Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

March 12 Marks the 94th Birthday of GSUSA,
and the Start of Girl Scout Week

March 10, 2006

NEW YORK — March 12, 2006, is the 94th Birthday of Girl Scouts of the USA. On March 12, 1912, Juliette Gordon Low and two other women met with 18 girls to form the first Girl Scout troop in the United States. Each year, Girl Scouts celebrate the birthday of that first Girl Scout meeting for an entire week, and the week in which March 12 falls is recognized as Girl Scout Week.

To celebrate this wonderful organization during Girl Scout Week, Girl Scouts can:

• wear their Girl Scout uniform or pin
• have a Girl Scout birthday party with a sister troop
• act out the story of the first meeting in 1912, imagining how it could have been
• plan activities to coincide with council themes for Girl Scout Week.
• plan a ceremony and use the theme "Who is a Girl Scout"...
• have a joint ceremony with troops from other age levels.

Here are some fun facts about Girl Scouts:

• The first troop had 18 members. By now, more than 50 million women have become Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts of the USA is now the preeminent organization for and leading authority on girls with 3.7 million girl and adult members. Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
• Founder Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low was born October 31, 1860, in Savannah, Ga., and was known for her sense of humor, love for animals, social consciousness and artistic skills.
• Girl Scout Week begins this year with Girl Scout Sunday, March 12, which is also the Girl Scout Birthday, and ends with Girl Scout Sabbath on Saturday, March 18.
• On October 14, 2005, Juliette Gordon Low was immortalized in a bronze-and-granite medallion as part of a national monument in Washington that pays tribute to great Americans who created enduring change in the world.
• As the Junior Girl Scout Handbook reads, "Juliette Gordon Low gave the girls in the earliest Girl Scout troops lots of freedom to plan the activities and projects that  they wanted to do. She in turn would do her best to help them complete what they had started."

The traditions that Juliette Gordon Low started continue today with a range of innovative projects and programs. Help celebrate Girl Scouts by checking out some current activities and publications, including:

• Girl Scouts Core Business Strategy
• Documentary Film 'Troop 1500'
• Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
• The uniquely Me! Program
• The New Normal ? What Girls Say About Healthy Living
• Its Web sites: girlsscouts.org, girlsscouts.org/espanol, studio2B.org, gogirlsonly.org; girlsgotech.org,

About Girl Scouts of the USA

Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent organization for and leading authority on girls with 3.7 million girl and adult members. Now in its 94th year, Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. The organization strives to serve girls from every corner of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Girls Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates living overseas and attending American or international schools. For more information on how to join, volunteer, or donate to the Girl Scouts, call (800) GSUSA 4 U (800-478-7248) or visit www.girlscouts.org.

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