Girl Scouts Nina, Bushra and Jinia, members of Ellicott City Troop 549, are working on their Girl Scout Silver Award Project to to serve sick children at Howard County General Hospital, the Baltimore Sun reported.
The girls, who have played music together since elementary school, are creating story book recordings for the children to listen to while in the hospital. They’re utilizing their musical talents to record background music and sound effects to bring the stories to life.
Click here to read the full Baltimore Sun article. Good luck with your project, girls!
Bel Air Girl Scouts Place First in Fourth of July Parade
A group of Bel Air Girl Scouts won first place in the marching units category in the Bel Air Fourth of July parade last week. Don’t they look awesome?
GSCM Girl Scouts to Attend Girls’ World Forum in Chicago
Two GSCM Girl Scouts will be traveling to Chicago this weekend for the Girls’ World Forum, the third and final in the series of Young Women’s World Forums, WAGGGS’ international centenary events. At the GWF girls and young women aged 14 to 18 years old will come together from all over the world to discuss and develop action steps to address three of eight UN Millennium Development Goals that were selected by girls for World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS):
- MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
- MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
- MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
It’s expected that 500 participants from 90 countries and 82 Girl Scout councils will be in attendance! You can follow what happens at the GWF by following their blog, Facebook page and Twitter.
GSCM.org is Getting a Makeover!
We’re very excited to tell you that GSCM.org will be getting a whole new look in just one week! The new website will begin the transition process on Thursday, July 12 and will continue throughout the weekend. We may experience website downtime over the weekend and some pages may transition early and appreciate your patience during this period. We are anticipating that the website will be fully operational on Monday, July 16 and we are eagerly anticipating the improvements the new site will bring to everyone’s online GSCM experience.
The first thing you are likely to notice about the new website is the new colors and prominent use of photos throughout the site. The new site was designed to achieve compliance with the new brand requirements set by GSUSA.
Another fantastic feature of the new site is a streamlined navigation system that will help you find the information you need quickly and easily. A new Events Calendar allows you to view our monthly programs and events in a calendar format, as well as upcoming events in a list format.
In addition, the site is integrated with our social media outlets, as well as a new and improved website search mechanism.
Girl Scout staff members are currently previewing the site and undergoing training so they will be prepared to support you and answer your questions throughout the transition period. In addition, training videos will be available to help you with basic tasks on the website, such as finding events and volunteer trainings, registering online, finding forms and so much more.
Again, it is our plan that the website transition will be complete by July 16 barring no “complications.”
As you can imagine this website redesign was a significant undertaking and we could not have done it without the expertise and guidance of GSCM Board Member Wendy Emrich, President, Integrated Design, Inc. She and her team spent countless hours designing and building the new website as her gift to Girl Scouts of Central Maryland and the 100th Anniversary. The new website is truly magnificent and we greatly appreciate all of the time and talent that the Integrated Design Team shared with us. Should you have any website needs, we highly recommend Integrated Design!
We hope that you will love it as much as we do and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland took 7th place in this year’s Great American Can Roundup (GACR) Scout/Council Challenge—a nationwide challenge in which Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts from across the U.S. are invited to participate and vie for top recycling awards. This year 28 troops from 21 states collected aluminum beverage cans between January 15 and April 30 in a competition for prizes, awards and cash.
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland Troop 496, from Halethorpe, collected 209 pounds of cans, for an average of 23.22 pounds per capita. The competition rankings are based on per capita, using the number of participants in each troop verses the number of cans they were able to collect.
According to the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) results, the overall competition collected 28,000 pounds of aluminum cans (961,240 cans).
Congratulations to Troop 496 and all of this year’s winners!
Girl Scouts of the USA and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus host a event in the US Capitol on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leslie E. Kossoff/LK Photos)
From left to right: Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chavez, Girl Scout Marie Sgouros, Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, Girl Scout Helen Sgouros, Girl Scouts of the USA National President Connie Lindsey.
Girl Scouts Helen and Marie had the opportunity of a lifetime last month when they were invited by Girl Scouts of the USA to attend a briefing of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. At the briefing, they had the chance to present their Girl Scout Gold Award projects to members of Congress, congressional staff, and GSUSA CEO Anna Maria Chavez, National President Connie Lindsey, and GSUSA board members.
The girl’s projects focus on helping Burmese Chin refugee children learn American culture and customs to ease their transition into their new environment. Helen and Marie are implementing their projects later this summer at a four-week day camp with the help of volunteers they recruited.
Marie’s project, entitled Bridging Cultures, “helps the children learn about American traditions, customs and culture so they can understand some things we take for granted,” she said.
Marie gave the example of raising your hand in class as an American custom that is foreign to the children. “One child that we had talked with before told us that he was in class and he really had to go to the bathroom, but he didn’t know that he had to raise his hand to ask permission. Raising your hand in class is something simple that we as American kids never think twice about, but that kids who aren’t from here may not understand,” she said.
Helen’s project, “English Kids 2 Kids” focuses on teaching the children English in fun and creative ways to improve their reading, writing, and speaking. She said kids work in groups where they play games and read together. “The participants in our camp seem to like learning in a peer-to-peer setting, from kids their age rather than adults always being the ones to teach them,” she said.
The girls said they loved the opportunity to share their projects with an important group of people. The girls admitted they were nervous but it must not have shown.
“The attendees said they thought we would be nervous but they said we were awesome. Connie Lindsey, GS USA’s National President, said we were rock stars!” Helen said.
“It was really fun, and we were really excited to speak. Connie Lindsey told us that we showed all the qualities should show that we had all of the qualities a Girl Scout should show—flexibility, time management, confidence and courage” Marie added.
Marie said one of her favorite moments during the presentation was when she and her sister were presenting her projects and said they taught some of the kids Girl Scout songs. “I started singing one of the songs and the Girl Scout CEO and the alumni, even the Congresswomen, started singing them with me,” she said. “The whole thing was a privilege. Kids our age usually don’t get to do things like this and I’m really happy we had the opportunity.
You can read more about Helen and Marie’s projects and experience on Capitol Hill in the summer issue of the Promise, coming soon.
The Orioles pulled off the win over the Nationals, on Sunday, with 8,000 Girl Scouts cheering them on! We celebrated our 100th Anniversary Baltimore style, as Camden Yards was filled with Orioles orange and Girl Scout green, with many Girl Scouts-young and old-sporting their uniforms proudly.
The day started off with 1,000 Girl Scouts in a first time ever Girl Scout Parade on the field…it was a sight to see and the opportunity of a lifetime for all who participated! The parade was followed by the presentation of the flag by local Girl Scouts and the Girl Scout Chorus leading the stadium in singing the National Anthem. Girls were so excited to be able to go on the field; the look on their faces as they saw all the fans in the stands and as the Oriole bird-clad in a Girl Scout sash-gave them high fives, was priceless.
During the game, girls enjoyed green cotton candy, face painting, a flash mob, and trading SWAPS in the stands with other Girl Scouts between innings. All Girl Scouts received the one and only Grand Slam patch,* designed by local Girl Scout Jessica Miles, to add to their already decked out uniforms, and for several new Girl Scouts, it was their first patch! 
Many attended with their families, troops, and Girl Scout friends and spent the summer afternoon watching the game.
GSCM’s Grand Slam Event was the perfect tribute to Girl Scouts’ past 100 years and a fabulous way to kick-off the next 100! Special thanks to GSCM Board Members and Grand Slam Event Co-Chairs, Wendy Emrich and Judy McGovern and the 100 Anniversary Committee for all their efforts to make this once-in-a-lifetime celebration one that won’t soon be forgotten. Our hats are off to you!
Watch the video to see a recap of the celebration and check out photos on Flickr. Have photos and videos you want to share? Send them to communications@gscm.org.
The Grand Slam Celebration was surely a hit for the record books; all of the fans in attendance enjoyed the Girl Scout fun, as well as the Orioles win!
One last shout out to all of our Anniversary Sponsors and a big Thank You to all who participated and made this event a great 100th Anniversary celebration!
*If you attended the game but did not receive your patch, please contact Emma Williams, ewilliams@gscm.org or call 410.358.9711, ext 244. Please provide your name, phone number and address.
