Monday, September 17, 2018

Meet Girl Scout alum, Marsha


A guest blog by Khaila Blakney, marketing and communications intern for Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience doesn’t stop once you pass the Girl Scout Ambassador level. The journey continues well into adult years and allows girls to continue making an impact on their communities each day. Girl Scout alum often apply the knowledge and skills they gained as young Girl Scouts to programs geared toward building the new leaders of tomorrow.
Marsha Riibner-Cady is one of those alum. She has fostered two after-school programs for Girl Scouts to further their education outside of the classroom.
For Marsha, being a Girl Scout was much deeper than wanting to gain the knowledge, skills and experience that the organization allows. Joining the sisterhood was also a way for Marsha to bond with her mother who was her Troop leader during her time as a Girl Scout. After high school, she went off to college and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Marsha’s accomplishments did not end in college. She later created her own laboratory equipment telemarketing business that she ran for three years.
As the years passed, Marsha’s love for Girl Scouts never went away. In 2006, she became a Membership Specialist for her local council in North Carolina. Her hard work in the position did not go unnoticed. She became the first recipient of the North Carolina Governor’s medallion award for Director of Volunteers in 2012 for her work with the Girl Scouts.
In 2016, Marsha put aside her membership job and became the Director of the After-School Enrichment Program for Dare County Schools where she now supervises 400 students at five different elementary schools. Her new position has allowed her to give back to the Girl Scouts in a new way. Marsha alongside Peggi Leonard have created two Girl Scout after school care programs at Kill Devils Hills Elementary School and Nags Head Elementary School. Marsha also enlisted the help of some community partners, including Lora Gilreath, Girl Scout Brownie Troop Leader and Community Policing Officer for Kill Devil Hills Police Department.  
All of the participants of her after-school programs are registered Girl Scouts. The program is designed to give the girls a different view of what Girl Scouts is while encouraging teamwork and personal responsibility. Marsha has worked with her Brownies on their “It’s Your World, Change It” journey and a variety of petals with the Daisies.
We are very thankful to have someone like Marsha in our Girl Scout community and hope that her story inspires many others to continue their Girl Scout journey for years to come.