Today’s Girl Scouts want to be known for more than just cookies. The organization encourages the modern Girl Scout to become Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers and Leaders. G.I.R.L.s in other words — or initials.
Descendants of the troop created in 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, by the original G.I.R.L. Juliette Gordon ‘Daisy’ Low now number 1.7 million Scouts in troops in more than 92 countries. More than half of female entrepreneurs and business owners are grown-up Girl Scouts.
Julie Lenzer, chief innovation officer at the University of Maryland College Park’s Division of Research, was part of a Dallas troop and worked her way up to the rank of Cadette in eighth grade. “My mom was our troop leader for a long time,” says Lenzer, who says she loved her scouting days. “But I think it was camp that was the most instrumental for me.”
Camp Rocky Point on Lake Texoma was, Lenzer says, “the first time I was away from home and learning to be independent. Camp did a lot toward building my confidence in different areas. I did things I would not have ever done without camp, like canoeing. So it also instilled in me a sense of adventure. After camp I was less afraid of daddy-long-legs.”
As a member of the executive board for the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Lenzer sees innovation at work within the Girl Scout ranks.
“I just love what Girl Scouts stand for,” she says. “The goal to bring more STEM opportunities to young girls is important to me as the mother of two daughters. Plus, the whole idea of introducing technology and engineering is so important when a girl is trying to figure out who she wants to be. If you don’t see female role models, it’s hard to imagine yourself in those positions in the future.”
Kim Becker Cooper echoes that sentiment. Now the director of annual giving and alumnae coordinator for Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Cooper was once a young scout in a Parkville, Maryland, troop.
“I think being in a girl-only space in my formative years of middle school was so important. My troop did a lot of outdoor and high adventure activities like whitewater rafting and camping. Those are things I would not have experienced had it not been for Girl Scouts.”
Cooper says the all-girl environment is also a benefit. “I went to an all-girls high school. I think the Girl Scouts’ emphasis on an all-female environment improves education and social bonding. It allows them to experience a whole host of things that they may be interested in but would only try within a girl-only setting.”
Girl Scouts today spend more time outdoors, exploring science and building female friendships, she adds. “We are preparing these girls for success now, not just in the future. We want to give them the courage, the confidence to change the world, the opportunity to build life skills, learn entrepreneurship, be civically engaged and learn about serving their communities.”
Girl Scouts taught Ellen Moyer a lesson in civics and community service. Scouting helped bring the former mayor to Annapolis to work as a district coordinator from 1958 until 1962 for the Anne Arundel County Council of Girl Scouts. She had previously worked as a counselor at Camp Woodlands in 1954 when the iconic Teepee Lamb’s Lodge opened.
“For a few years, I was a professional Girl Scout,” says Moyer. “I helped train leaders and learned quite a lot from my time with the council.”
Moyer credits the patrol system in helping her be successful. “It was this extraordinarily participatory process, where teams of people have to learn to work together to develop a consensus and create cooperative relationships. It was some of the best training I have ever had.”
The Girl Scout promise has also stuck with Moyer.
On my honor, I will try: to serve God and my country, to help other people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.
“Those words, learned early, are still very meaningful,” she says.
While things have certainly changed about Girl Scouts, the mission remains: to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
This month, local companies, alumnae, parents and friends are being challenged by the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland to take them on in a unique event.
The Give S’more challenge August 10 at Camp Whippoorwill in Pasadena pits teams of the top cookie sellers against one another in a relay race that includes canoeing, archery and s’more making.
“Girl Scouts are credited with coming up with s’mores,” Cooper says. “So we wanted to observe National S’more Day to say thanks and raise funds to help more girls explore the outdoors and discover more opportunities.”
“We fully expect to get our butts kicked,” says Lenzer, who will compete on a team of alumnae. “But just because you are old, doesn’t mean you can’t make a good s’more.”
Learn more about the Give S’more Challenge: https://donate.gscm.org/event/give-smore-challenge-2019/e234659
