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.

Upcoming Dates:

• December 7–8
• December 8

Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate the Girl Scout sisterhood with other Seniors and Ambassadors. Attend the day or overnight event and leave with new friendships and strong leadership skills.

• You must be a current, registered member of River Valleys in order to be recognized as an award recipient. Make sure your membership is current; if it isn’t, register now and continue your membership.
• The final report deadline is quickly approaching. Those of you working on your Gold Award must submit your final report to River Valleys no later than September 30 after high school graduation. Those of you working on your Silver Award must submit your final report to River Valleys no later than September 30 after completion of grade 8.

We also invite you to check out this upcoming volunteer opportunity for older girls. This year, Girl Scouts River Valleys will have a booth and a parade float at the Minnesota State Fair August 25–26. The parade will start at 2 p.m. both days. Adult and girl opportunities are available and all volunteers will receive a complimentary ticket into the fair.

Interested in volunteering? Contact Sheila Her for more information at 800-845-0787.

Two Girl Scouts from Hudson, WI, recently marked a major milestone by earning Girl Scouts’ highest achievement, the Girl Scout Gold Award. To earn this award, a girl must dedicate herself to completing a Take Action project that addresses a need in her community and makes a lasting difference. She must fulfill requirements related to leadership, career exploration and community service. Before beginning their Girl Scout Gold Award project, girls must complete prerequisites that allow them to discover new skills, connect with others and take action to address a local or global issue or need, and brainstorm innovative ways to solve these problems. Each girl must take leadership in planning and implementing her project, and work with others in the community to act on her plan.

For her project, “Benches in the Woods,” Sarah focused on creating an area in an underutilized forest that could be used by classes and students. She designed sustainable benches using treated lumber and galvanized hardware, then led a team to build the benches. Her design will be used to create more benches. Girl Scouts, teachers and students are now able to fully enjoy and use the outdoor forest area for educational experiences.

Congratulations on earning your Girl Scout Gold Awards, Sarah and Haley!

This summer we’re featuring randomly selected Bronze, Silver and Gold Award recipients on our blog. Stay tuned for more stories about Girl Scouts who’ve made a difference in their community!

Check out the video Taylor and her team prepared for their Chairman’s Award submission. The video provides details on the team, their robotics work and community outreach—including Stampede Robotic’s partnership with Girl Scouts River Valleys to conduct a STEM-focused workshop for girls and to present a robotics demonstration during the Great Girl Gathering @ MOA®. Taylor also wrote an essay to accompany the video, helping them earn the prestigious regional award.

Taylor and her sister Ryan, who is also a member of Stampede Robotics, have frequently served as spokespeople for Girl Scouts River Valleys, promoting various programs and events. We couldn’t be more proud of the courage, confidence and character exhibited by these dedicated Girl Scouts!

More about FIRST and the Chairman’s Award

FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, NH, the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills.

The Chairman’s Award was created to keep the central focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition on FIRST’s ultimate goal of transforming our culture in ways that will inspire greater respect for science and technology, and to encourage more young people to appreciate the real life rewards and career opportunities in those fields.

The award honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST. It is the most prestigious award presented at regional competitions.

Lizy, Dana, Katie and Brianna worked with the South St. Paul Special School District #6 and the City of South St. Paul to improve an existing community space. The girls recruited volunteers and raised money from many individuals and local businesses to replace benches, resurface the blacktop, update the gardens and paint a mural that reflects community values. They were able to raise $7,800 to cover the costs of the renovation.

The girls represent Troops 50419 and 51677.

The award states: “You have been recognized as a leader who demonstrates outstanding leadership that benefits the community and its citizens, outstanding service that includes working with youth, adults, and families to improve the quality of life.  You also possess leadership qualities including creativity, responsibility, dependability, problem solving, respectfulness, and organizational skills.”

We connect caring for wild animals with Girl Scout badges.

We live on a hobby farm with horses, cows, sheep, goat, chickens, rabbits, cats, and dogs, so we’ve always had an idea of how to care for different animals.  One day a fawn came into our yard, and we called a friend who cared for wild animals and asked him a lot of questions. My mother got a special license to have the animals at our place. Jess and I took training and tests and
got an advanced license so we could help her care for the animals.

We have cared for a lot of different animals — to name a few: beavers, raccoons, fawns, squirrels, turtles, frogs, fox, bear cubs, birds, ducks, eagles. We have been doing this over 13 years and all the food and medical expenses come out of our own pocket. It has been a wonderful experience and a lot of time and hard work.

We have been in Girl Scouts for 12 years and stuck it out through four leaders and a lot of girls. We enjoy working as Youth Event Assistants to help out council members and just help out Girl Scouts.

This is our last year of Girl Scouts; we are bridging to adults this spring. We will miss being Girl Scouts.

-Cora

Troops/girls who participated:

1st Grade Troop 40964
Kira
Ava
Sydney
Jessica
Lindsey
Amelia
Stacia (adult)
Jenny (adult)
Angie (adult)
Lori (adult)
Kelli (adult)
David (adult)

2nd Grade Troop 40288
Brittany
Joy
Jenna
Jadyn
Kaitlyn
Gabby
Hannah
Lydia
Mary (adult)
Marlina (adult)
Beth (adult)
Melinda (adult)
Devin (adult)

3rd Grade Troop 40287
Elizabeth
Kassie
Allison
Sophia
ShyAnne
Teagan
Lisa (adult)
Lisa (adult)
Charla (adult)

Girl Scout Cadette/Senior Troop 40777
Rebecca
Mercedes
Barb (adult)
Shelly (adult)

Rochester Central Lutheran Girl Scout friends
Stephanie
Jessica
Allison