Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
LOCAL GIRL Scouts Elah Roberts and Katelynn Stanislawski participate in a recent effort to collect items for area food banks.
By IAN MINIELLY
More than 100 years ago, Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts, organized the first troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga.
The mission of the Girl Scouts has remained the same since then - "to build girls of courage, confidence, and character that make the world a better place."
The Girls Scouts of the USA received its official charter from Congress on March 16, 1950. According to the Girl Scouts' website, the Girl Scouts claim over 2.7 million Scouts, with 1.9 million girl members and 800,000 adult volunteers. More than 59 million American women alive today were involved in the Scouts in their youth.
While reviewing the fun facts and figures on the Girl Scouts' website, some names stand out associated with the Scouts. Famous Girl Scout alumnae include Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Abigail Breslin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dakota Fanning and the recently deceased Carrie Fisher. The Williams sisters, of tennis fame, are also scouting alumnae, as well as media professionals Katie Couric, Barbara Walters and Robin Roberts.
Other successful business women alumnae include Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Youtube and Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM. Well-known political figures who were Scouts include Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice, not to mention 15 of the 20 women in the U.S. Senate and more than half of the 88 women in the House of Representatives.
In partnership with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts, American Girl Scouts are part of a worldwide family of 10 million girls and adults in 146 countries. For anyone who says one person cannot change the world, Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low surely has with her belief in helping girls achieve the most out of their lives.
Gogebic Range Scouts
Locally, according to Lisa Spencer, the area cookie coordinator, there are eight Girl Scout troops in the immediate area between Hurley and Wakefield-Marenisco. Tracie Wittla, community coordinator, said those eight troops serve about 95 girls between kindergarten and grade 12. Wittla said financial help is available to assist with fees and they accept new members year around.
Wittla said the local Girl Scout troops focus on the Girl Scout Leadership experience, which is a collection of activities and experiences where girls earn badges, sell cookies, go on field trips, explore the outdoors and conduct action projects that make a difference.
The cookie sales will continue through March 23 and there are many girls locally who have already sold more than 600 boxes. Any leftover boxes after sales are donated to the VA Outpatient Clinic on U.S. 2 in Ironwood and the VA counselors, according to Spencer.
Scouting opportunities
As girls grow, the opportunities available to them grow, too. The range of badges expands, difficulty of activities, as well as travel opportunities, increase as the girls mature and stay in Scouts. By the time a girl is a senior, she becomes eligible to apply for one of five scholarships offered through the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes council. Each of the five regions has $1,000 to offer in scholarships, which can either go to a single candidate or can be split into two $500 scholarships, according to Wittla.
The highest award in Girl Scouting is the Gold Award, which can be earned by girls in grades 9-12. To earn a Gold Award, a girl must have at least 80 hours of community service on a Take Action project of the girl's own design that will have a sustainable impact on the community.
Wittla described Shelby Saffer's project last year in Manistique, which earned her a Gold Award. Saffer designed a new system for volunteers to help keep a resale shop going for years to come and gave several presentations about literacy and the program, eventually creating a large-scale book drive which delivered 1,000 books to Manistique's Early Childhood Center.
Lara Prebbel, of Marshfield, Wis., earned her Gold Award for her efforts in fighting an invasive species in a marsh land by breeding Galerucella beetles that feast on the invasive plants leaves, stopping them from photosynthesizing and spreading. Prebbel is now a student at Wellesley University.
Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low would be proud to see such levels of accomplishment in young ladies. Truly they have achieved the programs desired end and become the achievers Low knew women could be.
