Eastern Missouri Girl Scouts Illustrate Book to Share Girl Scouting Passion
Girl Scout Week, March 10-16, celebrates the sisterhood of Girl Scouting and commemorates the day the organization started on March 12, 1912. Girl Scouts empowers young girls and enables them to build various skills, including leadership, entrepreneurship, and active citizenship while building courage, confidence, and character. O’Fallon Girl Scout Troop 624 showcased their Girl Scout spirit and commitment to the organization when they wrote a book on Girl Scouting to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award.
Patricia Bratton, Olivia Carleton, Mariah Creighton, Olivia Dalton, Adeline Law, and Ella Rice wrote and illustrated a 17-page book, Layla Learns to Scout, to share the benefits of Girl Scouting with prospective families in a new way. These young changemakers printed 30 copies of their book and attended Girl Scout recruitment events to read their story, play games, and teach the attendees traditional Girl Scout songs. The Girl Scouts also created a sticker for recruitment nights and a patch to give out after girls join. After they completed the project, the girls provided one book to Council and the others to fellow Girl Scouts to use during their recruitment events.
“The feeling of completing the Girl Scout Silver Award and helping others in my community is a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction,” said Law. “Finishing a big project pays off when you see it work throughout your area.”
“I would encourage other girls to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award because it’s not only good for your community, but it’s also good for young girls to notice their community around them, what things can be improved, and to use their problem-solving skills to address the issue,” said Rice.
The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Cadette, girls in 6th-8th grade can achieve. It requires girls to identify a need in their community and dedicate on average more than 50 hours towards addressing and solving the issue. When Girl Scout Cadettes focus on an issue, they care about, learn the facts, take action to make a difference, and they gain the confidence and skills that catapult them to lifelong success.
