Silver Award Spotlight: Bat Box Building

Girl Scout Cadette Grace recently saw the need to help conserve the local bat population, which serve as pollinators, in her North Carolina community. By doing so, she earned her Silver Award for the project she titled, "Bat Box Building." Throughout the process, Grace used her research and planning skills to fabricate and install functional habitats for the bats living nearby.

The process involved several steps, but upon completion, Grace thoughtfully assembled eleven bat boxes that were designed to last.

"I researched bats, their habitats, and how to build bat boxes," Grace said. "I created a pattern for building the bat boxes, based on various types I saw online. I gathered the materials, cut the wood patterns, and built eleven bat boxes. I painted and caulked the boxes so they would protect the bats against the elements, and last several years." 

Along with the boxes, Grace also created an educational presentation and provided the resources to her neighborhood garden club and homeowner's association for distribution to residents. Grace has submitted a request to her neighborhood's architecture committee with the hope of approval for an expansion of her project into neighboring communities. 

Grace and her father, Albert, work together on the box fabrication

Presenting information about her project to the community

Girl Scouts Beach Camp Under the Stars During False Cape Fun

When it comes to adventure, Girl Scouts can make it happen and with those adventures comes with a lot of benefits!

 This summer, Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors were given an opportunity to sign up for adventure camp sessions where they would have the chance to take excursion trips from our resident camps. Last week, four GSCCC teens who signed up for False Cape Fun had an adventure-packed few days. They spent several days at an amazing local state park that has six miles of unspoiled beaches in an ocean-to-freshwater bay habitat that includes dunes, woodland, farm fields, salt marsh, maritime forest and wooded swamps. False Cape State Park hosts 300 species of nesting and migratory songbirds, shorebirds and ducks, otters, white-tailed deer, red fox, loggerhead turtles, American bald eagles, feral pigs, wild horses, and a number of interesting reptiles.

 

While at the park, our Girl Scouts spent nights under the stars, had fun on the beach, did a swamp stomp with a park ranger, toured the Pleasure House Point nature area, paddle boarded at Rudee’s Inlet, learned knot tying, and, of course, had s’mores around the campfire! They were also able to travel into the heart of the park in a tram and then explore the grounds on foot.  

 

This session is just one of many where Girl Scouts discover the wonders of nature, experience the thrill of adventure, and challenge themselves and one another to reach new heights in the outdoors. Did you know that repeat camping experiences, such as this one, are key drivers of girls’ leadership development? Plus, the challenge-seeking aspect of these experiences enhances a girl’s ability to better negotiate decisional ambiguities and to experience positive emotions.

 

Consider taking a day trip or doing an overnight excursion at False Cape State Park—or just plan to get outdoors more! You can add a visit to this park or another state park during Girl Scouts Love State Parks Weekend, September 10-11, 2022. Learn more and find out how to receive a Girl Scouts Love State Parks patch.

Join us September 10 and 11, 2022 for Girl Scouts Love State Parks Day Weekend which will be packed with state park fun: https://bit.ly/3t6IGMX

More ways to get outdoors with Girl Scouts: https://bit.ly/3v5AGhs

2022 Norfolk Camp Fury Recap!

Last week, nine Girl Scout Cadettes through Ambassadors took on their next adventure as Girl Scouts during the 2022 Norfolk Camp Fury session in partnership with Norfolk Fire and Rescue! During the week-long session, the Girl Scouts were challenged through learning lifesaving skills and techniques alongside real Fire and Rescue professionals!  Along with vehicle extrication, fire safety, and first response skills, they were also guided through rappelling at Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, part of Nauticus in the Waterside District of Norfolk, VA.

Camp Fury, which has been held for several years, is all about gaining leadership skills and confidence, giving girls the opportunity to learn hands-on lifesaving skills and techniques under the guidance of female firefighters and EMTs in roles society may deem "non-traditional." Nichole Collins, City of Norfolk Master Firefighter, helped organize the 2022 program in Norfolk and worked alongside the girls during the five day camp full of adventures. 

She said, “By exposing girls to situations that they may not be totally comfortable with, they’re able to make decisions for themselves and see the results of those choices. It might seem scary at first, but by the end, they’re so proud.”

The camp session was concluded by a graduation ceremony at on July 1, 2022 where the nine Girl Scouts were recognized for their perseverance and accomplishments throughout the week.

In Memory of Lifetime Girl Scout and Volunteer Helen Kattwinkel

Helen Kattwinkel spent decades as a Girl Scout volunteer. She started her volunteer career in 1964 as a leader overseas in Turkey and went on to serve in many roles. When she and her husband, Frank, and their six children settled in Virginia Beach in the 1970s, she immediately became involved with the Greater Tidewater Girl Scout Council -   first as a troop leader and then as a trainer, working alongside master trainer and good friend Barbara Mettler. Helen’s ability to organize and lead landed her in the role of Service Unit Cookie Chair, overseeing nearly 30 troops. Later, she became a Virginia Beach Cookie Coordinator and managed an area-wide Cookie Cupboard, opening her house for cookie storage during the cookie season. She did this for more than 20 years! An article on the “Cookie Lady” appeared in The Virginian Pilot’s Beacon publication.

Helen’s talent as a trainer was known council-wide. She was the first Girl Scout trainer of the newly released older girl program, which included the Gold Award release, in 1980. She attended a regional training and then took on the responsibility of training leaders and other trainers in Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast (GSCCC). Helen also helped start the GSCCC Gold Award Committee.  She spent more than four decades giving leadership and guidance to GSCCC’s Gold Award Committee.  “Earning the Gold Award is hard work,” Helen said. “Girls come with great ideas but don’t always know the depth of the work it takes. It’s our job to help them through the process. It’s rewarding to see them complete their projects and the confidence they have gained along the way.”

Helen attended many Girl Scout National Conventions, including the 2002 convention in Long Beach, California where she served as a National Council Delegate. She was recognized with the highest national awards bestowed upon an adult, the Thanks Badge I and II, and she also received the Council’s highest adult award, the Dorothy Barber Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

In 2016, as part of the Council’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the highest award in Girl Scouting, a reception was held in Helen’s honor at Wycliffe Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach. Girl Scout friends gathered to pay tribute to her. A plaque was presented to her and the Helen Kattwinkel Lifetime Membership Award soon followed, an award that is given out annually by GSCCC to a Gold Award Girl Scout.

In addition to her volunteer time at Girl Scouts, she was very active with Wycliffe Presbyterian Church, the Virginia Beach Infant Stimulation program, and participated in hand bell choirs.

Helen will be greatly missed. The sparkle in her eyes, her sense of humor, and her tireless dedication—especially when it came to helping girls.

A memorial service to be announced at a later date. Those who wish to send cards or condolences to the family, may send them to Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast, 912 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, Virginia, 23322 and the council will forward to the family.  

Gold Award Spotlight: “Veterans Awareness Day”

Girl Scout Ambassador Rachel recently earned the Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement in Girl Scouting, by completing a service project she titled, “Veterans Awareness Day.” Rachel hosted a public event at VFW Post 4411 in Franklin, VA with the mission of connecting the community with resources that they can utilize to assist friends and loved ones as they overcome the effects of traumas related to military service.

She said, “My granddad is a veteran and I know many veterans are suffering due to the traumatic effects of war. Veterans and their families and friends may be too proud, angry, or hurt to seek help. Sometimes they just do not know where to go for help.”

 

Rachel invited guest speakers from the community to acknowledge and share information about mental health crises affecting veterans such as PTSD, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. Volunteers from VFW Post 4411 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also in Franklin, helped make the event a success. She also designed and produced handouts, magnets, and business cards with hotline and support group information for guests to take home and share with others after the event.

Congratulations, Rachel!

Achievements and Successes Celebrated at GSCCC's June 2022 Board Meeting

It was a time to celebrate achievements and successes at GSCCC’s June Board meeting. Members from Troop 93 who won the 2022 Cookie Program’s “Show Your Cookie Flair” contest were invited to help start the meeting by leading the Board in the Girl Scout Promise and Law. They received CEO patches from GSCCC CEO Tracy Keller and stayed for a special presentation to Girl Scout Ambassador Sarah Sass, a girl member who serves on the Board. 

 Sarah was recognized with the 2022 Buck Harris Award, an award named in honor of a former executive director of Greater Tidewater Girl Scouts, a council that merged with Heritage Girl Scouts to form Colonial Coast. Buck loved the outdoors and the all the benefits girls reap from camping. Each year, the award is presented to a girl who loves the outdoors and uses her skills and talents to help others. Nominations are usually submitted by a girl’s troop peers. The recognition comes with the gift of a full week at camp! Since joining Girl Scouts in kindergarten, Sarah has lived her life by the Girl Scout Promise and Law. She has been active in her troop, her service unit, and is a member of the council’s Board of Directors where she also participates on the Board’s Property Committee. Sarah loves camping and the outdoors, has spent many summers as a camper and, in recent years, as a Program Aid. She graduated this year as the salutatorian from her class and is heading to Virginia Tech in the fall! Sarah’s parents were on hand for the presentation.

 

Special guests also included Girl Scout alum Camille Birdsong who recently graduated from Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications. She will be heading to New York soon to take a position with NBC as a news associate. Camille shared highlights of her senior capstone project which focused on the African American girl experience in Girl Scouting, titled: “A Deeper Look Into Why Black Girl Scouts Matter.” The project is on Camille’s website and includes video interviews with GSCCC VP of Membership Engagement Terri Washington and Girl Scout volunteer Toni Taylor. View it at https://www.camillebirdsong.com/capstone-project.

 

As part of the night’s pre-business meeting program, Girl Scout volunteer Christine Janison, an outdoor facilitator from Service Unit 375 in Norfolk, presented GSCCC Board Chair Marisa Porto with a check from the service unit. The funds will be used to create an ax-throwing range at Camp Apasus. Many thanks to Christine who also led an archery activity for Board members during the social hour!

Camille Birdsong

Christine Janison, outdoor facilitator from Service Unit 375 (green polo) leads board members in archery

Sarah Sass and parents

Troop 93

GSCCC Board Chair Marisa Porto, Christine Janison, and GSCCC CEO Tracy Keller

Veronica Armstrong Awarded with 2022 Maylea Brockington Beasley Love and Laughter Scholarship

 “On my honor I will try to serve God, my country and to help people at all times,” was recited by all during the opening of a special ceremony held at A Place for Girls on June 11. Family and friends gathered to celebrate Gold Award Girl Scout Veronica Armstrong’s achievements with a pinning by Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast CEO Tracy Keller and a Gold Award charge reading by Gold Award Committee member Linda Linke. Included in the program, unbeknownst by Veronica, the Maylea Brockington Beasley Love and Laughter Scholarship was presented during the ceremony.

 

This was the second year the scholarship was awarded. Last year, the Maylea Brockington Beasley Love and Laughter Scholarship was presented to Girl Scout Ambassador Becca Rose in a private moment at her home. With much emotion, Shari Beasley, Maylea's mom, presented a scholarship certificate and congratulated Veronica, saying her Gold Award project had impressed her and was inspiring. The scholarship was created in 2021 in memory of Gold Award Girl Scout Maylea Beasley who lost her life on November 14, 2020 when she was a freshman at James Madison University. She was struck by a motorcyclist as she was crossing an intersection.

 

Maylea, who was active in Girl Scouts since joining in second grade, earned her Gold Award in 2018 for a project titled, “Education on Aviation.” She connected children to aviation history through a tour of books, based on grade levels, she organized for the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. Maylea loved all things in Girl Scouting and was known for her kindness.

 

Like Maylea, Veronica spent most of her girl years in Girl Scouting and enjoys the outdoors, traveling and helping in her community. Veronica has earned all of the highest awards in Girl Scouts: the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.  As part of her Gold Award project, “Self Love, Spread Love Curriculum,” she researched the stresses teens face, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. She found that they often lacked the skills and education need to cope in healthy ways. She took action with her project to address the most common causes of low self-esteem by creating a middle-school curriculum and hosted it online. She placed several 45-minute lesson plans for youth to use in a class setting or at home.

 

“I felt through this curriculum, teens could find ways to conquer some of their negative self-talk patterns, address toxic friendships, and change some of the unrealistic goals they set for themselves.”

 

You can find Veronica’s curriculum on the website she developed and hear her talk about her project in a video she created. https://youtu.be/0fqfhq02vIs

Find details on the Maylea Brockington Beasley Love and Laughter Scholarship, a scholarship open to GSCCC Gold Award Girl Scouts, on the Southeastern Virginia Community Foundation website. https://bit.ly/3mGk0IM