You Call It!

We are a little over 3 weeks away from our 5k event! I am so proud of how hard all the girls tried at our practice 5k last week. The girls were all excited to be wearing the tutus they each made. After they completed the 3.2 miles, they were rewarded with a special healthy treat (smoothies!) and a certificate. For some of the girls running or walking a 5k was a huge achievement. Although they were tired, I think they felt really good about themselves!

This week has been all about celebrating the girl’s accomplishments. On Tuesday, we started our lesson by doing an activity to remind us how important it is to stay positive. The girls were presented with several different situations in which they had to give examples of how a girl with a negative attitude might act in each situation. The final part of the activity was 6 stations that reviewed the ways we have learned to cope with negative feelings. The stations included:

1.        UNPLUG and PLUG IN – reach above your head and unplug from the negative chord and pop in the positive chord.

2.      GRATITUDE is an ATTITUDE – write down one thing for which you are grateful.

3.      KEEP A JOURNAL – Write something in the journal that you want to scream out to the world.

4.      MEDITATE – Practice one of the breathing or relaxation techniques that you have learned for at least one minute.

5.      OWN YOUR MISTAKES and LEARN FROM THEM – Take a minute to think about a time you made a mistake and write it down here.

6.      DANCE – Take a few minutes and dance to your heart’s content!

Could keeping a positive attitude, being grateful, expressing our feelings, taking time to think to ourselves, admitting our mistakes, and just taking time to be silly and have fun improve our lives? Could doing these things help us be the change we want to see in the world? Ask your daughter what she thinks she can do each day to help make the world the way she wants it to be.

            We finished our session on Tuesday with lesson on healthy relationships. The girls discussed what they should look for in relationships, both with friends and significant others. The girls engaged in a great conversation about why it’s important to respect themselves in all their relationships. They each also took home a packet of information on the topic.

            Yesterday lesson was called “You Call It!” We took an hour to relax. Girls made friendship bracelets, played card games, and used the Xbox Kinect to play an adventure game. The girls each took a turn playing songs for each other and got to share a little bit of their personalities with the group. Reminder:  we will not be meeting next week due to Thanksgiving. Practices will resume on November 29^th. Happy Thanksgiving!

Collaborative Leadership

Last week we started talking about leadership. We tried to do the human knot to understand the importance of working together to accomplish a task. We talked about “collaborative leadership” and helped the girls understand why being a collaborative leader is important in today’s society.  The definition of a collaborative leader is, “Someone who possesses the ability to inspire others to work together to solve a problem and complete a project”. On Thursday we spent time talking about our strengths and weaknesses as individuals and how that affects group activities.  We each wrote down two of our strengths on index cards. We used the cards in a relay race. Girls had to race across the field to drop their strengths in the team FANTABULOUS GIFTS box before racing back to tag their next teammate. Here are some of strengths the girls listed:

-          I am organized

-          I am dependable

-          I have a good sense of humor

-          I am good at karate

-          I am a great listener

-          I can sing well

-          I like making other people laugh

-          I am always happy and positive

-          I am a good volleyball player

-          I am athletic

-          I am empathetic

Wow, we are good at so many different things! It’s great to have such a diverse team. It makes our discussions and group time so interesting and productive! Last week, we focused on team centered games (capture the flag and relay races). This week we are going to continue that theme by spending time playing team building games. I want the girls to understand how to work as a team and use their strengths for the betterment of the group.

We ended our session on a high note with a team building activity. Each girl was given popsicle sticks with her teammate names on them. Girls used the sticks to write compliments to give each girl in the group. Now the girls have a visual reminder of why they are important to our group! We ended our meeting by distributing the sticks and eating a healthy snack.

Communicating with Care

In yesterday’s session of Girls Life we took a look at communication. We started off the day playing a few games of Capture the Flag. I was hoping the girls would have tried a little harder to work together to make a strategy or play as a team. However, the girls’ lack of coorporation provided a good opportunity to discuss the team failure because of their poor communication. For our main workout, each girl paired up with a coach for a 30 minute walk/run around the field. We took this special time with each of the girls to talk and listen about their feeling. It was amazing how quickly we were completing laps and how much we learned about each other.

Our lesson was all about communication and conflict resolution. We started out by playing a game that gave the girls examples of mixed messages. I would say a phrase in a tone that didn’t match what I was saying, and the girls had to figure out the correct tone and body language for the each expression. It was important for the girls to understand that tone, body language, and words all come together to create a message. We learned that miscommunication doesn’t just happen when we misuse our words.

We taught the girls the LEAPS components of communication.

·         L is for Listen

·         E is for Expressing your Emotions

·         A is for Appreciation and Respect

·         P is for Problem-Solving

·         S is for Speak Clearly

The next part of our lesson asked girls to be silent and find other ways of communicating without using their voices. We tried several times to complete the human knot without talking, but were only able to succeed once. It was hard to read everyone’s body language and use eye contact when we were all tangled up like that! I can tell Halloween is right around the corner, because it was all the girls wanted to talk about during the lesson! I’m glad the girls are excited to dress up and have fun with their friends. Everyone’s costumes sounded so fun!

Can’t wait for our next lesson on Collaborative Leadership!

Celebrating Gratitude

Yesterday, we started off reading a few different articles about healthy snacking and eating. Each girl got her own article to read and present to the group. We heard about why we should pack our own lunches, what caffeine does to our bodies, and the importance of healthy snacking after school.

Lesson 9 of Girls Life was centered on gratitude. We had some great discussions on what we were grateful for: clothes, phone, friends, family, homes, school, etc. The main point of our discussion was that being grateful is a choice, and there is a way to be grateful for everything. We took a series of negative situations, and the girls were able to find something to be grateful for in each one:

-          “Wow, these shoes are so old and stinky. My parents never buy me anything new!”   

o   “Wow, I’m so lucky to have shoes especially for running. There are kids in the world that don’t have any shoes.”

-          “It really stinks that my parents are divorced. My life has been pretty messed up because of it.”

o   “Ever since my parents got divorced, they fight a lot less.

-          “I hate my big legs. They are bigger than half the guy at school.”

o   “Wow, my legs are so muscular! They make me a powerful runner.”

As a group we realized that there is a way to be grateful for everything, as long as we have the right attitude!

The second part of our gratitude lesson was a workshop on the Holocaust. The girls learned the story of two little girls who were forced to give up everything they knew to hide from Nazi persecution.  We watched short film that depicted the identity crisis the girls faced, being separated from their parents, learning a new religion, and being raised by complete strangers. It gave our girls a completely new perspective about gratitude, at first they mostly thought of material items they were thankful for. However, after the film they had a deeper understanding and were able to articulate their gratitude for more meaningful things like friends and family.

Women in concentration camps often had no way of practicing their Jewish heritage. They were unable to light candles, pray, or even cook for their families on Jewish Holidays. They were able to stay connected with their Judaism by sharing their recipes for their favorite family dishes.  They wrote them down whenever possible, but also just verbalized their ingredients and directions  helped them to remember so they would not lose their families history. We are going to make our own Girls Life cook book so we can all share in each other’s traditions, as well as starting our own.  If you have any family or healthy recipe you want to add please sent it to me at carlye@lfjcc.com.

Reminder: The JCC will be closed tomorrow so we will not meet. Girls Life will resume next Tuesday at 4pm.

OCTOBER 17th? ALREADY?

WOW! This season of Girls Life is FLYING by! We have been having so much fun playing fun games such as: Starwars (an awesome version of dodgeball), GaGa, and charades! The field has been closed the last few weeks so we have had to get creative and think of new ways to beactive. We have tried running relays, making big laps around the J, and using technology (the Wii Fit and Zumba DVDs).  Switching up our activities allows the girls to work different muscle groups, strengthen their core, and find an exercise routine they may enjoy more than running. Last week we also tried guided meditation. This relaxation technique has girls lie down in a dark room and close their eyes, while a leader guides them in deep breathing exercises and asks them thought provoking questions.  The girls challenged themselves and were able to stay quiet for a long time, which allowed them to connect with what they were doing and explore their own thoughts.

The most inspiring part of Girls Life for me has been to see the girls reaching out to each other. Last week, the girls had a great discussion about relationships. It is so wonderful that the girls feel comfortable enough around each other to ask important questions, but more importantly they also felt safe enough in the enviroment to ask a coach when they didn’t know how to answer each others questions. One of my biggest goals for the Girls Life program was to create an environment where girls can feel safe and trust those around them. I hope that this can create an open dialogue not only in the program, but also at home and at school.  

 This week we are going to get to go a little deeper with our content and discuss being grateful, the Holocaust, and how to make good eating decisions. I am so excited to be trying all these new things with the girls! My hope is that this program can open up new doors for the participants. That could mean finding a new sport she loves to play, making a new life-long friend, or just learning a skill that will help her to cope with all the challenges girls face today. Who knows, maybe one of the girls in Girls Life will be President some day! See you all tomorrow for another awesome day!

REMINDER- There will be no meeting on Thursday due to Simchat Torah.

Rainy Day Fun!

With the field closed yesterday, we used the opportunity to explore other ways to be active, without being outside in the rain! We started the session with a serious discussion on unhealthy eating habits that cause harm to our bodies, such as: extreme dieting, eating disorders, and emotional eating.  Starting with dieting basics, we discussed what diets are, good and bad reasons why a person would want to diet, and different diets that people use. Our girls showed some great ‘Out of the Girl Box’ skills by differentiating between dieting to look a certain way versus dieting to be healthy and make our bodies strong. We introduced the idea that emotional and restrictive eating can spawn from stress. Half of the group had heard these terms before and were comfortable with their meaning. It was so powerful to see those girls take a more active role in the discussion and really help the entire group understand the concepts.

                During the discussion, we asked the girls how they felt about eating disorders. They were all in agreement that restrictive eating is not an appropriate way to control a person’s weight or body shape. The girls brought up how unhealthy eating disorders are and the permanent damage they can have on a girl’s body. Talk to your daughter about what she knows about eating disorders. You may be surprised by how much or little she knows, and that some of the information she has gotten maybe incorrect or exaggerated! Knowledge is power.

                After the heavy discussion, we were ready to shake things up and try a new workout called Zumba! Zumba infuses heart-healthy aerobics with fun dance moves put to Latin style music. We learned some salsa, reaggaton, and samba moves! We all had fun being goofy and trying to keep up with our instructors. It was nice to switch things up from running all the time. Thankfully the rainy day gave us the perfect chance.  After Zumba we tried another type of indoor fitness called Yoga. Yoga uses the core muscles in our hips, stomach, and back to balance in different poses. Most of the girls were shocked by how hard it was to stay focused and balanced through a whole pose!

                The rainy day couldn’t slow us down! Even though we couldn’t be outside running, we used our energy in other fun ways! Ask your daughter what other activities she would like to try on a rainy day. Hopefully the sun will out tomorrow for our lesson on being ‘Full of Feeling.’

Eating and Energy!

Shana Tova!  I hope everyone had a fabulous and sweet New Year. Last session we talked about living a balanced life.  Part of a balanced life is eating a balanced, healthy diet. We spent our last session talking about the food we eat and the energy our bodies need. We discussed the role of each food group, the benefits of consistent fitness, and how to incorporate both into our busy lives. We finished the lesson with a fun game of Jeopardy in which the girls showcased their extensive knowledge of healthy lifestyles.  

Our warm up was a fun game called Energy Girl. In this game the ‘Energy Girl ’was responsible for getting the whole team across the field, but the girls were only able to move if the ‘Energy Girl’ was touching them. The girls worked together, and quickly figured out that the fastest way to get across was to have everyone try to touch a part of the ‘Energy Girl.’ After a few rounds, we sat down and discussed the meaning of an ‘Energy Girl.’ The girls came up with some cleaver answers- she is a battery, a red bull, horse pulling a carriage, etc. Essentially, she was the group’s source of Energy to complete the task. We all need energy throughout the day and we get that energy from a variety of places: food, sleep, water, and human interaction.  We asked the girls to think about their energy: What foods do we eat that give up more energy? Which foods make us feel slow and too full? How much sleep should we get each night?

With all this talk about energy, it was time to use some! We ran more than ever before in Girls Life! After we completed our workout, we played Jeopardy to test our knowledge of healthy lifestyles.  We all had fun with the game and the girls were surprised by how many of the answers they already knew! The game worked well because it included all the girls and everyone got an awesome prize at the end! Tomorrow we will be learning about different ways to be active and trying new things like Zumba (Latin dance inspired aerobics) and yoga! I can’t wait!!

The Great Balancing Act

In our fourth session on Girls Life we worked on our balance, both literally and figuratively! We identified people in our lives, like friends and family, who are very important to us. We used their ideas to play a game which had girls running between two coaches on the field, one representing friends and the other representing family. Girls were soon tired after being pulled between the two. One girl shared, “I hang out with my friends at school and make time for them on the weekend. During the week I’m too busy with Girls Life and homework.” This helped girls understand that trying to do too much can be harmful to our bodies.

We also played a balancing game that required girls to stand one leg and reach down and touch one of several index cards labeled FAMILY, SCHOOL, SELF, FRIENDS, SPORTS, SLEEP. The girls started by trying to touch four cards without hoping or falling over. After each accomplished touching all four, we added a fifth card. By the sixth card girls needed help from their friends to support themselves or had to hop around to reach all the cards. The coaches took a moment to share an important message from this activity: the more stuff we try to do, the harder it is to stay balanced.

During our workout we asked the girls to count the steps it took to make it across the field. Our goal was to use the same amount of steps each time. It was challenging! Walking took more steps to get across but, if we ran too quickly our step count was too low.  This activity showed girls that it is possible to balance out everything in life, but it takes practice and patience.

After all this hard work it was time to get silly. We joined in on a game of baseball and had some chill time in the Teen Lounge! Can’t wait for Tuesday’s lesson on Energy!

No Stress Here!

Learning to deal- that’s a skill we would all love to master, right? Well our girls have got it down! Yesterday we identified various life stressors and discussed effective anxiety reduction strategies. We kicked off the day with some really fun relay races that had the girls running and skipping in all sorts of ways. In each race they had to get to the table, write down one thing that causes them stress, and get back to the finish line as fast as possible! Afterward,  we each shared one problem we are having and brainstormed ways to help resolve the issue. For example:

        -          Problem: My dog always wants attention while I’m trying to work.

             Solution: Take the dog for a walk before starting homework.

  -          Problem:  It hard to get my homework done.

             Solution: Work on it a little each night so it doesn’t seem overwhelming at the end of the week.

Our workout today was a race for missing pieces of a tool kit that the girls can use in stressful situations. For each lap they completed,  girls received one tool to put in their kits. The “tools” were different suggestions to help girls manage their time. Some of these tools were: taking breaks every 30 minutes while doing homework, writing down assignments in a planner, and asking for help when needed.  

After our workout,  we played a really fun game to get to know each other. We learned about what stresses us out, our favorite activities, the biggest adventure we have been on, our favorite subject in school, and more. For our  Girls Life lesson of the week I asked the girls to think about everything they do each week and create a calendar to reflect how they each spend their time. Hopefully now they can have a visual aid to help them manage their time and get their work done.

We finished the day by practicing some stress reducing activities in the Teen Lounge. Girls had a chance to play ping pong, make new friends, talk with coaches, and color. Tomorrow’s lesson will build on yesterday. We will discuss how to balance everything going on in our lives.

Keep Running! Look for another post on Friday!

The 'Girl Box'

Another great day for us! The weather was a little chilly but we didn’t let that get our spirits down. Yesterday we spent most of the lesson talking about the ‘Girl Box’. Coach Melissa shared her experience of being a young and vibrant girl who was always on the go, but when she hit middle school she changed to try to fit in. She began doing the activities that she thought were cool instead of what she really liked to do. The Girl Box is the ideal model each of try to fit in to even though it may not be authentic. We discussed what girls do to get in this box and came up with the following: changing our clothes, hanging out with different people, spending less time with our families, wearing make-up, etc.

We used all this information to play a game in which girls were given different scenarios and told to run to a sign that defined their sentiments on the issue (In the Girl Box, Out of the Girl Box and Unable to Tell).  Some of them were really easy to decide. However, some took a little more thought and discussion, for example we had a hard time deciding on hair dye and the reasons a girl might change her hair color.

During the workout, girls had to think of activities that put them outside the girl box and write one down after each lap they completed. They came up with a lot of good ones such as:

-          Hug friends when they are having a bad day

-          Talk to our parents

-          Love who we are

-          Be positive

-          Feeling good about who I am rather than what people want me to be

-          Try to think of others before myself

-          Talking to friends and adults when I’m having a bad day

We had a great meeting! Can’t wait for Tuesday when we will be learning how to deal with stress.

Day One!

Wow! We had so much fun yesterday (once everyone found us!) We started the day by talking a little bit about the Girls on the Run/ Girls on Track history and mission.  During our warm up we played a game in which girls had to decide which of two things they were more like: for example, were they more like a jalapeno or a cucumber; mountains or the beach; high heels or running shoes. We had a lot of fun, especially with the silly ones such as one girl who stated “I’m more like a jalapeno because my personality is SPICY!”  After our warm up game, we talked about the game and why it was hard to decide which we were more like because sometimes the things we like more are different then what fits our personalities. We are so lucky to have this beautiful complex to use. The field in the park gave us plenty of room to play our game and run around. Our workout was a fun get to know you game. As the girls ran around the field, they had interview questions to ask every person they passed. We learned a lot about ear piercings during this one!

After all this exercise we were ready to go cool off in the Teen Lounge. We stretched, played some fun games and did our first set of ENERGY AWARDS, awards we give out to a girl who did something extra special that day!  For our first Girls Life activity the girls outlined their bodies on butcher paper and decorated themselves with words and pictures that described them. The best was when the girls wrote on each other’s pictures- saying things like I love you!  Then we had some time to hang out and play Dance Central on the Kinect- I saw some great moves!

Can’t wait for tomorrow and learning about the Girl Box! TOMORROW’S LESSON IS OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY. Come check it out, bring friends with no obligation to join!!!!

Girls on the Run/ Girls on Track was started in 1996 in North Carolina by one woman who felt that girls needed an outlet, and one that would make them feel good about themselves. The first season had 13 girls and has now grown across the country and had thousands of girls participate. In San Diego alone there are 20 sites and hundreds of girls participating. We have amazing coaches who are volunteering their time to help girls break out of the Girl Box and understand the beauty comes from within. Girls Life only enhances the wonderful this wonderful program. We have a fun season full of guest speakers, art projects, community service, and so much more!   I feel truly blessed to be a part of the program and want to make this an important part of our community for years to come.

TOMORROW!

We are so excited that Girls Life is starting tomorrow! I was just looking at the pictures from our Tea Party over the summer and got a rush just thinking about all the fun we are going to have! If you haven’t already turned in your registration forms please make sure you (or daughter) bring them.  That includes: the JCC Teen Registration Form (which includes a credit card payment method) and The Girls on the Run Health and Consent Form. If your daughter will be taking the JCC transportation from Standley, The San Diego Jewish Academy or Ocean Air, we must have your Transportation Registration Forms in BEFORE she can be picked up.

We will be meeting in the back lot of the JCC in front of the trailers by the Friedenberg Pool. We will spend the first part of the day getting to know each other and playing games out in the park, and then we will come inside (to the newly remodeled Wax Family Teen Lounge) to make life-sized portraits of ourselves!

Wear comfortable clothes because we will be playing a lot of games!

Check back soon for an update and pictures from our first meeting!

7 DAYS!!!!

Hey Guys!

We are so excited to for Girls Life to kick off here at the Lawrence Family JCC Jacobs Family Campus! There are a few spots left in the program so sign up today! We are excited to announce that we will be providing transportation from the following schools:  Doyle, Curie, Spreckles, Ocean Air, Standley, San Diego Jewish Academy, Soille Hebrew Day School.  This season we are going to meet Tuesday 4:00- 6:30pm and Thursday 4:00- 5:30pm. Our 5K is scheduled for December 11^th.

The cost of this program is only 110$ thanks to the grant we recieved from the San Diego Jewish Women's Foundation! That includes Girls on the Run Registration fee, 5K registration, snacks, guest speakers, and all supplies!

To register contact Carly Ezell, JCC Teen Coordinator, at carlye@lfjcc.com or (858)362-1351!