"Girl Scouting is a Part of Me" by Lisa Deweese

Throughout the month of November, we've been urging everyone who volunteers with GSCTX to Invite a Friend and get them involved with Girl Scouts. There are so many reasons and  girls waiting to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, but they need YOU to guide them. Here is the story of Lisa Deweese, who has seen the benefits of Girl Scouting and volunteering many times over. 

Read about how it has influenced her life positively.Then Invite a Friend to start a troop and embark on the most exciting ride of your lives together!

"Girl Scouting is a part of me.  I have been involved for 45+ years, including 11 as a girl.  My blood may be a bit green.  

Girl Scouting has given me opportunities I probably would have never been offered. It allowed me to take on leadership roles that stretched my comfort zones, both as a girl, as a leader, and also a trainer.  The confidence I developed in Girl Scouting carried over into my professional life, allowing me to tackle bigger projects and positions.

Volunteering as an adult allowed me to make many contacts in the community which I normally would not have made.  It allowed me to get involved in the various communities I lived in as I moved throughout my career.   I started out to "help pay back" the time given to me by the leaders I had growing up.  Once I got involved as an adult, it kept me excited about the future.  Since I didn't have children, it allowed a path for me to still be involved with girls and their schools as well.

Early in my career, volunteering with Girl Scouts was considered good community involvement.  It probably played a role in promotions throughout my career, and put me in position to assume other roles, such as being the local Campaign Coordinator for my agencies involvement in the United Way  and service with the Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW.  I always said that Girl Scouting showed me how to be "flexible and adaptable" and that there was always more than one way to complete a project or tackle a challenge." 

- Lisa Deweese

Central Bell Service Unit

#TroopTuesday - Pirates Day and Corpus Christi

Wildflower Trail Service Unit participated in Pirate Day. According to the girls, it "was AWESOME!!"  The girls all had a blast. They were featured in the paper.

There's a very good chance the girls will do this event again in the future. ARRRRGGHH, Matey!

Thirteen fifth grade Juniors in Troop 211 went to a carefully planned weekend at and near Corpus.  What did they do?  They learned how to make sand castles from a professional sand sculptor, rode horses on the beach, watched 81 baby sea turtles be released into the wild, took a dolphin boat and learned a ton about the animals native to the Gulf Coast, we learned to surf (all 13 girls were riding the waves!), and visited the Texas State Aquarium.

All 13 girls tried something they had never done and conquered some fears in the process!  What a weekend, the Girl Scout Way!

Glad you had such a great time, girls!!

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Girl Power: Troop 4136

We are always overjoyed to hear about the girls that make up our council. They are what keeps us going! Today, we feature Girl Scout Troop 4136--girls who have known each other for years and will be lifelong friends, one of the many treasures that come with being a Girl Scout.

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"A troop that starts together stays together," is a motto that troop 4136 can actually say they have lived and breathed. The Stephenville troop started in Kindergarten with members Avery M. and Shelby S. Brittney C., Kelsey S., and Elizabeth A. would join the troop in the following years. All of the Girls have earned their Bronze and Silver Awards and are in hot pursuit of their Gold Award.

            

    Each Girl in the troop is also extremely involved in high school and other activities outside of school. Avery is a member of the Stephenville High School Stingerettes Drill Team, as well as being a member of the varsity choir. Shelby, also a member of the Stingerettes Drill Team, competes competitively with the Stephenville Stingray swim team.  Brittney, a member of the Stingerettes Drill Team as well,  is the reigning Cowboy Capital of the World Teen Pro Rodeo Queen. Elizabeth, the final member of the troop involved with the Stingerettes Drill Team, is currently ranked #1 in her sophomore class at Stephenville High School. Kelsey plays trumpet in the Stephenville High School Yellowjacket Marching Band and has performed in the halftime show at the Sugar Bowl.

This amazing troop is living proof of how accomplished and driven our girls are. They really can do anything and still take care of Girl Scout business! We can't wait to see where these girls will go in the future

Backpack Buddies is Gearing Up for Annual Drive

This happens to all troop leaders at some point: you're without a service project and you're fresh out of idea. Jen Neve was trying to find a service project for her then Girl Scouts to do during the holiday season. She had the idea to contact a foster care program for children to see if there was anything her girls could do for the children. The program told her the children often arrive with their few belongings in a trash bag and nothing more. They only asked for donations of backpacks.Jen was so overcome by their need she started to organize other troops to participate in the donation. Jen did not know at the time, but she was creating something much bigger than a one time service project: Backpack Buddies.

12 years later Backpack Buddies has continued to grow and is now serving homeless children and families in the Austin and Round Rock area. Jen gets names, ages and gender of the children from the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) in order to guarantee every child gets a new backpack. Jen asks that individuals/troops fill backpacks with age appropriate goodies for the children and that they do not spend more than $50 on the backpack.

Toward the end of October  Jen will start to match up the troops with the children and will send out the child’s “About Me” information. The backpacks will need to be returned to her before December 8 so you have a whole month to get cracking! If you are interested in participating or want more information on how you can help contact Jen Neve at Jen_Neve@sbcglobal.net .

Girl Scouts Brave Stormy Weather for "Outing for Scouting" Recruitmen

Rain or shine, Girl Scouts are there! This past Sunday Girl Scouts of Central Texas (GSCTX) held the “Outing for Scouting” event at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Bishop Vásquez was in attendance and highlighted the importance of how Girl Scout can benefit the girls and their families now and in the long run

After the service the girls from the troop church braved  the weather and demonstrated just what Girl Scouts can do. The variety of booths ranged from how to play the harp to swaps and finally to camping. Each booth showed that Girl Scouts are about more than cookies.

The “Outing for Scouting” badge was earned by going around to each booth and getting the latest information on scouting.Current Girl Scouts  got to add it to your collection and girls who weren't in Girl Scouts got to start their own. The main goal the event was to encourage girls to join Girl Scouts and to increase the number of adult volunteers and staff at the Sacred Heart Church by interacting directly with the girls and the Church congregation members

Emily Magnotta, the event coordinator, was extremely happy with the  and she know  people left knowing that Girl Scouts welcome diverse interests and backgrounds and can play a key role in the lives of girls and women alike.

GSCTX would like to give a huge thanks to all of our volunteers and collaborators who made “Outing for Scouting”  a big success!

Girl Scout Fall Product sale: Nuts, Candy and Magazines, oh my!

It’s that time of year again! There's a chill in the air, we're no longer in the sweltering 100's and The Fall Product sales have started! We know you are so excited to see what we have in store this 2013. 

Along with our nuts and chocolates, Girl Scouts will be offering magazine subscriptions via our new online website. It will make it much easier for girls to contact you and for you to support a Girl Scout and her troop.

Each troop gets 35% of all nut and chocolate sales and $2 of every magazine sale. All proceeds earned from the Fall Product sale will go directly back to the troops to fund the upcoming year’s activities and adventures.

By participating in the Fall Product sale you are helping the girls learn valuable lessons like responsibility and accountability.

Nuts and chocolate sales run from Oct.1-Oct.12.

Magazine sales run from Oct.1-Oct.31.

The sale doesn’t last long so don’t miss out on your chance and support a Girl Scout today!