When Marianne asked if I was available tonight to talk – I
asked what does she want me to talk about.
The response was a great Girl Scout experience. I anticipate my best memory being next summer
when Girl Scouts of Central Texas girls spend 2 weeks with Girl Guides in Cyprus.
Seriously I thought. I could talk to you
for hours. And then, I thought I could
tell you about my Silver Award project – again this could be for hours. And thanks to the Girl Scout toastmasters
club – I really could talk to you for hours.
I am going to try and make it not an hour – but instead tell
you why being a Girl Scout in Middle and High School is the best time to be a
Girl Scout. And I should know – I am a 4th
generation Girl Scout/Girl Guide. You
could say I bleed green.
My older sister and mom have told me since I was a Daisy that
the real fun doesn’t start until middle school.
I wasn’t sure I believed them because I was having so much fun as a
Daisy, Brownie and Junior. I got to do
special events, parades, commercials, camping, service projects, plant trees,
build robots, earn badges, learn to cook and go to camp. What else could be better than a week a GS
camp?
Traveling! I head about older girl travel opportunities
called destinatons. I already traveled
with my family a lot and didn’t really think I needed to participate. But, my sister went to Ireland, Iceland,
Virgin Islands, and Ghana. My mom went on 6, including Iceland. Other troop members when to scottland, italy, costa rica. With such a large troop we always got to hear
the stories of what the older girls did. I couldn’t wait until I was old
enough.
Last year, the 14 Cadettes in my troop decided that we would
start with a trip to Houston and a NASA overnight. We did it.
As soon as we got in the van to head back to Austin – we started talking about where did
we want to go next and when. Our troop planned, earned money thru cookie sales
and went to Savannah Georgia this summer. Now, I had already been there once – but, it
was so much fun going with my GS sisters.
For three of them it was their first time away from parents, 2 their
first time on a plane and 6 of us their first time to Savannah.
I really think the best part for us was knowing that we earned the money
ourselves to get there. For some of us selling
1000 boxes wasn’t a challenge – however, 5 of our troop worked with their
sisters and for the first time sold 1000
boxes 3x the amount previous years.
And next summer, I am working towards the trip to Cyprus, Greece. (So if you need some cookies
I can hook you up). Older girls get
to decide where, when and how they do what they do. As our leaders allow us more decision making
opportunities, we start to take ownership of the process. We are developing into Girls with Courage,
Confidence and Character.
I still did Girl Scout “camp” this summer – it was so cool. An entire week at IBM with Watson! Every day we were challenged and we accepted
it. Girl Scouts and STEM go hand and
hand as far as I am concerned. I am part
of the homeschool STEM club – this semester we are heading to Outer Space
(Rockets, Mars and more), I spent the last 2 years on the council lego robotics
team – Galaxy Girls, participated in coder girl programs, Microsoft classes and
Samsungs STEM challenge the first year.
I am sure that all of you are familiar with Girl Scout
cookies. I LOVE to sell Girl Scout cookies – it is my business and I take it very
seriously for 8-9 weeks. I work hard so
that I can play hard. When I think back
to the PSA I did as a brownie with Lolis “What can a cookie do” – I realize
that it does so much more than I ever thought.
It allows our troop to cook dinner for first responders and bake treats
on 9/11. We can participate in
International Peace Day, Veterans Day flag ceremonies, community parades, go
camping, go to the zoo, visit national parks, earn badges – lots of
badges. And, it gives all 62 of us an
opportunity to make new friends.
Because One is Silver and the Others Gold
The Lady Cans, GSCTX
Austin Robotics Team sponsored 5 teams for this years Samsung STEM challenge, 3
Cadette and 2 older girl teams. Lady Cans, CEO, Stephanie Waugh, Senior from
Westwood High spoke at the event about the importance of STEM in Girl Scouts and
how her joining the Lady Cans changed everything and that this contest helped
her narrow her Engineering focus to Civil Engineering. Lady Cans teams took
1st and 2nd in the Senior/Ambassador division and
1st in the Cadette division. Girls who are part of the Lady Cans
come from troops around the 