STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Victoria Victoria ran out to the ball stop. Then she circled back to two women holding magic markers in their hands.

Wendy Young wrote the letter “M” on her arm, adding it to letters that already spelled out “W-RDS –-TTER.”

The youngster’s forehead scrunched as she thought for a moment.

“Words matter!” she blurted out.

They call Victoria Victoria, as she’s nicknamed herself, and her cohorts “Girls on the Run.” But don’t think they just spend a couple hours a week following each other around a track.

Chances are the girls don’t even realize they’re spending a half-hour or more running every time they meet because it’s so wrapped up in games and activities designed to build attributes like confidence and empathy.

“The whole idea is about breaking down small barriers that could become big barriers in the future, about having someone believe in who you are and what you’re capable of. It’s about having someone who cares for you,” said Mary Fauth, who heads up the local chapter.

Fauth estimates the program will see its 2000th girl this coming spring. It was founded in the valley 15 years ago. Sixty girls are enrolled in the fall session.

Wendy Young, a para-professional at Alturas Elementary School, volunteered as a coach this year because of the change she saw take place in her own daughter through her participation in the program.

“My daughter tends to be quiet and she said, ‘Mom, I know I’m beautiful from the inside out. I will be myself no matter what,’ ” Young recounted.

Young coaches a dozen girls twice a week alongside Cara Liberator, an online nutritionist.

The two encourage the girls to run off the pent-up energy from a day of classes with a rousing game of Ring Around the Rosy. Then they get down to the business of making connections.

“Look to your left and your right and see if your friends are ready for the day. What are you looking for? You’re making sure they have their water bottles and that they’re dressed appropriately for the day,” she tells them, stressing the value of being prepared.

Liberator recaps their last get-together, noting that they talked about emotions. She also noted that one of the girls had been stung by a bee during that session.

“Can you imagine how she felt, even though you didn’t get stung?” she says, broaching the subject of empathy. “What are some ways that you could have told how she felt?”

As the youngsters chime in, Liberator covers her mouth with a sheet of paper and asks the girls to tell how she’s feeling.

“Yes, sad,” she says. “You can tell by my eyes and my body position. It’s good to try to feel what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.”

She then shows the kids how to form a heart using her hand and theirs.

“This symbolizes treating someone with kindness,” she says.

As the lesson progresses, Liberator counsels the youngsters that feelings are not bad or good, right or wrong. Sometimes they’re uncomfortable. Sometimes they explode.

She squeezes a tube of toothpaste onto a paper plate.

“Sometimes words explode out of your mouth just like this toothpaste,” she said. “Can I take these words back? No, just like the toothpaste, I can never take them back.”

She pauses, asking the girls if they’ve ever felt like a volcano beginning to swell up.

“Only once,” replied one girl. “I squirted out words on my little brother because he threw my stuff across the room.”

When you find yourself starting to swell like a volcano, take a deep breath and reflect on what you’re thinking of saying because words matter, Liberator tells them.

“When these words explode out of our mouths we need to own them and take responsibility and apologize for them,” she adds. “We all make mistakes but we can own up to them .

Liberator was looking for a meaningful way to interface with the community after moving to the Wood River Valley from Jackson, Wyo., a few years ago. She found it teaching mindfulness classes for the Flourish Foundation and volunteering with Girls on the Run.

In addition to following lesson plans created by the national Girls on the Run organization, she takes part in the day-to-day crises that come up, like retying a broken string bracelet or trying to show a girl how to address what she calls a misunderstanding with another girl in the program.

“It’s an amazing way to get to know these kiddies and their families. It’s an amazing way to give back,” she said. “At the same time, we’re helping the girls focus on self-awareness and take charge of their lives. We’re helping them building confidence. We’re helping them build community, to see the stars in one another.”

Judy Foster began volunteering with Girls on the Run this fall after watching the program at Bellevue Elementary where she was volunteering with the ERC’s Science after School program.

“It’s a way of helping girls realize their interests and goals—their dreams—by practicing life skills. They learn to believe in themselves and recognize characteristics in themselves that they’re proud of. And they can remember those when they’re feeling down,” she said.

“As a retired behavior intervention specialist, I think it’s a positive way to prevent some of the pitfalls of childhood and teach children respect and acceptance of others,” she added.

Victoria Victoria said she never thought she’d like running. But she likes Girls on the Run.

“I like that we talk about things like kindness,” she said. “Everybody needs to know to make friends and we learn how to do that here—by doing things like being kind and responsible.”