Gold Award Spotlight: No Ifs, Ands or Buts: Commitment to Serving God

Jonée, a Portsmouth Girl Scout, has earned the Gold Award, which is the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. 

For her project, Jonée created an educational tool that churches could use to spread the message of God. She wrote a Bible study curriculum that she shared with several local churches and oversaw the implementation of her curriculum during a week of Vacation Bible School at the Birthing Place Worship Center in Portsmouth. The curriculum that she wrote is a five-lesson program centered on the Parable of Sower, and each lesson has a PowerPoint, activities and presenter notes for the teacher.

"The Vacation Bible School was a success," Jonée said. "It was well-received, and both the students and the teachers learned from it."

In order to reach an even wider audience, Jonée met with leaders at three other churches to share her curriculum. She also placed her curriculum online so that it can be shared with anyone who wants to implement the lessons she created.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in the community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Jonée to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor. 

Meet Anastasia and Lillian, Cookie Entrepreneur Officers

Anastasia and Lillian with GSCCC CEO Tracy Keller
and Dawn Glynn of TowneBank at last year's celebration
for Girl Scouts who sold at least 1,000 boxes of cookies.

For two Portsmouth first graders, it is their busiest time of year. These young businesswomen are in the midst of their annual entrepreneurial venture—Girl Scout Cookie season. Anastasia, a member of Girl Scout Troop 5717, and Lillian, a member of Girl Scout Troop 53, tied last year for the position of top Girl Scout Cookie seller in Portsmouth, each selling 1,127 boxes of the sweet treats. Both girls have now embarked on their second year selling cookies with their sights set higher—Anastasia intending to sell 1,111 boxes and Lillian with a goal to sell 1,500 boxes. Both girls are excited about being able to sell cookies during the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts selling cookies and giving customers a chance to taste the new anniversary cookie—the Girl Scout S’mores cookie.

Despite being just six years old, both girls took away lessons from last year’s cookie season and have business plans in place for another successful sale. The girls know how important it is to ask everyone that they meet if they would like to buy cookies. Of course, they ask friends and family to buy cookies, but Anastasia makes sure to frequently go out in her neighborhood with her order card, even in the rain, and Lillian brings her cookie business with her everywhere, even to the doctor’s office.

“To sell cookies you have to smile and be polite,” Lillian said.

While Anastasia and Lillian are members of different troops, they have both had a year of fun and adventure in Girl Scouts, and they have learned about the importance of giving back to the community.

“Last year, we used our cookie money to purchase some toys for kids from the Angel Tree,” Anastasia said. “We also went to the pumpkin patch and had a lot of fun, and we had a Halloween and a Christmas party.”

Lillian and her fellow troop members threw a tea party, made pottery, took an acting class and saw a play together— just a few highlights of her Girl Scouting experience. They also made cards and ornaments that they delivered to residents at a local nursing home during the holidays, and Lillian hopes they get to do that again this year.

Powered by the Girl Scout Cookie Program, both Anastasia and Lillian are learning while they are earning. As experienced cookie sellers, they have learned how to count back change and work on a budget. They have also honed their teamwork skills and they work with their fellow troops members to decide how to spend their cookie money. As CEOs—cookie entrepreneur officers—they are learning to be go-getters, innovators, risk-takers and leaders.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the nation’s leaning financial literacy and entrepreneurial program for girls. Girl Scout Cookies not only help girls earn money for fun, educational activities and community projects, but also play a huge role in teaching girls how to be go-getters, innovators, risk-takers and leaders as they learn essential life and business skills.

Girl Scouts in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina are currently taking orders for cookies. Cookies will arrive to the region on February 18, and cookie booth sales will begin the following day. For more information, visit www.gsccc.org.

Portsmouth Girl Scouts Help Humane Society

Terra, a Portsmouth Girl Scout, has had a busy summer making a difference in her community. With the help from fellow members of Troop 5125, Terra led a beautification project to benefit the Portsmouth Humane Society. The biggest part of her project was building two picnic tables that she placed at the shelter. They will be used by potential adoptive families to get to know dogs outdoors, as well as by Portsmouth Humane Society volunteers and staff to rest while training and exercising dogs. Terra also helped to fix doors to dog kennels that were in need of repair.

James McLaughlin, administration and special events manager at the Portsmouth Humane Society, shared the shelter takes in more than 2,000 lost, stray and surrendered animals each year. As they help these animals find a new home, it is helpful to have community members, such as Terra and her fellow Girl Scouts, support the Portsmouth Humane Society.

Portsmouth Girl Scouts Gearing Up for a Year of STEM Learning

Some of the newest Girl Scouts in Portsmouth have had a busy summer preparing for all of the fun and adventure they're planning for the upcoming year. The girls, who are members of Girl Scout Troop 5782 in the Cross Creek community in Portsmouth, have been meeting twice a month over the summer to get to know one another through fun games, crafts and activities.

So far this summer, the girls have started learning the Girl Scout Promise and Law, which are guiding principles that outline the way Girl Scouts agree to act towards others. Together, they talk about what it means to be friendly, helpful, respectful, considerate and courageous—values stated in the Girl Scout Law. The girls have also been preparing for a big trip at the end of the summer to Busch Gardens to participate in ThrillBuilders, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program that introduces girls to simple machines and physics concepts. The trip to Busch Gardens is designed to provide girls with firsthand experiences in STEM to build on their interests and encourage them to consider careers in the STEM fields.

Girl Scout Troop 5782

“I see the value in Girl Scouting for my daughters and the other girls in the community,” K-shau-ta Trotter, the volunteer leader of Troop 5782 said. “I know that I can be a role model for these girls and help give them a positive activity to participate in outside of school.”

This fall, the girls will also be attending Science Alive, an annual event held co-hosted by Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast and Norfolk State University, where girls will participate in sessions led by Norfolk State University faculty and students that cover a range of topics, including engineering, chemistry, medicine, biology and physics.

In today’s world, less than 30 percent of STEM careers are held by women, and it is more important than ever to expose girls to a world of possibilities for their future. Through activities such as ThrillBuilders and Science Alive, Girl Scouts allows girls to discover what they are capable of, connect with one another and learn teamwork skills and take action to become resourceful problem solvers. Girl Scouts delivers these opportunities in a comfortable, all-girl environment where girls are more likely to ask questions, try new things and take risks without having to worry about fitting into stereotypes and gender roles they may encounter at school.

The troop members are also looking forward to getting involved in their community by participating in flag ceremonies and service projects, as well as honing their financial literacy skills to participate in the 2015 Girl Scout Cookie Program.

The Girl Scout troop in Cross Creek, as well as a sister troop that is forming in Ansell Gardens, was made possible through a $10,000 grant from the Beazley Foundation. The grant will continue to help fund troop activities, as well as ensure that the girls have program resources and official uniforms.