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Girls Only Program Helps Build Confidence

It's 3:30 in the afternoon -- dismissal time at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal - but not for one group of fourth and fifth grade girls. These girls, though, are excited to stay after school.

"They come to school and if I see them in the hallway at 8:40 in the morning, they'll say, 'Mrs. Nelson, it's Heart & Sole Day. I can't wait!' And there's still a whole day in front of them, but they're looking forward to that time together and that means a lot," said fourth grade teacher Maggie Nelson.

What these students are looking forward to is Heart & Sole - a program Nelson and several other female teachers created -- for girls only.

Sole in this case is S-O-L-E. That's because Heart and Sole is part running club, part exercise class – and a lot of confidence-building in between.

The pre-teen years are a time when many girls begin developing negative self-images, Nelson said. Teachers at Hoose want to change that.

“Girls grow at different paces and especially evident in fourth and fifth grade there is a lot of insecurity [with] body image, feeling they're too big or too small or not able, and our main message to these girls is your are more than capable, you are more than beautiful, and let's celebrate that," Nelson said.

The girls, ranging in age from nine to 11, sprint into a classroom carrying large binders that say “She thought she could so she did.” On this day, Heart & Sole begins with a short video that encourages them to focus on their inner beauty.

“Think about it, why do you think you are beautiful inside and out, okay?" one of their teachers asked.

Then they break into small groups with names such as Team Brave, Team Courage and Team Fearless. They are given a set of discussion topics: Tell one nice thing your friends would say about you …Tell one good thing you’ve done for someone else this week. Or this one: Tell who your role model is and why.

“My role model is my older cousin because she is a just person to live up to. She got into a good college ... she is the most awesome cousin ever,:" one girl told the group.

“My Mom, because she encourages me," said another.

"My family and my friends because they’re all really kind and nice,” said a third.

Nelson stresses the importance of “positive talk.”

“There was one week we focused on ‘whatever your mind is telling you, that is how you feel.’ So we focused on turning things from a tough day into a positive one based on what our self-talk is. All those things we see as teachers, we know what girls struggle with," she said.

Fourth grader Katrinka Thompson could barely wait to tell me a reporter what she likes about Heart & Sole.

“This club is a really great club. First off I really, really love self esteem," she said.

A key part of the program is exercise, especially those 'Dance Like Nobody’s  Watching' assignments, which on this day takes place to the bouncing beat of "Eye of the Tiger."

“We do really fun fitness activities. There are relay races going on in the gym right now and dancing, always dancing, and it’s fun for the girls to see their teachers dancing right along with them,” Nelson said.

Fifth grader Zaleigha Campbell says the fitness activities are among favorites.

“I like that they let us be who we are," she said. She also likes  dancing.  “Yeah, well it’s dance like nobody’s watching, so you don’t care what other people think about you.”

As a high school and college student Nelson, played on volley ball teams and is now an avid runner. Her inspiration for Heart & Sole was a national program called “Girls on the Run.”

On sunny days, the Hoose girls run along Constitution Trail. They are training for the annual Hoose Hustle 5K community race, which raises scholarship money for a Hoose graduate, and will take place Thursday.

“We actually have trained the girls from scratch. We did a couch to 5 K type of program, literally got out on the trail and did fitness walking and then would throw in a minute of jogging or two minutes of jogging, so no one had to be a brilliant runner from the start.”

Each student runs at her own pace without pressure.

“A three mile race is pretty daunting for little legs but we're making these girls realize that they can jog or walk and we're all going to get to the finish line together," Nelson said. She plans to  finish the race last, so she can cheer on all the other runners.

The students’ enthusiasm for running seems to refute a common complaint that children living in the Internet age are exercise-averse. The Hoose girls literally ran to sign up for the free after-schools program.

“I think if exercise is posed in such a positive, fun light, the girls, everybody comes running. We were hoping for between 20 and 30 girls in the fourth and fifth grade classes to be interested and we got 64 which is a huge percentage of the girls," Nelson said. "I really think these girls just didn't have the opportunity to be active with a free program right here at our school."

Fifth grader Amiah Woith who will attend Chiddix Junior High in Normal in September, says there are many reasons she enjoys running.

“But I’m going to only tell you two. Next year I’m going to Chiddix and I’d like to like run for softball and also I just love being with all these girls and running," she said.

Nelson calls running a gift, and has a small memento gift of her own she hands out to each of the girls.

“My message I bring to the girls, and that I brought to the team of teachers first, is [in] a little heart bead. I said this heart is going to go on our shoe and it’s going to remind us if you put your heart  into something, your body will follow."

Does Nelson think these positive messages will remain with the girls once they reach junior high and high school?

"They are about to leave our school and we really want them to carry these messages with then and hope they form strong friends and positive relations with other people and maybe get on some sports teams," she said.  "That’s always a great positive that junior high and high school have sports teams within the school. Giving them background to fitness and running, maybe it gives them a boost to join one of those teams. That’s what we’re hoping for.”

Nelson said perhaps the most important legacy of Heart & Sole is the increase in kindness she’s seen among the students. She said hopes when these fourth and fifth graders are older, they will become peer mentors to younger students and maybe even form their own Heart & Sole chapters.

And she added, she would like to see a Heart & Sole program for boys as well, mentored by male teachers.