Brownies, register for our Fair Play Badge Day with SMUMN Women’s Basketball, and Juniors, register for Practice with Purpose Badge Day with SMUMN Women’s Basketball.

• When: Sunday, April 21, 1–4 pm
• Cost: $8

As Miss Teen Dakota County, Pieper’s platform focuses on the importance of healthy nutrition and exercise for kids. As a member of the basketball and softball teams, Pieper has learned first-hand the significance and positive results of exercise for kids.

Regarding nutrition, both proper eating and having enough food to eat are important issues among children. Pieper and her Girl Scout troop have taken many trips to their local Feed My Starving Children location to help hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children.

“Feed My Starving Children is an interesting experience because you get to learn about how the nutritious food you’re packing will help these children,” explains Pieper. “My troop gets really into it, and we make a friendly competition to see who can pack the most food the quickest.”

Another tradition Pieper enjoys about Girl Scouts is attending camp. Pieper has spent her summers serving as a role model and leader for younger girls at Girl Scout camps. She is already looking forward to this summer when she will return to camp.

When not busy with Girl Scouts activities, Pieper will spend time this year as Miss Teen Dakota County, making appearances, giving special presentations and assisting with civic and non-profit oriented projects.

In addition to Girl Scouts, Olivia is involved in an organization called Partnership for Change, which focuses on the prevention of chemical use. Incidentally, her leader at Partnership for Change recently formed a new Girl Scout Daisy troop and asked Olivia to help lead it. When she was asked to help lead the troop, Olivia couldn’t have been more excited to work with the young girls and share her own Girl Scout experiences.

“She knew I was really involved in Girl Scouts because in the past I brought cookies to our meetings to sell,” explained Olivia. “She asked me if I would help lead her troop, and of course I said yes!”

Olivia wears her vest to the meetings and the girls are in awe over the number of badges and patches she has. She explains to them what they mean and the fun things she has done to earn them. “When they see me at their meetings and I share all the cool things I have done, I hope it encourages them to stay in Girl Scouts longer,” says Olivia.

Another skill Olivia hopes these girls are learning is the confidence that comes from participating in the Cookie Program Activity. When she was younger, Olivia says that she was very shy and got nervous talking to people. After going door-to-door and selling cookies, she has learned how to interact with people and now feels like she can talk to anyone. Her Girl Scout Daisy troop is now participating in the Cookie Program Activity this year and is having a lot of success.

After the cookie season, Olivia wants to focus on her Girl Scout Gold Award. She has yet to settle on a project, but she will no doubt earn her award and have another experience to inspire her Daisy troop.

Since Toys for Tots doesn’t reach as far north as their community, they created an initiative called Movie Mania Toy Drive, which is held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The local movie theater holds a private viewing of three movies with an admission fee of a toy donation. The toys are then given to the girls’ classmates.

The drive this year was extra special for the girls, because they planned everything on their own. They made arrangements with the movie theater, promoted the event to their local service unit and managed donations the night of the showing.

At the end of the night, the donation boxes were overflowing with more than 75 donated toys. Over the last five years, the girls have collected 500 items for boys and girls of Chisago County.

Nine Girl Scout Seniors traveled with six adult chaperons over 2,000 miles from Buffalo, MN to spend a week in San Francisco. The troop has gone on two other major trips together; however, this was the first time that they did the majority of planning.

They covered a lot of ground on their trip, visiting Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Fisherman’s Wharf and the huge redwood trees in the Muir Woods. The girls also experienced a ride on a cable car, since no trip to San Francisco would be complete without one.

While in San Francisco, the troop also met with the president of Mutual Funds at Wells Fargo and other young women on the staff. They found it very inspiring to hear how these women achieved success.

It was a great week in San Francisco for Troop 10406, and it was another reminder of all the places Girl Scouts can take them.

Every Tuesday afternoon, anywhere from 15–30 girls gather for a Girl Scout troop meeting led by troop leaders Choua and Barbra. A ConnectZ Girl Scout troop, the girls meet in school at rotating time periods each week.

The Roseville High School Hmong Women’s Circle is similar to any other Girl Scout troop. They hold weekly meetings, participate in money-earning activities and have experiences geared toward high-school-aged girls. Throughout the year, they explore different topics such as healthy relationships and body image.

“I really enjoy Hmong Women’s Circle because we are a big girl group, and we can talk things out relating to our lives and culture and then solve them together; it really helps us bond,” explained Jojo, who has been a Girl Scout for two years.

One of the most valued aspects of every troop meeting is the opportunity to openly discuss age-appropriate topics. “We talk about a lot of stuff I didn’t learn about growing up,” says troop member Julie. “Choua is a reliable resource that we all look up to and can turn to for advice.”

The girls also explore college and career resources such as financial aid information, college tours and job shadow opportunities like one they recently participated in at 3M.

The year is just getting underway for this troop, but their lively meetings are already packed with discovering, connecting and taking action.

Bridging ceremonies are special events that signify a girl’s transition from one Girl Scout level to the next. In Zimmerman, MN this year, a bridging ceremony had special significance for Troop 13529 as they demonstrated leadership and the value of Girl Scout sisterhood. It all started with a little problem—how to get Cheradin’s wheelchair across a bridge that was too small.

Cheradin was using a wheelchair because she had surgery on both of her legs in March to fix tibia bones that did not straighten correctly after her birth. Cheradin is an incredibly active girl who plays hockey, was top cookie seller in her service unit this year, and has been top cookie seller in her troop since kindergarten. Her troop mates and troop leaders, Renee Leonard and Cassie Gallay, hatched a secret plan to get her across the bridge in true Girl Scout sister form.

The wheelchair was measured and it became obvious that it was too wide to wheel across the bridge. “We were trying to think of ways to get her across, like Renee would carry her, or I would get up and carry her, or my husband would carry her. And the girls of course said ‘No, we’ll carry her,’ ” Dee Ralph (Cheradin’s mom) laughed.

At rehearsal, Cheradin and her mom were surprised and touched to find out that Renee’s husband built a brand new bridge wide enough for the wheelchair to cross. The troop also decided that Cheradin would be the color guard so she would not be left out. But this was just part of the troop’s secret plan. More details would be revealed later at the ceremony.

The night of the ceremony, Renee told Cheradin that she would be last in her troop to cross the bridge. All of the girls in the service unit lined up, ready to take their turn and walk across. When it was time for Cheradin’s troop to cross, they all walked across one by one. Then the troop leader made an announcement, explaining that the troop never leaves anyone behind. And with that, every one of the girls in Cheradin’s troop walked back, stood behind her and pushed her up over the incline of the bridge.

Dee described her daughter’s reaction, “She was so excited and then she got all teary-eyed. It was very sweet.”

The ceremony marked the girls’ transition from Girl Scout Brownies to Girl Scout Juniors. It also demonstrated their courage, character and understanding of the true spirit of Girl Scouting. They took action to help and support a sister Girl Scout. “Isn’t that the epitomy of what we are teaching these girls to be?” Dee pointed out, “To care for each other?”

During October and November, River Valleys will host several regional sign-up fairs where families can learn more about Girl Scouts and join as members. Girls who join at these regional events will be connected to Girl Scouts in their hometown communities.

Sign-up fairs will be held in Albert Lea, Chanhassen, Savage, Forest Lake, Woodbury, Otsego, Fridley, Rochester, St. Paul and Minneapolis. No need to register. Just pick a fair and show up!

Michelle traveled to Kenya with Girl Scouts from all over the United States through the Girl Scout destinations program, part of the Travel Pathway. Girl Scout destinations are travel experiences that range from two days to three weeks for Girl Scout Cadettes and older. Through destinations, Girl Scouts discover new places, gain confidence, develop leadership skills and connect with other remarkable girls.

During her trip to Kenya, Michelle and 12 other Girl Scouts connected with Girl Guides in Nairobi, interacted with kids at a Kenyan school and visited Kenyan villages. They sang and danced with people from the Maasai tribe, visited Maasai women who showed them how to make beaded jewelry, and spotted lions, zebras, water buffalo and other animals in the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve.

There is energy and enthusiasm in Michelle’s voice when she talks about Kenya. “I enjoyed myself so much,” she stated, “and the culture was so amazing. I want to go back. I don’t even know how to explain it—how it changed me. I was just very touched.”

After returning from Kenya, Michelle took action by exhibiting a poster display about Kenya at her local county fair. And this fall, she will deliver a presentation about her trip to a group of Cadettes at her local service unit. She lets people know what she did on her trip and then, if they’re interested, tells them about ways they can connect and make a difference.

Right now, Michelle is preparing to start college this fall, where she plans to study agronomy and agriculture. She said the destinations experience has given her the opportunity to travel even more and she is looking at ways to study abroad.

Ready to plan your trip to a far corner of the world? Visit travel to get started.

To raise money, they’ve organized garage sales, held fundraisers at Dairy Queen, sold raffle tickets, set out collection bins at local gas stations, and sold luminarias (white paper bags with candles inside that are illuminated at the Relay For Life event). Last year, the troop raised $3,500 for the American Cancer Society, and they are raising even more money this year.

In March, a second girl in their class was diagnosed with cancer, so they have broadened their goals. Now they are raising money and fighting for Emma, Megan and every kid who has cancer. Troop leader Kari Berg explained, “Originally, we started this for Emma, but the thought is to give every kid another birthday, every kid the hope that they can survive this.”

At the Relay For Life event in early August, the troop camped out at Forest Lake High School and members took turns walking around the high school track in honor of Emma. Luminaria bags were placed around the track in honor of and in memory of people touched by cancer. Nineteen of the bags were created by the girls in Emma’s Troop.

Raising money and participating in Relay for Life gives the Girl Scout Junior troop hope, and it lets them know that they can do something to help. By raising money to fight cancer, they are taking action and turning some very grown-up experiences into a positive force. Thank you for sharing your powerful story with us, Troop #53737!

If you’d like more information about Emma’s Troop, you may contact troop leader Kari Berg.