You could say Jenny Paul’s three young daughters pushed her into acting on a longstanding desire to help girls deal with the pressures of growing up. Watching her own girls a couple of years ago, Jenny wondered why girls begin to care more about the opinions of others than their own. Why do girls lose confidence in themselves?

When they’re 5 or 6 years old, “they aren’t measuring themselves by somebody else’s standards. Fast forward to when girls are in middle school and everything they think about themselves is based on what other people are going to think about it.”

More than a decade ago, Jenny became acquainted with the Girls on the Run program in Charleston, South Carolina. She clipped a short article out of a newspaper about how the program was helping girls there and around the country to recognize they have the power to overcome challenges and to embrace their uniqueness.

For years she’d had the desire to establish a council in Little Rock but put it on the back burner. She was incredibly busy focusing on being a wife and mother and practicing pediatrics. It wasn’t until she saw how her daughters each pursued their own interests without comparisons or seeking another’s approval that she wondered, why do girls turn down their inner voices and turn up the outside noise.

“They don’t have to internalize all of the messages that are given to them.” – Jenny Paul

“Girls on the Run so purposefully addresses all of that because girls pay attention to the louder messages… look this certain way, act this way. Girls on the Run wants girls to pay attention to the messages that tell them to be true to who they are, not what someone else tells them they should be.”

Over a 10-12 week period after school each fall and spring, girls in third through fifth grades learn skills to help build confidence and how to properly nurture their physical and emotional health. GOTR, as it’s also known, has three goals for each season: that girls get a better understanding of who they are and what’s important to them; that they understand the importance of team work and healthy relationships; and lastly, that the girls explore how they can positively connect with and shape the world around them.

Despite “run” being a part of the name, Jenny says “we’re not breeding competitive runners. Every girl needs this. If I could communicate one thing, it would be that Girls on the Run is for every girl, because every girl really is at risk of succumbing to society’s pressures to be someone they’re not.”

Physical activity is incorporated into the season, and at the end of the three months, girls participate in a 5k run with a parent or a volunteer running buddy.

“We want the girls to push themselves, but that means different things for different girls. Each girl determines her own goals for the 5k.”

Girls love it. So do their parents. During its first season in the fall of 2013, Girls on the Run of Central Arkansas enrolled 19 girls at Pulaski Heights Elementary. Its third season last fall concluded with 70 girls having participated at Pulaski Heights and four new sites: Jefferson Elementary, Our Lady of the Holy Souls School, The Racquet Club and Meadowcliff Elementary. In February, the program expands to Forest Heights STEM Academy and into Saline County.

“One of the things that has helped us the most is girls telling their friends just how much they enjoyed the program. One mother told me her daughter wanted to enroll because she’d had a friend in GOTR last season.”

Jenny says she’d like to take the credit for that, but instead underscores the effectiveness of the program’s curriculum.

“It’s not one size fits all. I like to say it is one size fits each girl uniquely.”

Jenny points to GOTR’s online parent blog to back her up. It reads, “During the course of her two seasons with Girls on the Run last year, her mother and I observed our girl on the run become confident and secure… The program is not about running. Our girl on the run has not taken off to become an aspiring athlete. Competition may be something with which she is never fully comfortable, but she is comfortable with herself.”

Jenny affirms, “And that’s from a dad! How could I not want to be a part of that?”

Things to Remember about Girls on the Run

  • Check out GOTRCentralArk.org
  • Online registration begins Jan. 26
  • Season starts week of Feb. 16
  • Spring season 5k in May
  • 5k volunteer opportunities available!

“If you haven’t been a Girls on the Run graduation run buddy before, I highly recommend you sign up. It’s great to be reminded of the young heart and mind. To see these girls all encouraging one another is fantastic. Also volunteer to paint faces if you want to experience true innocence and non-judgmental appreciation of your ‘artistic talents.’ The kids were so sweet and complimentary of my sad attempts at an owl, cat, butterfly, and werewolf. I have to admit I was having an afternoon where I really wanted to curl up in bed and leave the day behind, but I’m so glad I didn’t. This was just what my heart and soul needed.” -Leah Thorvilson, Elite American Marathoner