Charlotte Girl Scouts off to a busy beginning
Last year the girls started working on a 12 patch program called “A Year in the Life of Juliette Gordon Low.” Juliette was the founder of the Girl Scouts when it began in the year 1912, and these patches are all designed around activities that she found to be of importance to her. Having already earned four of those 12, the girls came back this fall ready to begin working on the next one, Promote Our Promise, which requires them to learn about how to design and deliver a public service announcement.
At our first meeting in September we went to visit WCAX-TV. While there, we were given a tour of the station, met the WCAX team, learned about the different responsibilities involved in producing the news and sat in on a live interview and news broadcast. The girls then chose to design their own PSA depicting the various activities offered through Girl Scouting using photographs. Perhaps you had the opportunity to view this large display if you stopped by our Girl Scout table during the Charlotte Tractor Parade.
October proved to be just as busy as we found ourselves hiking through the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville on a gorgeous, sunny Saturday morning following the clues that would eventually help us to escape from the miles of rows of corn stalks to ring the “I made it” bell waiting at the end. Later in the month we tested our building and designing skills and, occasionally, our patience too while constructing haunted Halloween gingerbread houses.
Just as exciting was our decision to join the Girl Scout postcard exchange. Our own personal troop challenge through this group is to send out and receive a postcard from each of the 50 states. What better way to learn facts about other states and the scouts in them? So far we have connected with all but eight of the 50 states and have received postcards back from 25 of them. Joining this program has also led to contact with scouts from Canada, England, Italy and Australia, as well as a request from a troop in Arizona asking us to become pen pals.
November found us at Camp Twin Hills in Richmond with troops from neighboring towns working on our archery skills, and later in the month we were at Burlington Paint and Sip learning about painting tips and techniques to create a painting of our choice. The girls have combined the lessons learned at the Paint and Sip and experimentation with other art mediums, such as chalk, charcoal, colored pencils and water color paints, to work toward their Juliette Gordon Low Art All-Around patch and their Brownie Painting and Junior Drawing Badges.
Because December proves to be a very busy month for most people, we decided to keep things fun and festive. On Saturday, December 9, we were in Hinesburg where Vicki Mobbs of Vicki’s Country Wreaths graciously donated her time to teach us how to make and decorate holiday wreaths. Our final troop meeting for 2017 centered on holiday crafts and games and friendship and laughter.
Happy holidays everyone!