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Chris Jonsson Ebbtide Reporter Girl Scouting has been a part of my life for a very long time. I started out as a Brownie in second grade, and at that time my mom was the leader. We had so much fun doing activities and getting together with the other girls in my troop. I also loved selling Girl Scout cookies. But Girl Scouts wasn't just about cookies: It was about learning new things, trying out new ideas, and seeing where our imaginations could take us.
Why be a leader? For me, Girl Scouts is not just meetings and activities. It is being a part of a girl's life, for better or for worse. It is also being in the right place at the right time to offer much needed help. One year, a girl in my group lost her mother to breast cancer after being diagnosed just the year before. For her, Girl Scouts became a lifeline; it was a place where she could laugh, and take a sorely needed break from suddenly being the girl in charge of the house. When her mom died she was able to talk to her friends about it in a way that helped her deal with all of her feelings. I know I am not the only leader who has had a girl that needed the support of girls in a troop that she couldn't get at home. Girl Scouts isn't just about girls - there are also many opportunities for adults in Scouting. When my sisters and I were young and living in Portland, my mom started her troop so we could be in Scouts. My mom was very shy and never thought of herself as being someone who could speak to an audience. She decided to become a recruiter and through Girl Scouts was given the training that she needed to become a good speaker. She now gets paid to give talks to doctors, nurses and patient groups. She never would have been able to do so this without her training from Scouts. Girls Scouts has been working to make clear that it has more to offer than simply a way to send girls to camp during the summer. A few years ago, the organization did a bit of self-assessment, and decided what Girl Scouting should be in the future. They had the idea that girls needed to get out of the rut of going for careers that had stereotypically been female-oriented, like teaching and nursing. So the push was on to focus badges, events and activities around getting girls to challenge themselves and look at other options. Now there are badges on science exploration, ecology, environmentalism, computer technology, engineering, and media relations, to name just a few. The main Scout camp in this area now has a climbing wall, and several other activities and challenges that go way beyond the simple camping routine. What does that have to do with adults in Scouting? Did you know that in the heart of Shoreline, in the backyard of SCC, there is a bird banding and tracking station? Just another perk of being a leader. I don't think I would have pursued that on my own, but found it a fascinating experience with the girls. Heck, we even had the power to shut down the I-90 bridge for a few hours as we celebrated our 90th anniversary. Now that's girl power! © 2002 Shoreline Community College™ |
