia is trying to teach them in the club. This year another teacher, Jeff Zollner, joined and did a similar program for the grade 4 and 5 boys.
As you can see above, we had a lot of fun! It is a positive experience for both the parents and teachers, who serve as “running buddies” and the students. She hopes to do the program again in Japan.
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