Events and Activities : Sole Sisters: 5th graders, teachers to celebrate milestone with Sunday run

The 5th Grade Sole Sisters are inviting the Vinton-Shellsburg community to celebrate the success of their program, which combines fitness and life skills. The Sole Sisters plan a two mile run/walk celebration for this Sunday, the 22nd, starting at 1:00. We will be starting on the East side of the courthouse and ending there as well. Teachers Sara Mathis and Lindsey Otto organized the group at the beginning of this school year, and joined them in participating in last month V-S Homecoming Parade. "Mrs. Otto and I had a dream to get a running/confidence building program for our girls at Vinton Shellsburg School," says Mathis. "We have had a tremendous amount of support from our administrators and staff. Kim Newton, Kelly Shipley, Shelley Haisman, Jade Ziebell and Stephanie Miller are present at each Sole Sister sessions to help as coaches. We also have lots of staff who have volunteered and donated healthy snacks for our girls. And, finally, we have had over 30 staff members that have volunteered to be a running buddy for each one of our Sole Sisters and help our at our celebration run/walk that will be this upcoming Sunday. "Our mission is to empower girls to become confident, positive role models that make healthy for themselves. We meet weekly right after school on Tuesday's from 3:15-5:00 at the middle school. Our objectives are to develop positive self image, foster healthy peer relationships, learn to goal set, to develop commitment to community responsibility and to make overall healthy choices. We developed 10 lessons around those ideas that incorporate running/exercising into our weekly plans. Our goal is to have the girls running/walking and setting goals for themselves and to end with the celebration run/walk which will be this weekend." There are currently 29 5th grade girls enrolled in the program. On Tuesday, the last night of the 2105 session, the girls and teachers be celebrated all they have learned and practiced as they planned the run/walk this weekend. See photos of Tueday's meeting HERE.