Design Divas

With merry-go-rounds spinning and handmade cars racing, nearly 100 young scientists put their engineering skills to the test on Saturday, October 17 during Design Divas, a workshop hosted by Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast and volunteers from Booz Allen Hamilton Strategy and Technology Consulting.

Design Divas was an opportunity for girls in grades K-5 to explore and discover in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields through a variety of hands-on activities. Girls learned about oil spills while cleaning up simulated oil spills using household items and created theme park rides to learn about gears. They also constructed puff mobiles—cars powered by their breath, and learned about fulcrums and kinetic energy by building catapults.

This event was an opportunity for girls to learn new skills and explore their STEM interests in the supportive, all-girl environment of Girl Scouts. Today, women hold less than 30 percent of STEM careers, and Girl Scouts is working to fill the gap by engaging girls in activities where they are free to explore their interests, as well as interact with females in the STEM fields who serve as role models for girls with similar interests.

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast is committed to offering STEM opportunities for girls all year long, including Society of Women Engineers Day in November and STEMagination Expo in January. All girls are welcome to attend these events, whether or not they are currently a Girl Scout member. For more information about attending a STEM event or joining Girl Scouts, visit www.gsccc.org.

Gold Award Spotlight: Stories We Tell

Virginia Beach Girl Scout Leslie has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and award a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

For her project, Leslie sought to capture the stories of local citizens who reside at The Gardens of Virginia Beach, a senior living facility. She interviewed 13 residents about their childhood, education, family life, jobs, historical events they may have witnessed and life lessons they would like to share. Leslie then transcribed the interviews and compiled them in a book that she provided to the participants, their family members and other members of the community.

“My project gave people the opportunity to pass down their family history and the lessons they learned in life,” Leslie said.

To share her project with the community, Leslie created a display about her project that she placed at the Bayside Library. She also created a website where she placed the interview questions that she used so that others could replicate her project at senior living facilities across the country. Additionally, she placed the interview questions in a binder at The Gardens of Virginia Beach for residents to continue to add their stories to the book.

In order to make a further impact on the residents at The Gardens of Virginia Beach, Leslie enlisted the help of her fellow troop members to host games and sing Christmas carols at The Gardens, as well as create holiday cards for the residents.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Leslie to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.

Chesapeake Girl Scout Creates Autism Support Group

By Courtney Herrick, GSCCC communications intern

Chesapeake Girl Scout Kaylee has earned the Girl Scout Silver Award, the second highest achievement in Girl Scouting.

Autism has directly impacted Kaylee’s life ever since her younger brother was diagnosed with it, and finding support for siblings of children with autism proved to be a struggle for Kaylee.  For her Silver Award project, Kaylee decided to create a support group for the brothers and sisters of children with autism. She proved her dedication to the group by holding monthly meetings that lasted about two hours. Kaylee organized various activities and games that allowed the group to interact with one another in a fun and safe environment. The group served siblings in grades five through eight and allowed them to meet new friends, share ideas and receive support and encouragement from peers that are going through similar situations.

Kaylee connected with her community to spread the word about her group by having a booth at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day in April, which is Autism Awareness Month. She also passed out fliers to educate the public on resources, other than her group, that were available to provide support for families of children with autism.

Kaylee at Healthy Kids Day

“I believe the most successful part of the project was being a resource and support for siblings of autistic children who were going through similar issues as myself and others,” Kaylee said.

Kaylee has plans to continue her group even though she has already received her Silver Award.

“I enjoyed this project; however, it was more than a project to me,” she said.

The Silver Award requires girls to identify an issue in the community and carry out a Take Action Project to address the matter through leadership work.

The State of Girls: Unfinished Business Forum in Norfolk

Fifty-two percent of girls say that being a leader is not that important to them. What is even more alarming is the fact that nearly one in ten girls (9 percent) say that they do not want to be a leader at all. This data, along with other facts regarding girls’ well-being, was compiled by the Girl Scout Research Institute and served as the topic of discussion at the forum held by Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast and the Virginia Beach Branch of the American Association of University Women on September 30 at WHRO Studios in Norfolk.

Barbara Hamm-Lee, executive producer and host of “Another View” at WHRO studios, served as the forum’s moderator and led engaging discussion among the panel of local experts. Panelists included Rebecca Jaramillo, senior educator at the National Institute of Aerospace, Gretchen Edwards-Bodmer, leadership development coordinator for the Tidewater Community College Women’s Center, Dr. Saundra Winstead, family medicine doctor with the Hampton Roads Community Health Center, and Aditi Dutt, parent educator at Bon Secours Health System.

Aditi Dutt, Rebecca Jaramillo, Barbara Hamm Lee,
Dr. Saundra Winstead, Gretchen Edwards-Bodmer

Each panelist had the opportunity to weigh in on the well-being of girls as it relates to their field of expertise. Throughout the evening, they shared their unique perspectives, but agreed on the importance of girls having role models and mentors to help them grow into the women they want to be.

Jaramillo, who has been an educator for over 30 years, shared her thoughts about why women are not represented equally in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers.

“Parents and teachers need to encourage natural curiosity in their girls,” Jaramillo said. “Girls today believe the things they want to do are impossible, and they need a support system to explore and discover with them along the way.”

Gretchen Bodmer-Edwards, leadership development coordinator for the Tidewater Community College Women’s Center, echoed the importance of fostering girls’ interests in order to encourage their leadership skills. She talked about girls and women valuing collaborative leadership, as opposed to the traditional top-down leadership style oftentimes exercised in workplaces today. She suggested that girls should look at leadership opportunities as volunteers or in the home and that will give them the confidence to pursue leadership roles at school and work.

Dr. Saundra Winstead, a family medicine doctor with the Hampton Roads Community Health Center, and Aditi Dutt, parent educator for Bon Secours Health System, weighed in on the physical and emotional well-being of girls. Dr. Winstead emphasized the importance of educating girls, as well as their parents, about leading healthy lifestyles because children often mimic the healthy and unhealthy habits of their parents and role models. Dutt discussed the issue of self-esteem and shared tips for parents to help build confidence in their daughters. She ended the forum with an important reminder for parents.

“Praise girls for being and for doing,” Dutt said. “It means so much more when they know you love and appreciate who they are, not just what they do.”

A report similar to The State of Girls: Unfinished Business has never been conducted, making it a much-needed resource in the field for educators and advocates. For more information, visit www.gsccc.org.

GSCCC CEO Recognized by Women’s Leadership Council

Tracy Keller with Girl Scout Cadette Tyra from Norfolk.

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast CEO Tracy Keller and nine other local women were recognized at the United Way of South Hampton Roads Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) Luncheon for being champion donors this year. Their donations support the WLC Endowment Fund, which was created to provide a legacy of continuous support for programs that serve the needs of disadvantaged women and their families.

In the past year, the WLC Endowment Fund has invested over $100,000 in the local community to support low-to-moderate income women and their families. Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast is one of the organizations supported by the WLC for preparing the next generation of leaders with strong values, a social conscience and a deep sense of self-empowerment through programs at United for Children’s P.B. Young Elementary School, Tidewater Park Elementary School and Ruffner Middle School. Other organizations supported by the WLC Endowment Fund during the past year include: Salvation Army’s H.O.P.E. Village, YWCA of South Hampton Roads’ childcare program, Samaritan House’s Housing Now program and Children’s Health Investment Program.

Tyra, who spoke on behalf of GSCCC at the luncheon, with

Girl Scout volunteers Carol Spellman and Toni Taylor and

Deb Butler, keynote speaker

The luncheon, which was held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, was attended by 750 women in the community. Deborah Butler, recently retired executive vice president planning and chief information officer for Norfolk Southern Corp., was the keynote speaker for the luncheon. Butler, who is a Girl Scout alumnae and was honored as a Girl Scout Famous Former in 2013, spoke about the power of collaboration. Butler was recognized as a champion donor by the Women’s Leadership Council in 2008.

The Women’s Leadership Council is a local network of nearly 900 women leaders dedicated to improving the quality of life for women and their families in South Hampton Roads. For more information, visit www.unitedwayshr.org.

Gold Award Spotlight: Blaze a Trail

Virginia Beach Girl Scout Isabelle has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

For her project, Isabelle created Turtle Trail, a nature trail at Munden Point Park. She began her project by mapping and marking the trail. Then, with a team of volunteers that she organized, Isabelle removed fallen trees, pulled weeds and took out poison ivy and thorny bushes along the new trail. She then spread mulch along the trail to prevent weeds from growing back. Once the trail was created, Isabelle added signs to inform people about the wildlife they may see along the trail, as well as information about how to identify poison ivy.

Isabelle chose to do this project in order to encourage people to spend more time outdoors engaged in physical activity.

“Many people assume that there is nothing to see at the park and this has led to people’s unwillingness to go outside and experience nature,” Isabelle said. “With the addition of Turtle Trail and informational signs, people can look at nature with a keen eye and observe everything it has to offer.”

Isabelle is an avid trail runner and enjoys the many trails in Virginia Beach. She hopes that her trail can be a new enjoyable spot for runners and non-runners alike.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Isabelle to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.

Gold Award Spotlight: Spreading Music Awareness

Virginia Beach Girl Scout Maryanne has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement in Girl Scouting.

Maryanne has always had a passion for music as it has been a huge part of her life. For her project, Maryanne created a Music Awareness Club at her school to create an opportunity for students share information about the importance of music education with the community. The club members performed at a local nursing home and handed out fliers about the importance of music education.

Maryanne also wrote and illustrated her own book to encourage young children to join band. She shared her book, “Bernie and the Saxophone,” with children throughout the community, including those who attended Vacation Bible School at St. John the Apostle Catholic Parish. Maryanne also created a blog about the importance of music education in order for her project to reach a larger audience.

“I chose this project because I am very passionate about music,” Maryanne said. “I think it’s very important for people to know how significant music education is and why it should not be cut from any school system.”

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 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Maryanne to an elite group of females across the country with honor.