Pace Center for Girls Alachua hosts inaugural Pace Olympics with center from Clay County

Friendly competition and learning how to work as a team were the themes of the inaugural Pace Olympics.

Held Friday (July 14) at the Pace Center For Girls Alachua at 1010 SE Fourth Ave., the games pitted girls from the local Pace Center against their counterparts from the Pace Center in Clay County whose facility is located in the city of Orange Park.

“It is an effort to make summer fun and exciting,” said Becker Holland, Pace Center For Girls Alachua’s director. “With the help of our Rockstar Team, we created this inaugural event.”

There are 21 Pace Centers in Florida that offer academic and social services to girls in sixth through 12th grade who are suffering from traumatic experiences that cause poor school performance, Holland said.

“We want our girls to have the opportunity to spend time and bond with other girls, have fun and create friendships,” Holland said.

The games included relays, archery, table rugby, pencil tossing, water polo, paper plate disc golf, rolling chair bobsled, aqua slithering, cap and gown triathlon and and tug of war.

Jessica Bone, the program coordinator, said she and the organizers thought of ways to tie field games into popular sports.

Bone said the goal of the games is to create a camaraderie with the girls locally and at other locations

“This is a healthy competition and creates a Pace sisterhood,” Bone said. “The girls can be girls with no worries. We went above and beyond and wanted them to know their value. We didn’t add any cost barriers. We wanted them to come and have fun.”

Carlonda McTier, the spirited girls teacher at Pace Center For Girls Alachua, opened the ceremony to the Pace Olympics with a paper replica of a torch.

McTier said as the spirited girls teacher, she teaches life skills like social skills and financial classes.

She said the Pace Olympics is a creative way to prevent attendance from declining in the summer due to girls wanting to be like their peers in public schools.

“We wanted to make it a priority to increase or maintain attendance this summer,” McTier said. “When we were in school, we had field day. We wanted to elevate it and expand it. We want them to know that there are students going through the same thing they are going through. You can still have a good time even while you’re going through it.”

Tamyia, a student at Pace Center For Girls Alachua, said she enjoyed the Pace Olympics and the game she was looking forward to was the cap and gown triathlon.

“I’m excited to do something with everybody,” she said. “The games allow people to get to know each other and have fun. This gives us an opportunity to know other Pace students and learn how their centers work together.”

Margaret, a student at Pace Center For Girls Clay, enjoyed the friendly competition between the centers.

“I like how everyone is having fun even though it’s a competition,” she said. “We’re making friends with the other teams.”

Pace Center For Girls Alachua will be hosting its graduation ceremony from 9:30-11 a.m. Aug. 9 at the Cade Museum at 811 S. Main St.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Inaugural Pace Center for Girls Alachua Olympics held in SE G'ville