Monday, April 30, 2012

Girl Scouts Receive Recognition from Alabama Senate


Senator Cam Ward and GSNCA
Communications & Advocacy Director
Hilary Perry
The Alabama Senator Cam Ward presented the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama (GSNCA) with a proclamation recognizing 100 years of building girls of courage, confidence of character. The proclamation also declares 2012 as the Year of the Girl, and recognizes the Girl Scouts for their work in advocating for girls involvement in science and technology fields. 

"I am honored to recognize this wonderful service organization on their 100th anniversary. Their contributions to our community have truly been an inspiration for millions of Americans and Alabamians," states Senator Ward.

Senator Ward is a member of Honorary Girl Scout Troop 1912. Troop 1912 was established in 2011 as the voice for girls in the legislature.

Girl Scouts Can Make Their Own Badges


Girl Scouts now has a Make Your Own Badge program, in which girls select a skill they want to learn then create the badge for that skill themselves. Girls take part in everything from setting requirements for earning the badges to finalizing designs—truly making it a girl-led program.

The creation of the Make Your Own Badge program started with girls. In focus groups, girls exhibited substantial interest in the Make Your Own Badge concept. Based on that interest, GSUSA developed the program and included it in The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, a result of the organization’s recent overhaul of its badge programs. Badges now come in categories: Legacy (traditional badges), Financial Literacy, Cookie Business, Skill Building and Make Your Own. There are also specialty awards such as My Promise, My Faith, which helps a girl understand and celebrate the commonalities between her faith and the Girl Scout Law.

Girls can still earn popular longtime badges such as Cook, Naturalist and Athlete as part of the Legacy badges—topics as relevant today as they were in 1912—but now they have the Make Your Own Badge, which can be whatever a girl wants it to be.  These badges do have to be approved by the Council.

“We hope the Make Your Own Badge program connects girls with some of the traditions in Girl Scouting,” says Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama CEO Trish Coghlan. “It can also open doors to new experiences such as advocacy, science and technology related badges, or even faith-based badges.”

For more information, visit www.girlscoutsnca.org or www.gsmakeyourown.com.

About Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama
2012 is the Year of the Girl! To get involved, visit our 100th anniversary link at www.girlscoutsnca.org/100. Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama is a United Way community partner and serves 15,300 girls ages 5-17 and 5,000 volunteers across 36 counties. For more information on becoming a member, volunteering or pathway opportunities, call 800-734-4541 or visit www.girlscoutsnca.org.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Laura Earns Gold Award


Laura, a sophomore at Winfield City High School and a member of Troop 40494, recently earned her Girl Scout Gold Award for her project Quilts for Kids. After learning about the need for warm blankets at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, Laura sewed 20 lap quilts and delivered them to the hospital. To raise awareness, Laura spoke to several groups about how they can get involved in similar projects through Children’s of Alabama. Lauren’s parents are Ed and Rachel.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is highest level of Girl Scout achievement. This award recognizes the Senior & Ambassador Girl Scout’s commitment to herself, her community, and her future. The girl who goes for the Gold embraces challenges, achieves excellence, and works diligently to make the world a better place, in her own unique way. Her leadership, vision and boundless energy is an inspiration to all Girl Scouts. Each girl earning her Gold Award demonstrates excellence through a leadership project totaling more than 65 hours. Girls who earn their Gold Award are also recognized by the President of the United States, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Armed Services, state legislatures, colleges and universities for admission and scholarship opportunities, and the American Legion.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Troop 536 Earns Bronze Award

Back: Kana, MacKenzie, Reilly, Jordan, Megann,;
Middle: Kandyn, Isabella, Maia, Diane, Ashley;
Front: Emelia,Annie, Megan, Alex
Recently Troop 536 from Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights School (VHECH) earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award through “Girl Scouts Do A Good Turn,” a project they executed over the holiday season.

The troop expanded upon a project they had done for several years to include other troops from their elementary school. The girls worked closely with the school’s guidance counselor to sort items for families within their community. Items were also collected and sorted for residents at Jessie's Place and members of Troop 536 delivered the items. Emelia and MacKenzie, Alex, Isabella, Reilly, Annie, Megann, Kana and Ashley, Maia, Mary Caitlin, Megan, Diane, Jordan and Kandyn were especially motivated to help the community since their neighborhoods were directly affected by the April 2011 tornadoes.

The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can earn. This award recognizes that a Girl Scout Junior has gained the leadership and planning skills required to follow through with a project that makes a positive difference in her community.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

IMAGINE Girl Scouts Visit Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Thirty girls from Parker, Ramsay and Huffman high schools in the Birmingham area recently visited the Dauphin Island Sea Lab near Mobile, Ala.

During their time on the island, the girls explored the Mobile Bay during a two-hour boat excursion and learned about the biology, ecology and diversity of the bay’s ecosystem. They also participated in a touch lab and squid dissection, and took a tour of the lab’s Estuarium.

This program is part of local initiative, called “IMAGINE Yourself, Alabama,” and is funded through an AT&T Aspire contribution designed to expose young women to a variety of career options in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

To view images of this trip, visit our Dauphin Island web album.

About Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama
2012 is the Year of the Girl! To get involved, visit our 100th anniversary link at girlscoutsnca.org/100. Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama is a United Way community partner and serves 15,300 girls ages 5-17 and 5,000 volunteers across 36 counties. For more information on becoming a member, volunteering or pathway opportunities, call 800-734-4541 or visit girlscoutsnca.org.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Camp Tombigbee to Hold Open House

Camp Tombigbee will hold an Open House on Sunday, April 29 from 2 to 4 PM. Come explore all Camp Tombigbee has to offer including archery! This is a great opportunity to tour the camp, meet the camp staff and see what all the camp can offer your child this summer. Those who may be looking for an affordable location for corporate and civic group rentals and retreats, church picnics, and family reunions may also come and tour the camp’s facilities.

Girl Scout attendees can enter a raffle for free Troop Camping weekend (per troop) OR free Nature Box rental (per troop - up to 10 girls).

Call 205-523-0931 or 800-734-4541 x1412, or email Cortnie Morrow, Camp Tombigbee’s Manager, at cmorrow@girlscoutsnca.org or visit girlscoutsnca.org/tombigbee for more information. Registration for summer programs is online now at girlscoutsnca.org/camps. Camp Tombigbee is located at 6206 Ala. Hwy. 39
Boligee, AL 35443.

About Camp Tombigbee
Camp Tombigbee is located in the old Mt. Hebron community in Greene Country. It offers beautiful wooded sections, open fields and three small ponds on its 97 acres. The campsite has two buildings suitable for sleeping, and a covered pavilion. Many areas are suitable for tent camping and nature/environmental study. The largest pond is suitable for swimming and boating. Rentals by churches, civic groups, family reunions and corporate meetings/retreats are accepted. The camp is owned and operated by the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama.