Now as I've stated in the past, I drank the Girl Scout Kool Aid. But as a leader I have to question the wisdom of the National Organization when they changed their motto from "Building Girls of Courage, Confidence and Character" to "Discover. Connect. Take Action." Personally I found those words - Courage Character and Confidence - to be aspirational. They were something I hoped I could live up to and something I was honored to try and build in my Scouts. "Discover. Connect. Take Action." Feels like the road map for a service project. Now don't get me wrong, I understand the need for Service and I think it is very important for our kids to feel empowered to make changes in the world. But for me, Girl Scouts under the old motto was about so much more.
So I wonder why the Scouts chose this new version of itself. They took away all the badges for Rock Climbing and Surfing and Skiing and added in more badges about Cookies and Shopping. Seriously you can now get a "Savvy Shopper" badge and a "Cookie CEO" badge...as in you want my daughter to be a better shopper?!??!!! Why?
I get it that the badges that inspired me to take my girls out and help them challenge themselves physically and mentally won't change the world...but I have seen (and heard from parents) over and over how they do change the girl...and I believe that if you change the girl, she can, and will change the world.
So why would you want to dumb down the program so it is all about Service Projects and Cookie Sales? As our society changes and our girls have more opportunity than ever before? Why would the Girl Scouts decide that they can do less...not more...
I know it sounds like I am just reactionary and don't like change...but here's the thing...when the Scouts first came out with their new program I was so excited. The old badge book was full of really great ideas and showed me a million things I could do with my Scouts....so the new one would clearly be full of more great ideas!!! I was psyched. And then I got the new materials...serious disappointment ensued...serious disappointment. But I thought "I'll give it a try. I'll trust this organization that has given me so much. I'll do this for them."...now 1 year later, I still miss the old books. I miss the old badges and more than anything I miss the old motto.
So, in the end, I choose to live with the old motto. I will jump through whatever hoops the Scouts require so I can continue leading my amazing girls...but I will do it in the spirit of "Building Girls of Courage, Confidence and Character" and if we happen to "Discover. Connect. and Take Action." along the way...so much the better!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012
In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I ought to start out by telling you that I was actually thrown out of the Girl Scouts when I was little. Consequently when my daughter came to me in 1st grade begging to join the troop at her school I was...well...reluctant to say the least. But, in the way of parents everywhere, I swallowed my pride and said "what a good idea."
For the first year I was pretty hands off. But then I started to feel guilty because she loved it and the leaders spent a lot of time with the girls and I really ought to step up. So I agreed to take the camping training. Somewhere in the middle of that chilly drizzly weekend in the woods I saw a really experienced leader teach some young girls how to light a match. I will never forget the awestruck, proud, empowered look on those little faces...they looked like they had conquered fire! And at that moment I drank the Kool Aid.
Girl Scouts is not about Cookies or crafting or little girls in uniforms. It is what you as a leader make it. For me it is about empowering girls. It is about showing them how to walk through their fears and how to stand up for themselves, and more than anything, how competent they can be. Camping is not about camping it's about sleeping in the woods and being away from mom and finding out you can handle it. Cooking is not about cooking it's about learning to use a knife and light a fire. It's also about learning how to think of others as you plan meals that everyone will and can eat. Everything we do seems to have a higher life lesson. In the end all of it is about Courage, Character and Confidence and if we do it right it is all frosted with a thick layer of fun.
Now, six years later my world seems to revolve around my troop. Currently I lead a troop of 32 girls in 4 grades at 9 different schools. Part of me looks at that sentence and thinks "how the hell did I let that happen?" In my defense I have to tell you that in the last 5 years we have been Camping, Backpacking, Skiing, Ice Skating, Surfing, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, and a dozen other adventures I can't think of at the moment. I now have buddies to go out and play in the woods with and I am grateful for their spirit, their sense of adventure, and their willingness to follow me on whatever crazy adventure I want to lead them on next. It's been a privilege and an honor to spend time with my girls and I am grateful every time we get out there and try something new!
And to be sure, it only works because I have great help, and amazing co-leaders for each individual grade. But really it's fun because I have great girls!
This year my oldest girls are in 6th grade and we are starting a new adventure AKA puberty. Probably the funnest thing I have ever done as a Scout leader is to bring up the fact that with all the adventures we go on, at least one of them is bound to get a period on one of our trips...I have never had 10 more engaged, riveted, interested girls in a meeting! But that is a story for another time!
For the first year I was pretty hands off. But then I started to feel guilty because she loved it and the leaders spent a lot of time with the girls and I really ought to step up. So I agreed to take the camping training. Somewhere in the middle of that chilly drizzly weekend in the woods I saw a really experienced leader teach some young girls how to light a match. I will never forget the awestruck, proud, empowered look on those little faces...they looked like they had conquered fire! And at that moment I drank the Kool Aid.
Girl Scouts is not about Cookies or crafting or little girls in uniforms. It is what you as a leader make it. For me it is about empowering girls. It is about showing them how to walk through their fears and how to stand up for themselves, and more than anything, how competent they can be. Camping is not about camping it's about sleeping in the woods and being away from mom and finding out you can handle it. Cooking is not about cooking it's about learning to use a knife and light a fire. It's also about learning how to think of others as you plan meals that everyone will and can eat. Everything we do seems to have a higher life lesson. In the end all of it is about Courage, Character and Confidence and if we do it right it is all frosted with a thick layer of fun.
Now, six years later my world seems to revolve around my troop. Currently I lead a troop of 32 girls in 4 grades at 9 different schools. Part of me looks at that sentence and thinks "how the hell did I let that happen?" In my defense I have to tell you that in the last 5 years we have been Camping, Backpacking, Skiing, Ice Skating, Surfing, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, and a dozen other adventures I can't think of at the moment. I now have buddies to go out and play in the woods with and I am grateful for their spirit, their sense of adventure, and their willingness to follow me on whatever crazy adventure I want to lead them on next. It's been a privilege and an honor to spend time with my girls and I am grateful every time we get out there and try something new!
And to be sure, it only works because I have great help, and amazing co-leaders for each individual grade. But really it's fun because I have great girls!
This year my oldest girls are in 6th grade and we are starting a new adventure AKA puberty. Probably the funnest thing I have ever done as a Scout leader is to bring up the fact that with all the adventures we go on, at least one of them is bound to get a period on one of our trips...I have never had 10 more engaged, riveted, interested girls in a meeting! But that is a story for another time!
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