The Fall/Winter 2009 articles are available exclusively online!
Connections
Focus on: Negotiations
Win-Win, a program for Girl Scouts in fourth through sixth grade developed by Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon's Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society, created a negotiation badge known as Win-Win, which Girl Scouts will earn after learning lifelong problem-solving and negotiation skills.
The Hard Questions
What Are the Best Ways to Foster Ethically Strong Girls?
Ideas from Jeffrey Seglin, author of "The Right Thing," a weekly column on ethics distributed by the New York Times Syndicate; Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott College and founding director of Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics; and Kimberlee Salmond, senior researcher at the Girl Scout Research Institute.
Show and Tell
Putting the Brownie Quest Journey into Action
Start off the school year with six strategies from Girl Scout volunteers on using the journey books. Initial reports are great—volunteers say that following the book fosters cooperative learning and puts decision-making in the girls' hands. "The girls love that they have ultimate control over what we do as a group," says Florentine Overko of Norwood, Mass.
Anatomy of a Boot Camp
Hey! Ho! Let's Go
How (and why) two volunteers pulled off a two-day boot camp for girls in conjunction with U.S. military services. The idea was to put together an event that would help Girl Scouts learn leadership skills and develop a deeper understanding of the sacrifices military families make in the name of service to their country.
Cambodian Girl Scout Troop
How Do You Say "Thin Mints" in Khmer?
Philadelphia's Troop 971, the first Cambodian Girl Scout troop in the United States, brings out the best of two very different cultures. The girls of Troop 971 meet in a Buddhist temple run by monks and do all of the Girl Scout activities, including earning badges and Gold Awards, selling cookies, and taking on community service projects that help to engage other communities in the city.
Eco Hero
Wild, Wild Life
On a destinations trip in Wyoming, girls go deep into the wild, then once back home, prepare an action project to share what they have learned. Applications for the 2010 trip are due between Thanksgiving 2009 and February 2010.
Healthy Living
Powering Forward!
WNBA star Swin Cash is the two-time champion, All-Star, former Girl Scout, and entrepreneur who runs a foundation that works closely with young girls on body image and self-esteem issues. In this final month of the WNBA basketball season, Cash talks about balancing work and play (and how she'd go one-on-one with President Barack Obama).
Money Smarts
Unleashing the "Girl Effect"
U.S. Girl Scouts helped bring inspirational girl power to fellow attendees at the Rising Voices conference. Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Cantrall talked with young women from Guatemala, Laos, Uganda, and Liberia at the conference. "Their big question was, 'How do you talk to adults?'" said Cantrall.
Geek Girl
Science and Math Rock!
What makes a girl stand out? Here is a profile of Erin Lawler, a 2008 Young Woman of Distinction whose summer program to spark girls' interest in math and science has turned into a year-round project. The 2009 Young Women of Distinction will be announced in December and honored in February.
Ask the Experts
Fighting Off Fears
From bug anxiety to fear of the dark, some of girls' worries and how you can help stem them. "One of the most important things when you're dealing with someone who has a fear, whether it's rational or not, is to listen carefully to what they're really afraid of," says psychologist Jerilyn Ross.
Second Look
Amy Poehler's "Smart Girls"
Former Girl Scout Brownie/Current Funny-Woman Amy Poehler has an online "television show," Smart Girls at the Party, back for a second season this fall. The plan: Make an Internet-only TV series that could be viewed for free by anyone at any time. The title: Smart Girls at the Party. The subject: girls!
Day is Done
Mary Ruthsdotter
Former Girl Scout Mary Ruthsdotter, Co-founder, National Women's History Project, shares a favorite Girl Scout memory: "I liked doing stuff with a bunch of girls. We got to make our own decisions and prove how spunky we were without being overshadowed by a louder voice.
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