Go Girl and Grow Boys promote health and happiness for grade fives

A healthy lifestyle and leadership are the focuses of a pair of events happening in Red Deer today for girls and boys in grade five.
 
In its 13th year, Go Girl is taking place at the Collicutt for 600 young girls to encourage them to keep moving.
 
Brenda Munro, Dean of the School of Continuing Education at RDC, says research shows grade five is when girls typically drop out of activities.
 
“They tend to think it’s organized sports and they aren’t interested in that or they have body image issues, and that’s also the time it becomes really apparent to them whether they’re good or not good at something,” she says. “Their response often is to just stop living active lives.”
 
The event features around 30 activities, three or four of which every student will get to try, ranging from kickboxing and basketball to yoga and rock climbing.
 
“The idea is to show them that there are lots of opportunities besides organized sports to stay active and live healthy lifestyles and to explore some of that at an age where they’re impressionable,” Munro adds.
 
Over at the G.H. Dawe, Grow Boys is a full-day leadership conference which provides male students with a chance to discover, improve and share their skills in a number of ways. Sessions are designed to support the happy, healthy growth and development of those in attendance.