ORANGE PARK – An innovative program empowering young girls reached capacity in its first year at W. E. Cherry Elementary.

After seeing Girls on the Run in action a few years ago during her internship, fourth grade teacher Emily Thomas started a chapter of the club at W. E. Cherry to help female students boost self-esteem through positive self-talk.

Thomas started the club to counteract negativity and self-doubt and to prepare them for junior high which is often a tough time for students, especially girls.

“It’s a huge transition between grade levels,” Thomas said, an avid runner who participates in the Gate River Run each year. “A lot of girls have self-esteem issues and this program really promotes positivity and teaches the girls how to handle situations they are going to come across.”

For example, the Girls on the Run curriculum encourages girls to think before speaking if and when they encounter any type of negativity or bullying by using four steps.

“We learned to stop, breath, listen, respond,” said Phoenix Ricketts, 10, a fourth grader.

A nationwide nonprofit, Girls on the Run’s program does not solely focus on training for a 5K at the end of the season. Instead, lessons emphasize independent thinking, problem solving and making healthy choices. Running is the catalyst to carry out the lessons.

Thomas, along with fourth grade teacher Rachel Tomalis, multi-grade teacher Jessica Simpson and school nurse Sheila Waters and other volunteers ran alongside students and reinforced positive thinking.

Some days, the girls ran only a couple of laps and used the rest of the time to discuss important issues.

“We talked a lot about bullying and peer pressure and saying no to people,” Thomas said. “We talked about what to do when someone asks to copy your homework or talking nasty about somebody. We talked about positive self-talk, magazines and how advertisements want girls to look a certain way and we analyzed different magazine articles.”

As an intern at Fleming Island Elementary, Thomas saw the program in action and how it impacted the young female students.

“There’s not a girls-only program here at Cherry and a lot of programs are about boys and so we wanted to bring something that would be positive for girls,” Thomas said.

To be eligible for the program, girls must exhibit good behavior and are required to make it to practices twice a week.

“If their teachers have an issue, they can’t be involved,” Thomas said. “And you’re only allowed to miss three practices.”

By the third practice, coaches saw the girls warm up to each other and put those lessons into practice. They took initiative and cheered for each other while jogging under the blazing summer sun. Shawnnise Gordon, 11, sang rap duo Salt N’ Pepa’s “Push It” to motivate her teammates.

“I would sing songs,” Gordon said. “In the beginning, everyone was shy because everyone didn’t know each other but by the third practice I was screaming and everybody was motivating everyone else.”

Running in pairs or groups of three, students learned the importance of accountability. Gordon was paired with Emily Plourde, 11 and a volunteer teacher to train for regional Girls on the Run of Northeast Florida 5K at the University of North Florida in December. The girls wore red and white stripped socks and matching W. E. Cherry t-shirts. Instead of improving their time, girls were encouraged to keep pace with each other.

“Emily was one of my running buddies and she actually paced me and our fifth grade teacher Ms. Lee,” Gordon said. “Emily helped both of us because we both were behind but she helped us keep running. If it wasn’t for Girls on the Run, I wouldn’t have be able to finish the 5K. I wouldn’t have had a positive chord. I would have just been negative the whole time. If Emily wasn’t there or Ms. Lee wasn’t there, I would have been walking. I would have felt like I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

At the beginning of the season, girls chose a word starting with the same letter as their first name to describe themselves. Emily Moore, 9, choose the adjective ‘excellent’ because the club helped make her a better person she said.

“I learned that if you don’t push yourself then you’re never going to reach your goal,” Moore said, a fourth grader.

The lessons on persistence helped her finish a tough reading assignment in another class when she had to read paragraphs and answer a series of questions.

“We were doing some reading work in class and it was pretty hard and I didn’t think I could do it,” Moore said.

Through community donations and funds from the school’s administration, Girls on the Run $130 tuition cost students only $20 each for the entire semester including the entrance fee for the regional Girls on the Run 5K.

For next year’s season, the coaches hope to double the amount of participation to two teams of 20 girls.