Monday, August 3, 2015

Join the Fun!

As families start thinking about children returning to school, we are inviting girls to join the fun and register for Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts provides girls with countless opportunities to make new friends, try new things and exercise leadership skills through activities such as building robots, playing sports and participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

National studies from the Girl Scout Research Institute show that it’s not just what girls do, but how they do it that makes Girl Scouts so beneficial. Girl Scouts is unique because girls get to learn by doing, and they do so in a girl-led environment. That means that in addition to girls learning in a hands-on and active way, they are encouraged to choose their activities, decide which topics to explore and determine how they want to go about exploring them.

The Girl Scout Research Institute reports that at least 75 percent of girls who experience the fun of learning by doing and are part of a girl-led program become better at conflict resolution, problem solving, team building and developing self-confidence. These girls say that because of Girl Scouts, they’ve become a leader in more activities with their friends and classmates, as well as in their community.

“In Girl Scouts, we make sure that girls are taking charge of their own future,” Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast CEO Tracy Keller said. “Girls benefit greatly from opportunities to delve into their interests. When girls are participating in activities that interest them, they are engaged in the topic and determined to learn more.”

Hands-on learning opportunities and girl-led experiences within Girl Scouts supplement the academic learning girls receive in school. These fun and empowering experiences have been shown to boost girls’ social and emotional skills, which are not generally part of a school curriculum, as well as improve academic performance. Girls who experience learning by doing and who are part of a girl-led program learn not to avoid things that are hard for them, but rather to take these challenges head on, practice creative problem solving and learn from mistakes— all skills that will help girls succeed throughout school and life.

For more information, visit www.girlscouts.org/join.