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Our Programs

At Girls on the Run Central Iowa, teaching essential life skills is the cornerstone of our research-based programs. Trained volunteer coaches facilitate lessons that blend physical activity with life skill development, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy.

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Girls on the Run

3rd-5th Grades

Girls on the Run inspires individuals of all abilities to discover, build, and grow their self-confidence. Together, they experience a sense of belonging and connection as a team. Volunteer coaches facilitate lessons that blend physical activity with life skill development, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy. At the end of the season, the team completes a Community Impact Project and a 5K together, which provides a tangible sense of accomplishment and sets a confident mindset into motion.

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Heart & Sole

6th-8th Grades

Our Heart & Sole middle school program is designed to meet the unique needs of 6th-8th grade girls of all abilities. The program considers the whole person – body, brain, heart, spirit and social connection. Heart & Sole offers an inclusive place of belonging, where participants feel supported and inspired to explore their emotions, cultivate empathy and strengthen their physical and emotional health. At the end of the season, all team members complete a 5K.

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OTHER PROGRAMS

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Junior Coach

Girls 16-18

Find community, become a leader, and make an impact as a Girls on the Run Junior Coach! High school girls aged 16 to 18 are invited to apply to be a Junior Coach. Junior Coaches serve as powerful role models while gaining leadership skills and service credits, and benefit by being part of something meaningful while making a lasting difference in the lives of younger girls!

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Instilling Life Skills

The Girls on the Run researched-based curriculum is structured around understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork, and recognizing how we can shape the world at large. Participants gain critical life skills that strengthen their potential at a time when societal pressures and conflicting messages about how to feel and act can cause doubt and uncertainty.

Lessons are designed to build self-worth and help participants feel greater confidence in who they are. Activities help participants recognize their personal strengths and teach them how to stand up for themselves and others.

Our program provides skill-building experiences to nurture physical, social and emotional competencies that can be applied in other areas of life such as home, school and in the community. Completing a 5K at the end of the season gives participants a tangible opportunity to apply what they learned.

Throughout each season, participants learn to respond to others and themselves with care and compassion. Lessons and activities further develop their abilities to sympathize and empathize both within and beyond their social groups.

Girls on the Run lessons focus on cooperative skills and team building through a positive group setting. Participants learn firsthand how to create positive connections with parents and caregivers, teachers, peers and their communities.

By gaining awareness of the power they possess to make intentional decisions, participants learn to choose positive actions which demonstrate respect and responsibility towards themselves and others.

When participants develop and strengthen these life skills, they can thrive. More importantly, they can then develop a final skill: CONTRIBUTION. Girls on the Run inspires participants to build lives of purpose and to make a meaningful contribution to community and society. This comes to life through a key element of the curricula when each team creates and executes a community service project.

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Financial Aid
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FinancialAid

We believe that every girl is born with limitless potential.

Our programs focus on confidence, competence, care, connection and character to strengthen emotional and physical health, supporting participants in boldly pursuing their dreams. We are committed to ensuring access for all participants, regardless of their financial situation.

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Get Involved

Girls need our support now more than ever. Each girl is inherently born with power and potential, and strong role models like you are needed to encourage and support her.  

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