For The Love of Books

(turn your headsideways... no matter what I do I cannot get this photo to show up right!)

Girl Scout Troop 67 is sponsoring a Book Drive to support Better Basics. New or gently used children’s books (ages 5-15) can be brought during the weeks of February 7th – 18th to one of the following locations:

• Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest
• Vestavia Hills Elementary Central Library
• Vestavia Hills Elementary West Library
• Epic Elementary School Library

Please help us support this worthwhile organization and complete our requirements in earning our Girl Scout Bronze Award.

Won’t you donate books and help a child fall in love with reading!

For more information contact:
Jennifer Ray
Girl Scout Troop 67, Vestavia Hills, AL
205.837.1492
jsray@bellsouth.net

Service Project Alert: Local Cadette Troops Rock the Lovelady Center!

Birmingham's Lovelady Center provides housing and services to 350 women and children daily. They provide three daily meals, clothing, medical care, basic hygiene products, psychological and substance abuse counseling, as well as a job prep classes aimed at helping women find sustainable jobs to ensure a bright future.

Cadettes from Vestavia Hills and Hoover (under the guidance of Linda Richardson) wanted to provide a "bright now" for the clients of the Lovelady Center. With a lot of hard work and elbow grease, they transformed the living quarters from this:

to this:

Here are some more "after" pictures:

You can check out even more great photos, including some action shots, by clicking here.

Nice work, ladies!

The New Economics of Girl Scout Cookies

(via blog.girlscouts.org)

The Atlantic has an article detailing Girl Scouts new pilot program that will try to increase profits by doing the unthinkable: slashing its cookie offerings. Derek Thompson reports that the great cookie cutting of 2011 is part of an ongoing efficiency campaign at Girl Scouts to consolidate membership and boost profit at a time when youth organizations are struggling to keep all their girls and sell some of their cookies.

"For decades, councils were left with large inventories for cookies outside the most popular five or six," said Amanda Hamaker, manager of product sales. "Councils saw this pilot as a way to experiment with their consumers to see if they could sell the same number of cookies with fewer varieties." Some media reports have tried to link the cookie cut to the credit crunch, arguing that Girl Scouts overextended their offering of sweets during the boom times only to be crushed by the recession. That's not exactly right. Girl Scouts faced a slow erosion predating the housing bubble, like many youth organizations competing against online communities. In some ways, Facebook has replaced the campfire as a place to gather around with your best buds and share your feelings.

The article delves deeper in stating that executives can be surprisingly direct about the business side of Girl Scout cookies. "We teach the girls about supply chain issues and the need for efficiencies," said Denise Pesich, vice president of communications. If that sounds like a first-year business school lecture, then don't be surprised that the organization uses professional sales consultants to teach their pre-teens how to mix precious smiles with canny nudging.

Late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that to cut costs and delivery times, a dozen Girl Scouts council are testing a plan to sell only the six most popular cookies that make up more than three-quarters of sales. If you haven't already done so, check out the fun interactive game provided by the Wall Street Journal! Can you match them all??!?

What are your thoughts on the "Super Six" pilot program?

Troop 702 Warms the Hearts (and bodies) of First Light Shelter

Shades Mountain SU Troop 702 (Southminster) recently completed their winter service project. Leader Liz Martin reports:

"We made blankets for ladies residing at First Light Shelter. Each of the residents received a blanket as a Christmas gift. The girls loved making the blankets....and they turned out really pretty, if I do say so myself! They were so proud of their work and were so happy that the ladies there would have cheerful, warm blankets to brighten up their rooms!"

Great job girls!

(NOTE: Share your service projects, field trips and other troop activities by emailing tanyaott@gmail.com)

Registration Reminder: Doodle 4 Google!

Girl Scouts of the USA has partnered with the fourth annual Doodle 4 Google contest. Open to K-12 students in the U.S., Doodle 4 Google is an opportunity of a lifetime: design the Google.com homepage doodle for millions of people to see, and while you’re at it, take home a $15,000 scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for your school or your Girl Scout troop/council. Once scouts have been registered online by a Troop leader and submitted their doodle artwork via mail by March 16th, Google employees and Guest Judges, including Whoopi Goldberg, gold medal ice skater Evan Lysacek and “Garfield” creator Jim Davis, will narrow down the submissions.

To get started, whether you’re a Troop leader, a teacher, a school educator, or a parent, you must register your student(s) by March 2, 2011. Then get out the crayons, paints and markers and throw your own doodle party. Please note that all entries must be postmarked by March 16, 2011. Check out suggestions specific to Girl Scouts - see the Info for Participants page (blue box on the right). Have you registered yet?

(via blog.girlscouts.org)

New Room for the Disabled Goes for Gold

The Cypress Times, TX, reports that on February 21, 2011 at the Reach Unlimited Learning Activity Center, the ribbon will be cut on a special newsroom created for people with special needs.

Brittany Adrian, was the driving force behind the REACH2YOU Newsroom. She chose it as her Girl Scout Gold Award Project. The objective of the project was to create a newsroom to be used by clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Here they would videotape the news and broadcast it within the center to other clients. Brittany is a long-standing volunteer at Reach Unlimited. Its mission is to provide quality support services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Reach is the most comprehensive service provider in the greater Houston northwest.

Advocates for the rights of people with developmental disabilities focus their efforts on gaining acceptance in the workforce and in everyday activities and events from which they might have been excluded in the past. Unlike many of the leaders in the physical disability rights community, self-advocacy has been slow in developing for people with developmental disabilities. Public awareness of the civil rights movement for this population remains limited, and the stereotyping of people with developmental disabilities as non-contributing citizens who are dependent on others remains common.
Kudos to Brittany Adrian! Do you have any Girl Scout Gold Award stories you'd like to share?


(via blog.girlscouts.org)

Girl Scouts Gearing up for Europe

(posted via blog.girlscouts.org -- NOTE: Vestavia Hills Troop 145 is planning a trip to Switzerland in the summer of 2013. If you're interested in joining them, email tanyaott@gmail.com for details)

In Washington, The Kitsap Sun has a story about Girl Scout Troop 41711, a frequently traveling troop led by Tricia Ventresca. Ventresca’s troop has been to New York City, Yellowstone National Park, Washington, D.C., the Oregon Coast and Savannah in the past 10 years, and in a way pioneered the idea of travel among local troops. It has been, in fact, one of the attractions for girls joining the organization and remaining on board.

This year’s 25-day trip (!!!) to Europe has been three years in the making. The eight girls and four adults will stop in several cities in Italy and England plus Paris and Barcelona, visiting landmarks, museums and other sites they selected. The girls have to pay $1,500 themselves and the troop is collectively raising money to pay another $1,300 per girl, while adults are self-financing the entire trip. The troop has been coming up with various creative ways to raise money. One of those activities took a life of its own - authentic looking birds made of beads.

It started with one of the girls’ mother, Maggie Cutler, who wanted to do a project with the troop more than two years ago. At Ventresca’s suggestion to do beading, she found some bird patterns and bought kits. The girls learned the facts about each bird and have been doing all the packaging and selling. Ventresca estimates they have sold more than 250 so far, and she likes to keep about 100 on hand. Recently, the group presented at the Kitsap Audubon Society and sold 21 birds. Now, Ventresca, who is a bird watcher, is planning to join the group so she can get the girls involved in bird watching as well.

The Increased Need for Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Careers

Michael Watson, senior vice president of human resources and diversity for Girl Scouts of the USA, recently penned an article for Diversity-Executive about the need for diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. His belief is that girls are essential to the national pipeline of talent needed to fill future STEM positions.

According to Watson, "The cornerstone of our economic growth is continued American leadership in the full spectrum of high-tech industries: information technology, green energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology and others. If we fail to develop a robust pipeline of STEM professionals containing women and those from underrepresented communities, the consequences will be dire: a shortage of technical innovation, lower economic growth and higher unemployment for all Americans." This indeed appears logical as data from a 2009 study of eighth-graders conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that 43 percent of Hispanics, 44 percent of American Indians and 50 percent of African-Americans scored “below basic” in math.

Watson goes on, listing four steps needed to avoid this outcome:

1. Accelerate the adoption of best practices that produce superior academic outcomes for under represented students, especially from urban and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
2. Unite separate programs sponsored by corporations, universities, nonprofit organizations, churches and other entities into a national effort that prepares underrepresented students.
3. Incorporate STEM education within Head Start and other early educational initiatives, and strengthen those programs so their results last longer.
4. Engage parents in preparing their children academically for STEM education and as advocates for STEM careers.

Watson ends by saying, "The economic future of the United States depends on encouraging young women and minorities to prepare for and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math today. Their emerging talents drive our future prosperity, and that talent must not be wasted." Read the entire column here.