A Reluctant Girl Scout Leader

6 years ago, I became a reluctant Girl Scout Leader.  It's been quite a ride.  I've been the unconventional Girl Scout leader.  I've also managed to keep 5 of the 7 girls I began with.  That's actually pretty phenomenal, considering that the girls are teenagers and it's not "cool' to be a Girl Scout.

All of the girls earned their Gold Award.  (Girl Scouting's highest honor).  Each girl did an individual project that tied in with their own individual passions.  Each project required over 80 leadership hours.

Girl Scout Gold Award

Over the weekend, we had our very last meeting.  It was a bittersweet meeting.

We sat and reminisced about all the crazy stuff they'd done over the years.  From the adults getting lost in the corn maze to the day we accidentally called the White House Public Relations Office, to the tour of the State House, laughs rolled on for hours.


They are graduating this year, and they are all headed on to college. All of them have received scholarships of some kind or another.  Each one of them has learned through the years we've been together that once you decide where you want to go, you sit down, make a plan, telling you how you're going to get there, and then follow that plan with stubborn determination, making changes as you find out more about your goal.

I gave them two things to take with them.

Scrapbooks, ready to go!

I made a scrapbook for each one of them.  I struggled through most of last year, trying to get those albums done.  I took the pictures from all the way back when the troop was first formed and they were such little girls.

Our Silver Award Project was making blankets for Project Linus.  So, for each of them, I made a blanket to take with them to college.  They're not big blankets.  They're just enough  to put on your lap, or wrap around you on a cold day and help keep you warm.

Box 'O Blankets

I'm very glad our journey is finished.  It was a wild ride, and I enjoyed almost every single minute of it!

I sincerely hope that if you ever have the opportunity to become a Girl Scout leader, you jump on that opportunity and make the most of it!  It can be frustrating, but the rewards are oh, so amazing.

The opportunity to help young girls define who they are and achieve their goals?

Priceless.

You can read an older post about my musing over Girl Scouts here:
http://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2013/09/girl-scouts.html