It has taken me awhile to admit that Team Teen probably needs a blog. I will confess that I am having a bit of difficulty accepting this new ‘social networking’ thing, as I have always been the type of person to pick up the phone or send a card. If I remember correctly, it was my favorite web marketing company Schipul that first mentioned to me that Team Teen should start blogging. Maybe not, however I have to place the blame somewhere! Anyway, they were right about the need for an updated website, about adding flickr to our page, about the links for sponsors, about everything really, so just maybe they are right about this too!
I recently learned that although we get a lot of hits to our website, people don’t always read the history behind Team Teen. I have been asked on numerous occasions what inspired me to create such a program. This question is from people that have visited my site (so they say), but just never seemed to get to the pages which held our mission and background. The first Team Teen blog seems like the perfect spot to give all of you the scoop.
So, here we go………
Back in 2006 I was working as a Global Mobility Advisor. Basically, I moved people from the US to other countries to work for 3 or so years. Expats they are called. Anyway, our department handled the total transfer, from the pack out to payroll, vacations to insurance, to their move home years later. I moved some great people during this time, along with a few that were not so great. I was all about my career. I loved the money, I loved the stress and urgency of having to get people moved, I loved the issues that arose that I had to help solve from half a world away. At some point during this year it hit me that there had to be more to life, something more meaningful. I think it was the few greedy people I worked with that helped me reach that point in my life. I remember asking my husband in July 2006 if he was passionate about his work. When he told me yes, I told him I was not. “Then quit”, were his exact words. So, I did.
Having no idea what I wanted to do, a few friends of mine that work in the school district suggested substitute teaching. It would keep me busy and maybe point me in the right direction. Plus, they always need subs. I agreed. My first position was a long term one for high school girls P.E. and Health. It started in mid-October, and did not end until December. I was hesitant to take such a long position, however I was told by a friend who is a principal that it would be a good opportunity. I will admit that the idea of teaching high school students was a little intimidating for me. I mean, after all, what did I really have going for me? I have no kids of my own. I had not stepped foot in a public school in 21 years. At this point I did not even know what LOL meant! One of the students told me one day that I was “tight”. My response, “Not really. I stretch a lot”. Give me a break……we were working out at the time! Who knew that meant “cool”.
Anyway, on the first day I realized that these girls did not enjoy working out. In fact, I think they truly feared sweat! We went out for a mile walk on the first day and it took most of them 30 minutes to walk that distance. Of course, lots of complaining accompanied that walk. After a couple of weeks though, the girls began to enjoy exercising. We rotated walking with yoga, step aerobics, weight training, and pilates. The girls started to look forward to working out. They all started to hold their heads a bit higher and began to develop more self-confidence. It was awesome to watch this change.
While out for a walk/run one day (yes I said run) one of the girls told me how she loved to run. She said it had been over a year since she had run as family obligations got in the way now. I thought about this while on my way to Dallas one weekend to visit a running buddy of mine that had just moved. I started thinking that maybe I could train this one student to run a 5K race. Maybe even the Turkey Trot that would be held in the neighborhood Thanksgiving morning. Then it evolved to training more of the girls to run. I knew if I could get them to cross a finish line that it would change their lives forever! First thing is first though. These girls would need proper running clothing. Most were low income so I knew they would not be able to cover the cost of running shoes much less race entries. Part of the program, with the help of corporate and individual donations, had to include covering the cost of running shoes for each participant, proper socks, running shorts, race entry fees, sports physical (most have not had a physical in years), and team shirts. Even giving them a medal at the finish line would totally be the cherry on top! Now, don’t think because they get free items that they take advantage of the program. Honestly we have only had two participants that have had to give items back due to lack of participation. The other runners have all been totally appreciative. I learned through the shopping experience that some of the teens do not own one pair of shorts. Another one had only worn flip flops for the past 2 years. Imagine, no solid shoes for 2 years!! So, between here and Dallas I created the name, got the early stages of the plan in line, and had my hubby reserve the web address. Not a bad start.
We kicked off the program in July 2007. To get the first girls there I had to promise food. DONE! The first race was a small 5K in The Woodlands in August. Unfortunately the course was not very well marked and one runner started to follow someone who was just running through The Woodlands. She ended up getting lost, running about 5 miles on her own. Not a good thing for the first race, however we still tease her about that to this day! The girls went back to school though and bragged about the event and more joined. It was not a program meant to be just for girls, however we were just not able to get the guys to commit. That is until Laura Whitley came into the picture. In March 2008, Laura Whitley with Channel 13 News did a story on Team Teen. Once the guys saw this, they were in!!
And now here we are, a little over 2 years later and 21 races behind us (plus one sprint triathlon) and we are still going strong. I still keep in contact with most of our runners that graduated and am proud to announce that many of them are still running. I am looking forward to recruiting more participants this year from more high schools, and next year moving it into more school districts. The more the merrier we like to say! So the purpose of this blog is to keep you up to date on what is going on with us and to do it on a more personal level. Since this is my big year to run the New York City Marathon, I will probably blog about my training as well. No idea yet where this might take us. My hope in doing this blog is that it inspires you to go do something bigger than YOU! That is what these kids do every time they take on a 5K race. You won’t hear from just me on this blog either. The kids (they really hate it when I call them kids, but they are my kids) will have the opportunity to blog as well. I am guessing that their stories will be even better than mine!
Run on friends,
Karen
