OUR MISSION
Our mission is to teach children the joys of running and exercise. We teach running as a fun, non-competitive, all-inclusive way to benefit a child's mental, physical, and emotional health.
We offer a school day program, after school program and summer program. In our school day cheetah program, it can be used as an intervention for students who have attendance issues, lots of energy in the classroom, those who suffer from low self-confidence, anxiety, depression, or shyness. It's a great program that uses exercise to benefit the mental health of students, which will lead to better learning for these students in the classroom. This program can also be used as incentive for students during the school day. A reward system can be devised where students earn a session of RUN LIKE A CHEETAH every week, other week, or once a month. All students like to have fun at school with an added bonus of getting more exercise.
Our trained cheetah guides (individuals with education degrees and experience working with children) work with small groups of students, in kindergarten through 8th grade, focusing on their social-emotional learning with the sport of running. All kids can benefit from more exercise and movement during the day.
In our summer and after school RUN LIKE A CHEETAH program, our trained cheetah guides work with groups of 12 children for 1 hour (1-4 days week) in a 5 week program. In these programs, we use the sport of running and games to give the children more exercise, build their self-confidence, and develop friendships in a fun and rewarding way. Some of the running activities include relay races, obstacle courses, ladder and cone drills, and fun games like Capture the Cheetah, Red Light, Green Light and Cheetah Tag. It is an hour filled with running, games, and lots of fun!
Cheetah guides will provide effective, responsive, and equitable instruction for the students. They will foster a positive and supportive school environment; one that is safe and welcoming for all. Lastly, our cheetah guides will encourage fun at all times.
This program aligns with the Illinois State Standards for Social Emotional Learning and the 5 Core Standards for Social-Emotional Learning.
Illinois State Standards for Social Emotional Learning:
SEL 1B: Children will recognize personal strengths in themselves and others.
SEL 1C: Children will demonstrate skills related to achieving their running goals.
SEL 2B: Children will build relationships and support others who are different from them.
SEL 2C: Children will identify ways to work and play well with others.
5 Core Standards for Social-Emotional Learning:
Self-Management
Self-Awareness
Social-Awareness
Relationship Skills
Responsible Decision Making
