Why I value camp for my Girl Scout July 7, 2009

By Girl Scout Parent Mike

When I was a Boy Scout, I wanted so much to go to summer camp that first year. I had heard from friends about how great camp was and why a week away from everything was so great! The bad thing was that my parents didn’t really appreciate the fact that I wanted to go “sleep in the woods.” Their entire experience with being in the woods was a series of lynchings and tales about people who went into the woods and never were heard from again. So it was “maybe when you get older.”

I went out and raised my own money for camp that spring. I mowed lawns. I sold pocket flashlights. I babysat. I washed cars — all for the $95 camp fee (hey, it was a long time ago, okay?) and $50 for “throwaway money” (I was advised to bring some extra money for T-shirts and neckerchiefs and carving stuff).

I did it, only to have my Mom to tell me that I couldn’t go because nobody could take me to camp. So I called up an old friend (he actually beat me up the previous spring) and asked him if he was going to camp (back then everyone went to camp… not like today), and I went with his family (and endured being beaten up again–small price to pay for a week otherwise of great camping!).

I returned a bit older, wiser, and more confident in myself. And alive and well–except for the “two tone” look as my arms and legs were darker than the rest of me. My parents saw the personality difference and ever since then, they’ve paid for me to go to camp each summer.

So my Girl Scout needs to go to summer camp. It’s part of her development as a young woman, and she loves it. Her mom will appreciate the break from having the young gal away, too. And I’m happy to be able to be in a position to afford to pay all of her camp fees. I’m sending her a card with “throwaway money” in it and will tell her not to buy me a T-shirt — that money is for her to enjoy camp with!

——

River Valleys camps still have openings this summer! Search sessions and register online to give your Girl Scout a great camp experience.

Lil Kickers – Girl Scout Soccer June 29, 2009

This summer 102 Girl Scouts joined Lil Kickers, a Girl Scout soccer league. Pictured are St. Charles, Minn., teams at a tournament in Rochester, Minn., on Saturday, June 20. A good time was had by all!

My Girl Scout Gold Award Story June 26, 2009

My senior year of high shool, I finished my Girl Scout Gold Award by redesigning the French language curriculum in District 112 to include aspects of francophone culture into a mostly euro-centric language program. Main goals of this curriculum include increased understanding of francophone culture, introduction to non-traditional vocabulary, mock experience solving world issues involving francophone countries, and monthly classroom immersion into the culture of one francophone culture through field trips or in-class activities.

Since the project’s completion, it has been slowly implemented in the Pre-French I- French II classes. At the end of 2012, this program will be fully active in Chanhassen High School as part of the main French curriculum.

Below is an article from the local newspaper covering Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center’s French II class’ experience with the new program.

French Classes Take Aim at Africa’s Problems (February 12, 2009)

AIDS, drug trafficking and global-warming may be daunting problems facing countries in Africa, but a group of students at the Pioneer Ridge Freshman Center are determined to help where they can.

“We’ve seen how every vote matters in the local Senate election,” said Ivan Contreras. “The same applies to the the problems over there. Everyone can make a difference.”

Contreras was one of several French students who put their language skills to the test, researching problems in Africa and eventually developing a project to to help deal with AIDS in Rwanda.

Students in Michelle Maria’s French II classes produced their own movies describing a serious problem they encountered in research of French-speaking African countries.

“They then had to offer a way to be able to change it and make a difference,” said Maria.

Once finished with their productions, the class had a celebration to watch all the movies and pick one to take on as a service learning project for the remainder of the year. During the celebration, they enjoyed an African meal, sitting on cushions on the floor in a typical Moroccan setting, while feasting on couscous, dates, apricots, and mint tea. While they voted to address AIDS in Rwanda as their class project, other movie topics included lack of education for children in Madagascar, drug-trafficking in Maroc, and child trafficking in Togo.

“We are really motivated to make an impact,” said Ashley Kemp. “Helping just one person would be a positive impact.”

The students didn’t seem fazed by the extent of some of the problems they chose to research.

“We may not be able to stop big problems completely like the impact global warming has on ocean reefs in the Seychelles,” said Micha Mills. “But we can make a small difference.”

Spencer Banister said the standard of living in some of these countries is so low that anyone from the United States can make a difference.

“These people live off of 10 cents a day,” he said. “Donating just $10 can go a long, long way over there.”

Potential

During the time Jeffry Lyman was researching childhood nutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a cease fire in the civil wars there occurred.

“These countries have so much potential for fixing their own problems,” he said. “They just need to be pointed in the right direction.”

Dan Schanus was also working on the Congo project and agreed with the potential the country has.

“Children are starving all across the country, yet it has huge ore deposits that could make it one of the richest countries in Africa and solve those hunger problems,” he said.

The projects were part of the students’ French class, so they were expected to use and develop their French speaking abilities.

“While I was developing my presentation, I was surprised at how I could say pretty much whatever I need to in French after only two years of studying it,” said Ali Souza.

The students had to pick problems they felt they could actually do something about, said Maria.

“We’re asking these students to become global citizens, so what better way than to ask them to pick the project to work on for the rest of the year,” she said.

-Chuck Friedbauer
Hawk Talons

When I started my Girl Scout Gold Award, I had no idea it would have this much of an impact on my school district. French teachers now have the option to share the francophone world with students who may not otherwise be introduced to alternative French cultures. While it is still a work in progress, I am optimistic this is a step in the right direction for increasing cultural awareness in students and modernizing curriculum development to include opinions of students.

Thanks to the guidance of my mentors Katherine Martens and Kris Rydland, I am now in college studying education policy and have since learned just how lucky I have been to be supported by such amazing teachers. It is fantastic to know a single student can have such a large impact on a community.

Lauren

Girl Scouts help at Operation GreenTouch June 23, 2009

Last month Round Lake Girl Scout Cadettes, with the help of Girl Scout Juniors (not pictured), went to Kilen Woods in Lakefield, Minn., to help clean up the park as part of Operation GreenTouch in partnership with Federated Rural Electric. The girls cleaned the shelter house and painted picnic tables.

Troop 11548 Girl Scout Night with the Minnesota Lynx June 17, 2009

Donation to support Camp Lakamaga June 9, 2009

Linda Keene, Phyllis Willerscheidt, Linda Hudepohl, Steve Hudepohl, and Jan Johnson.

Linda Hudepohl and Jan Johnson from the North Pines Service Unit presented a check for $4,500 to Linda Keene, CEO and Phyllis Willerscheidt, Board Chair. The donation represents proceeds from last year’s Camp Spookamaga and will be used to support girl programming at Camp Lakamaga. Camp Spookamaga is an annual Halloween event created by Girl Scout troops and adult volunteers for Girl Scouts and their families and friends.  It’s an opportunity for families to visit Camp Lakamaga, celebrate Juliette Gordon Low’s birthday, and for older girls to display their creativity, leadership, and organizational skills. The event will be held this year on October 10.

Linda and volunteers from the North Pines Service Unit represent the thousands of amazing volunteers who support Girl Scouting through the leading and executing of great girl programming and investment of financial resources.

Nicollet Girl Scouts Bronze Award project June 4, 2009

As part of their Bronze Award project, Nicollet Girl Scouts “adopted” a dilapidated garden area that was adjacent to the Nicollet Public School playground. It had become both an eyesore and a hazard – as teachers had to stand guard and keep students out of the area during recess. Some of the issues included rotten timbers, exposed pieces of rebar, torn landscape fabric, dead trees, and excessively overgrown bushes.
The girls had a representative come in from a local garden center and talk to them about what was in the garden and what could be done to save some of the existing bushes. The girls learned about the different types of bushes and when/how they should be trimmed. They looked at magazines and drew up plans for what they wanted the garden to look like. They took measurements and determined what supplies were needed.

Last fall, the girls began the cleanup process. They raked out leaves and garbage, pulled weeds, and parents helped cut down the dead tree.  The girls helped to prune out the bushes that needed to go. In the winter, the Junior Girl Scouts went back and did a substantial amount of trimming. The troop also made stepping stones for the garden.  The girls wrote up a letter to request supplies from local businesses and put together a display board and scrapbook to document their project. Early this spring, the troop did a final cleanup/ground prep session.

In May the troop members and parents gathered to complete the project after the troop received the following donations: two truckloads of mulch/bark, 400 square feet of landscape fabric, four replacement landscape timbers, new rebar to secure the timbers, and $25 worth of bedding plants. Over three hours on a Saturday morning, the garden was transformed! The girls helped replace the timbers, lay the landscape fabric, haul and spread the bark, lay their stepping stones and plant flowers. The result was spectacular!

Check out more amazing photos on River Valleys Facebook fan page.

Girl Scouts at Niabi Zoo May 28, 2009

More than 40 River Valleys Girl Scouts traveled to the Niabi Zoo this month as part of the 1,000+ Club event where the girls had the opportunity to have breakfast with the elephants.  The elephants even created two works of art for especially for the girls. Congratulations to all girls who made it into the 1,000+ Club in 2009 and get ready for another exciting 1,000+ Club event in 2010!

Our 2009 Cookie Program Activity celebrations will wrap up with the 500+ Club Events on June 20 at Camp Singing Hills and June 27 at Camp Elk River where over 400 River Valleys Girl Scouts have been invited to enjoy a day of adventure at camp.  Look for photos from those events coming soon!

UPDATE: We added new pictures to our Facebook page–check it out!

Adopting a Soldier May 21, 2009

by Audrea Horejsi
Ellendale/Geneva Girl Scout troop leader

In July 2008, while looking for projects for our Girl Scout troop to work on for the coming school year, I read an article about another troop that had “adopted a soldier” and thought it sounded like a wonderful idea and a great experience for the girls.  I contacted www.mysoldier.com, and they sent me the contact information for a soldier currently serving in Iraq.  They also sent me some red bracelets for each of the Girl Scouts to wear, symbolizing their part of adopting a soldier. Each girl in the troop has been given one to wear if and when they wish.

Our soldier’s name is Charles (Charlie) Enebrad. He grew up on the coast in South Carolina and worked on shrimp boats before joining the military.  The movie “Forest Gump” was filmed in his hometown. He joined the military at age 17 and has been an active member for nine years now.  He is stationed out of Fort Lewis, Washington and is an army fire fighter currently working with a construction unit in Nasariyah, Iraq. He has been married for six years and has a four-year-old son and twin two-year-old daughters, whom he says he wants to join the Girl Scouts as soon as they are able to; he feels it is a wonderful organization to be a part of. He currently has 122 soldiers in his company.

Of the 18 girls that currently attend Girl Scouts in Ellendale/Geneva, 16 wrote letters to Charlie in November 2008, and he, along with a fellow soldier named Logan Hastings from St. Paul, Minn., wrote an individual letter back to each and every girl. They thought that was pretty cool and they each have taken their letters home to keep. Along with the letters, we made and sent some Christmas decorations, hand-crafted with construction paper, glue, glitter, puff balls, markers, and crayons. The girls were very creative, and the decorations looked awesome. When Charlie received the decorations, he hung them up for everyone in his company to see and enjoy throughout the holiday season and wrote to tell us it added a “touch of home” for the soldiers.

In February, we hand-crafted Valentine decorations for Charlie and his company, and he also hung those up for everyone to see and enjoy.

The month of February was a sad one for Charlie as one of his friends was killed in a road side bomb in Iraq and left behind a wife and four children.  I’m sure Charlie probably sees, hears about, and deals with this type of thing on a daily basis, but it is even harder when it is one of his own and a personal friend.

Charlie sent us some photos in February showing the large trucks he drives over in Iraq and the girls were in awe when they saw the size of them.

Most recently, the girls each bought and donated Girl Scout cookies for Charlie and the other soldiers, and we sent them right to his attention in Iraq.

He sent back pictures showing many of the soldiers sorting through and eating the cookies as they unpacked them. He said we have no idea how much they all appreciate and LOVE Girl Scout cookies – another little touch of home to them.

The girls and I have totally enjoyed our activities and communications revolving around Charlie, and we are looking forward to more. We plan to stay in communication with Charlie for the duration of his stay in Iraq. We feel like we know Charlie, even though we have never personally met him and probably never will. We talk about him as we would someone we see and talk to every day. Our communication with him has meant a lot to us and it probably always will. I think the girls in the troop, who range from ages 5-10, will all remember Charlie when they look back and think about the days they were a Girl Scout.

Update

The girls were touched and honored to receive the following letter from Charlie:

Hello,

I have a “special gift” for your troop. I have an American Flag that was flown out here in Iraq that I plan on sending to you once I get home. A certificate will accompany it stating such. I hope it is something that can express the gratitude my guys and I have for your troop. I cannot thank you for the overwhelming support you have provided during my time here. I still have a month or so to go, and I am busy as ever, but I just wanted to let you know I will be sending this so you will have something to look forward to … Thanks again and God bless.

Charlie

Girl Scout Troop 21305 Donates Cookies to Soldiers May 13, 2009

The Girl Scouts of Troop 21305 chose several charitable ways to use their cookie proceeds. They  donated $0.02 per box sold to a local food shelf, which amounted to $60. They also sent donations to the residents of the apartment fire in Montgomery, Minn., where one girl’s mom was living. All residents of the building were displaced. Additionally, the girls chose to send cookies to soldiers — particularly, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Pfarr, older brother of one of their classmates.

The girls received the following letter of thanks: