Wylandville’s girls on the run 5K benefits Wounded Warriors
Wylandville Elementary School physical education teacher Ashley McCutcheon sprays fourth-grader Addison Breiding with silly string as they cross the finish line of the Girls on the Run 5K on Thursday.
Wylandville third-grader Penelope Minett, left, and her mother, Tara, tackle the Girls on the Run 5K.
Wylandville Elementary School held a Girls on the Run 5K. GOTR is a non-profit program designed to empower girls.
Wylandville Elementary School hosted a Girls on the Run 5K race on Thursday.
About a dozen girls in Wylandville Elementary School’s Girls on the Run program, accompanied by buddy runners, participated in a 5K race on Thursday.
The Girls on the Run participants presented the Wounded Warriors Project with a $1,000 check. The GOTR group recently held a fundraiser to raise money for the Wounded Warriors.
For the dozen third- and fourth-grade girls who ran the Wylandville Elementary School’s Girls on the Run 5K race on Wednesday, crossing the finish line was an achievement.
But the girls accomplished so much more.
Before lacing up their shoes for their 3.1-mile run, the girls presented David Cain, regional alumni director of the Wounded Warrior Program, with a check for $1,000 for the nonprofit organization.
The race and the check presentation were a culmination of Wylandville’s eight-week Girls on the Run program, which was organized through UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital.
One of the components of Girls on the Run is organizing a community impact event, and the girls chose to raise money for Wounded Warriors Project.
Girls on the Run – which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year – was founded by Ironman triathlete Molly Barker, who aimed to help girls gain social and emotional skills through physical activity.
“I really like it because it teaches girl to love themselves for who they are, and to grow a love for running,” said Wylandville physical education teacher Ashley McCutcheon, who coordinated the after-school program. “It’s about empowering girls and helping the develop a positive self-image. It’s been really neat just to see the girls grow over the course of it.”
The program focuses on the emotional and physical health of girls in grades three through eight.
And that’s important. According to one study cited by GOTR, girls’ self confidence begins to drop by age nine, physical activity levels start to decline by age 10, and half of 10- to 13-year-old girls experience bullying and exclusion.
McCutcheon pointed out how running, and other physical exercise, can boost self-confidence and improve mental health.
Since it began, more than 2 million girls in 50 states and Washington, D.C., have participated.
“This has taught them to have a voice, and (running) is good exercise,” Wylandville principal Shannon Balch said. “It really teaches them critical life skills. Every activity tries to teach the girls how to empower themselves and really let their light shine through.”
The group was motivated to select the Wounded Warriors Project in recognition of Wylandville’s School Resource Officer Logan Hradecky, who serves with the 171st Refueling Wing unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
Hradecky has served in the school resource officer role for three years, but has twice been deployed to the Middle East and Asia during the past two school years.
Over the course of his deployments, the students regularly sent him care packages and cards “to keep his spirits up,” Balch said.
“The kids have such a bond with him. He’s super great with them,” said Balch.
At the end of the GOTR program, the girls tackle a 5K run.
Hradecky, along with McCutcheon, Balch, guidance counselor Jennifer Ford, and members of the Canon-McMillan High School soccer and basketball teams, ran with the girls.
As McCutcheon and fourth-grader Addison Breiding broke the tape at the finish line, McCutcheon playfully sprayed Breiding with silly string.
Breiding said she loved participating in the program.
“I love how we got to spend time with friends, and I do like running,” said Breiding. “I learned to be who I am and not who someone else wants me to be. It was a lot of fun.”