Week 2, Day 1 - With a Role Model!

What a great lesson we had for the girls today.  Karin's friend Monika came to talk with the girls.  Monika is a marathon runner, and has completed 18 marathons!  Unfortunately, she found out last October that she has brain cancer.  She has gone through radiation, and chemotherapy, and still keeps running whenever she can.  She ran a 15k race just this morning.  Wow!  She talked to the girls about why she loves running, and how it keeps her going, even through tough times.

Monika brought a few of her race medals to show the girls.  They were very impressed!

Thank you, Monika, for taking time out of your day to talk to the girls.  You are truly a role model!  We will be thinking about you....keep running, and we hope you recover soon!

So after hearing Monika's amazing story we reviewed the Mermaid/Siren story, and then talked to the girls a bit more about how you can get things done, even when facing adversity.  For example...if you had no arms, could you still draw a picture of Mini Mermaid?  Yes!

Or, if you lost your voice, could you still tell the story of Mini Mermaid and Siren?  They can!  They realized how much harder it would be, but that they could adapt and live life fully no matter what the circumstances may be, just like Monika.

And then, time to run!  The girls did a warm up lap, a few stretching activities, and then they were off!  The goal today was to push themselves a little bit.  So, just when they were about to stop running and walk, we told them to push it just a little further each time, and to try to get one more lap done than they did last time we met.  They all did great!

Finally, to wrap up the day the girls did a journal activity.  The wrote about our role model Monika, and other role models they have in their lives.