Chalk it up to Girl Scouts Sidewalk Art Contest

Let your inner artist shine and help get the message out about Girl Scouts with the Chalk it up to Girl Scouts contest! 

Throughout June – the Great Outdoors Month – we’re asking Girl Scouts to get outside and use sidewalk chalk to create awesome art. To help spread the word that Girl Scouts is the best organization for girls, we want you to add our website and include "Be a Girl Scout" somewhere in your creation! 

What a fun way to lead more girls and volunteers to Girl Scouts! For a full list of contest entry guidelines, see below. The photo with the most likes and shares wins!

Contest Rules:

• Contest runs June 1 – June 30
• Photo must be posted to Facebook using the hashtag #chalkitup2girlscouts
• Art must include gsccc.org and "Be a Girl Scout"
• All girls in the photo must have a signed photo permission form (click here to download the form)
• Two winners will be announced July 3, 2018 on our Facebook page
• Eligibility: current registered member
• One entry per person
• Troop entries are encouraged; only one entry from each troop will be accepted
• Prizes:
• First place- $50 Walmart Gift Card
• Second place- 6ft Troop Banner

Check out the Outback!

It’s finally warm outside, which means it’s almost camp season!

As you are preparing for your outdoor adventures this summer, consider visiting the Outback at A Place for Girls in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The Outback, an 8.5-acre natural area behind A Place for Girls, is part of the South Chesapeake Loop of the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail. Visitors may encounter birds ranging from nuthatches and warblers to stealthy great blue herons hunting in the shallows of Bell Mill Creek that runs through the property. In the summer, look for warblers, flycatchers and other woodland birds.

Boardwalks over the creek's brackish waters provide views of estuarine species such as killifish, fiddler and blue crabs. The elevated platform overlooking the creek is an excellent place to scan for large wading birds and provides eye-level views of the ospreys that nest nearby. The trail continues to meander past a canoe launch, picnic areas and a fitness trail.

Did you know the Outback is an official designated Lou Henry Hoover Memorial Sanctuary? It’s named after one of our country’s past first Ladies who was also a Girl Scout and outdoor enthusiast!

There are tons of patch activities girls and their families can do while visiting the outback. Walk nature trails, meander on the boardwalk to view birds and surrounding, climb the observation tower and more.

There are four picnic pavilions as well!

There’s also a Health and Fitness Trail patch you can earn while in the Outback! Challenge yourself on our fitness trail while enjoying the outdoors. You can find requirements for both patches on our website’s Patch Programs Page.

Be sure to check out our day camp options available for girls this summer at Camp Outback! Click here to register.

Hammock camping with Girl Scouts

If you’re wondering what it’s like to camp in a hammock, just ask one of the several girls who tried it last month at Newport News City Park Campground.

The trip, just one of several put on by The Wild Things, allowed most of the girls to go hammock camping for the first time. They also held a cook off that took the camp ranger by surprise!

Why hammock camping? Well, not only is it tons of fun, by hammocks take away a lot of the challenging parts of camp. You don’t take up a lot of space, affect the ground or need a large plot of land. Just pick a spot that has some trees, make sure you have sturdy straps to tie your hammock to the tree and you’re good to go!

“All I can say is try it,” Bonnie Taylor, creator of The Wild Things, expressed.

It was such as success that Bonnie received nothing but positive feedback. Many of the hammock campers said they would do it again on their backpacking adventure!

Try out camping in a hammock this summer at our Camp Darden location! They are nap-tested and girl-approved. Share your experience with us and you may be featured on this blog!

Strong Girls Visit EVMS

Girl Scouts learned first-hand what it takes to work in the medical field from professionals and got to apply their knowledge of STEM during some engaging activities on Saturday, May 5 at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Teen Girl Scouts took part in small group simulations. Girls used computers to test their skills at virtual laparoscopy, a surgical procedure that requires both patience and a steady hand. They also got a hands-on tutorial on how to do an ultrasound and learn how to react in emergency situations.

Sasha Edwards, a senior simulation specialist at EVMS and former Girl Scout, taught the girls CPR techniques and how to respond in emergency situations.

“Saturday was amazing! I love seeing the girls engaged and working together on CPR mock code,” Sasha explained. “We didn’t have this kind of technology when I was a Girl Scout back in the early-mid-eighties.”

As Girl Scouts, girls are exposed to activities in the STEM field which allows them to see that they too can have a future in that career field. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, 77% of girls say that because of Girl Scouts, they are considering a career in technology. Girls in STEM are interested in many careers, chiefly among them being careers in the medical/health care field.

Girls attribute their increased interest in STEM activities, classes, and careers to the STEM programs they engage in through Girl Scouts, and say that these programs have made more of an impact than other programs in which they have been involved.

“The STEM field is evolving, but is still very male dominated (only about 29% of women are involved in the science and engineering workforce). Exposing young women to careers in the STEM fields hopefully gets them more interested, and will allow them to think outside the box of traditional women’s careers,” Sasha said.

Emilee Bohle and Ashleigh Mann, Girl Scout Cadettes, both agreed that their time at EVMS on Saturday made them want to learn more about careers in the medical field. The girls were intrigued by the resources available to them at EVMS.

Younger Girl Scouts were also able to learn about health and wellness with special events catered to them throughout the morning and early afternoon. The girls participated in stations facilitated by Love Ur Healthy.

The girls worked on their Strong Girls Patch while completing a relay obstacle, playing fitness Tic Tac Toe and learning more about healthy snacks, drinks and activities.

Thank you to EVMS, Love Ur Healthy and the instructors who volunteered their time to teach Girl Scouts more about STEM on Saturday.

Virginia Beach Girl Scout Ambassador Haley has earned her Gold Award

Haley Brown has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. Haley is a senior at Frank W. Cox High School.

Her project “Pallets for the Pantry,” allowed Haley to impact her community and draw attention to people in need of food all while reusing her resources wisely! Haley saw a need within her church to raise money and awareness for the food pantry and went straight to work.

She created works of art with the wooden pallets her church’s food pantry had lying around. The pallets, which would have been disposed of at the dump, are what the pantry receives food shipments on. She made a scarecrow, snowman, American flag and a towel rack.

Once her work was complete, she gave the art to the food pantry to sell to church members. The money raised went right back to the pantry.

“My project not only shows support for the environment but for those in my community in need of proper nourishment to help them stay alive and healthy,” Haley explained.

Haley was able to save several wooden pallets from ending up in a landfill and adding to the waste produced by society.

With the help of the youth at her church, Haley’s project will be sustained. The group plans to have a work day at least once a year to create similar works of art.

Haley learned valuable life lessons while she worked on her project, including how to manage her time wisely.

Norfolk Girl Scout Ava has earned her Gold Award

Ava Gonzalez has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. Ava is a senior at Granby High School.

For her project “Gardening for History,” Ava chose to create an outdoor garden exhibit for the Hunter House Victorian Museum, a Norfolk home turned museum built in 1894. Ava’s garden brings life to the museum which also features Victorian furnishings and decorative arts belonging to the Hunter family. 

Adding to the theme of the home, Ava decided to include herbs and vegetables that would have been planted in a garden during the 19^th century. She also created signs and cold frames which work to protect the plants during adverse weather conditions.

“Gardening for History” is a free, educational exhibit that introduces green spaces to an area that lacked them beforehand.

“It was my goal to improve upon free educational space outdoors so that families had a quiet space in nature to learn and enjoy in,” Ava said. “By choosing a location open to many pedestrians, I hope the exhibit will foster a love of history, gardening and make a peaceful space accessible to everyone.”

Ava learned several things while working on her Gold Award project, including how to work with a diverse group of people.

Her project will be sustained by the museum with the help of supplemental materials Ava provided before she completed the garden.

Ava will present her garden to the public during an unveiling of her project on April 28 from 2-3 p.m. at Hunter House Victorian Museum.

Check out her Gold Award video here.

Girl Scouts win first place in ROV competition

Six Girl Scout teens took home the first place title at the Mid-Atlantic Regional ROV Underwater Robotics Competition on Saturday, April 21.

The annual event enables students from several states to learn more about STEM and apply that knowledge to create underwater robots. This year, groups were tasked with building a robot that can find the wreckage of an airplane, install equipment to monitor earthquakes and complete a renewable energy project. 

While the competition’s theme and mission changes from year to year, this year’s theme highlighted the role the robots play in the Pacific Northwest since the international competition will take place near Seattle.

“The Unsinkable Girl Scouts” formed their team to function like a company, according to the group’s CEO and Systems Engineer Kaylee Keegan. The team included: CFO Natalia Barber from Troop 643, COO Elizabeth Keegan, Research and Development Engineer Beth Bolyard, Marketing Specialist Alex Dicken from Troop 662 and Safety Manager Madison Smith from Troop 662.

With the help of two mentors, Maeanna Stover and Rick Dyer, the girls assembled their ROV, R.O.S.A. (remote operated submersible apparatus) which was made of PVC pipes and pool noodles.

 Together, the girls overcame several obstacles, including learning how to fix a broken switch on their control box on their vehicle.

“We did run into a few problems very close to the competition,” Kaylee said. “Luckily it was an easy fix and we were able to replace the switch.”

Time, knowledge and travel distance also tested the girls’ ability to work together in order to take home the winning title.

“A lot of other groups participating have clubs at their school, so it is easy for them to work in class or every day after school on their ROV. These students also learn the information needed to participate within their classes. For us, we have members from Chesapeake and Virginia Beach who have some to no background in engineering, and the distance limited us to one or two time every weekend which put us at a disadvantage,” Kaylee explained.

Communication, extensive planning and lessons from their mentors enabled the girls to assemble their robot in enough time to compete.

Judges scored the girls’ vehicle project in several categories: product demonstration, presentation, marketing display, company spec, corporate responsibility and safety.

The girls were up against three other groups in their division, “Scout.” The Unsinkable Girl Scouts’ product demonstration blew the competition out of the water with a score of 95! The team of Girl Scouts also ranked the highest in presentation. In total, the girls gathered 211 points.

Over 160,000 Girl Scouts participate in STEM programs annually. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, by participating in STEM related activities, girls become more positive about the field and want to learn more about STEM careers.

Kaylee said her team felt pretty empowered by winning first place because the competition was largely dominated by males.

Throughout the competition, the girls learned new skills and even expanded their knowledge of STEM. Way to go, G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™!