Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Gwendolyn Cochran

Today's Gold Girl Scout Spotlight is Gwendolyn Cochran, who empowered middle and high school girls in her community to be more engaged in the fields of math and science.  Congratulations on earning your Gold Award, Gwendolyn! 

The Dripping Springs community lacked a strong foundation of young women interested in the sciences. There was an absence of female members of the Robotics Club, the Physics Club, and active member’s math and science UIL events.

I targeted this problem in a two part project, first by implementing the Women in Math and Science clubs at the Dripping Springs High School. And secondly, by organizing and leading a symposium to rally young women together and engender them to be more active in the science communities at the middle and high school levels. With this project I engaged young women in my community to be involved in the math and sciences and give them useful contacts and opportunities to get involved in Dripping Springs. 

My club at the school will continue to engender school age girls to be active in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and expand their horizons.  I created a sustainable and beneficial foundation of girls to be inspired and get involved in expanding female influences at school and around our community. 

While the symposium was a one day event, it created a foundation for the group to begin being noticeably active and emphasized the importance of participating in math and science-based extracurricular events occurring locally. The club will be sustained at the high school level by new members taking over as seniors graduate, our teacher sponsor’s continued support, and the affiliation with the longstanding Inventor’s Club on campus. The community now has, and will continue to have, a larger amount of girls empowered to take action in math and the sciences. 

My advice for younger girls would be to first and foremost pick a topic that you feel passionate about, because you will devote a large majority of time and soul into this project. Secondly, never be afraid to ask for help from volunteers and troop members. Chances are if you are passionate about something, so is someone else who would love to get involved. Lastly, keep your head up! This isn’t a project to get just for the prestige of saying you earned it, it is a chance to inspire change. When you face a great challenge, which you undoubtably will, do not give up. Look for a different perspective, because from a different angle a mountain might seem like a molehill.

Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Hannah Buffington

Today's Gold Girl Scout Spotlight is Hannah Buffington, who established a letter-writing campaign for elementary school children to send notes to soldiers stateside. Congratulations on earning your Gold Award, Hannah! 

At the beginning of my project, I knew I wanted to pick an issue that I really cared about; and something that was going to make an impact on many people. I chose my project because our soldiers are something that are truly close to my heart, and I personally know many people who have fought for our country. Once I had my issue, I started thinking about ways that I could potentially impact our troops. Which is where my project, Letters to Soldiers, originated. 

Many of our troops overseas receive letters and care packages and reminders that we are very appreciative of their service; but what about our troops back home? What about our troops who have been wounded in service? 

So I decided to address this issue directly by writing letters to these soldiers that would hopefully show them that they are appreciated and cared for. But I did not want to just do this alone. I wanted to tell more people about my project and spread my enthusiasm for it to many others as well. 

So I thought, what better way to impact two groups of people than teaching children about our troops and helping them write the letters. This worked out perfectly. I was able to teach the second grade classes at Blackland Prairie Elementary School how to write a friendly letter, and then to put those skills to work by writing letters to the wounded soldiers at Brook Army Medical Center. 

Working with the second grade students was really such a wonderful experience because I got to talk about something that I cared about and watch a group of children start to learn and want to make a difference also. I hope that in my setting an example of how even a teenager can make a difference, these children will grow up and take issues that they care about and also work to make a difference. It doesn't matter how old you are, or how large or small the issue is. Anyone can make a difference; all that’s needed is the motivation and the will to make a change. 

Enjoy Football while Supporting Girl Scouts!

The perfect outdoor summer event for your family is taking place June 30-July 7 in Austin! Girl Scouts of Central Texas is partnering with USA Football to bring the fun game of football to all sports lovin' fans who also enjoy supporting local causes. Buy your Team USA and All-Tournament Passes here and Girl Scouts of Central Texas will receive a portion of the ticket sales, which will fund leadership opportunities for more than 20,000 girls. 

Don't waste your summer inside! Spend it at a USA Football game! For more information on the program, visit the USA Football website. 

Troop 250 Holds Book Drive for Brownwood Girls

Girl Scout Troop 250 will earn their Bronze Award through a service project that benefits girls ages 12-19 at the Ron Jackson State Correctional Facility in Brownwood. The Girl Scouts aim to establish dorm-based libraries for these girls who face challenges such as mental health issues and parental abuse. Troop 250 would like to give them access to literature that is inspirational, motivational and fun. 

Half-Price Books has already generously donated 600 books and the following merchants will donate a percentage of your purchase to the cause. Interested parties purchasing from Book People should ask for the Troop 250 coupon during check out on March 25. For those shopping with Barnes and Noble, use ID number 10702678 when purchasing between March 19-25.

If you would like to donate new or gently used books, you can bring them to the Troop 250 table at the Centennial Capitol Celebration on March 12. The Brownwood girls have an average reading level of 8^th grade. GSCTX and Troop 250 thank you in advance for your support! 

Mission Accomplished!

Troops around Central Texas expressed interest in participating in the Girl Scout Firehouse Challenge this past month after hearing about Oak Hill Service Unit's desire to revive the challenge. Several of you were inspired by their story and decided to show appreciation to your local firefighters by providing delicious meals. Girls also collected donations for those affected by the wildfires. Here are a few submissions we recieved from troops. GSCTX could not be more proud of these awesome ladies. If you did anything in September to support this cause, we would love to hear about it! Submit your stories to us.

Troop 234 paid a visit to their local fire station to personally thank them for their service and pay tribute to the first responders of 9/11.

Troop 311, 396, 1332, 1456, 1504 from Westlake raised more than $4,000 for those affected by the wildfires. All donations were sent to the American Red Cross to aid in the relief efforts.

Troop 788, 833 and 1546 honored Austin firefighters by providing a special meal to them. The girls were even invited to share the great food with them.

Troop 1021 went to the Georgetown fire station on 9/11 to show support and thanks to the firefighters.

Troop 2253 collected hundreds of stuffed animals and books for Bastrop wildfire victims.

5 Easy Ways to Support Girls

When it comes to Girl Scouts and Girl Scout volunteers, there are two truths that almost always hold true:

1. You think girls rock and you care about their success.
2. You are busy!

Sometimes these truths don't necessarily complement. There are only so many hours in the day and you want to use every one of them to their fullest potential. We're all about it. Here are five quick and easy ways you can support girls and Girl Scouting without cramping your very busy lifestyle.

1. Take the Power of Girls pledge. The well-being of girls is not just an issue for girls and their parents; it's an everyone issue. When girls succeed, families are healthier and economies are stronger. Take this pledge to tell the world, you care about the well-being of girls everywhere.
2. Share our Facebook page on your profile. You are on Facebook already so take a quick second and let all your friends know that you love Girl Scouting. You are bound to open a few people's eyes to the many benefits of Girl Scouting and girl leadership.
3. Brag about Girl Scouts. Stop your neighbor, chat at coworker's cube, call your sister and tell them all what fun it is to be a Girl Scout. Tell them about learning to build campfires or helping girls program robots or having slumber parties at the zoo. Bottom line: let them know, Girl Scouts is where it's at.
4. Read Volunteer Essentials. It's your one-stop Girl Scout spot for emergency procedures, girl development, volunteer recognition and more. Make it your bedtime reading or take it on the plane with you. Either way, take a second and explore this amazing resource.
5. Take our survey. Every month we have a new survey on our Web site (this month it's about the shop). By spending just a couple minutes completing it each month, you are helping make Girl Scouts better for you and all your Girl Scout sisters. You can also recommend survey topics by reaching out to the Communications Staff.

Thank you for loving Girl Scouts! We love you right back!

-Cheryl Black

Photo: Amazing committed service team members at the 2009 Service Team Conference.