28 June 2009
Western Oklahoma Girl Scouts Turn Up the Heat
Posted by admin under: camps .
I signed up to get some news in my inbox from the Western Oklahoma Girl Scouts council and a regular mailing came through. In there was a plethora of information, but like many others I clicked on the link to the “CEO’s Blog!”. There I read through some of of the older posts and came across one titled “The Role of Camp Properties”. That immediately attracted my attention because I’ve been so disturbed by the new direction taken by the professionals at the GSUSA that seems to place more emphasis on the new emphasis on leadership than on the traditional program of earning badges and going to camp. The article seemed to support my fears.
Our legacy volunteers would like us to keep our camp properties as they remind them of their wonderful youth experiences there. But our legacy volunteers don’t have deep pockets and for many residential camp properties across the country, the difference in what men make and what women make an hour is no more obvious than the physical condition of our camps.
Becoming more nimble, building collaborations, documenting and then sharing our outcome data, these to me seem to be important for us as a movement as we go forward. There are many ways to connect girls to the land. In order to achieve agility as an organization to keep up with the changing needs of girls, we may need to decide that camp properties are not critical to our overall mission and the future for girls, for Girl Scouts.
“Not critical” struck me as “we’re selling our camps”. I guess it must have struck other people the same way, too. A few days ago Cathy Stackpole added a new post to her blog, “Properties, Part Two”. I think others must have read her earlier post the same way for the following response to be written.
The challenge, I think for us as a movement, is to have a dialogue about this that helps us all continue to explore all of our possibilities. As a council, we are just beginning to explore a range of ideas regarding properties and our fiduciary responsibilities to the girls and to the future of the council in general. While I understand that many feel very strongly about the camps that they have a personal memory and connection to, it is important that we keep the dialogue moving in a positive direction, posing constructive questions and supporting the outdoor education program. We all believe in the importance of a viable Girl Scout movement for girls.
The best way is to nurture the movement and address some stark realities. All questions and comments that encourage the spirited dialogue will continued to be welcomed from all corners of the council. I hope that in the future, reasoned responses will prevail and more girls will come to Girl Scouts to experience not only outdoor education, but all the leadership programs available to girls today.
The way I read this is a lot of people sending in calls, letters, and personal visits to say that they’re going to cancel their relationship with Girl Scouts if the implied course of action is to sell all the camp properties and substitute that with partnerships to allow the girls to take “a walk in the woods”.
Personally, I think one only develops a real relationship with our environmentwhen you experience something startling and magical while in the outdoors. It could be an unexpected encounter with a wild animal or a vista unbroken by any view of human development or realizing that you’ve survived a week without civilization and you loved it. You can’t predict when it may happen. You can’t count on it happening during a scheduled two hour walk sandwiched in between robotics and lectures on how to be more assertive. For some it may never happen, but I think those who believe that our fellow Americans will inevitibly love their environment so it is a secondary concern are wrong.
The repetition by the paid employees of the Girl Scouts of the USA in their message that they are not abandoning their support of the traditions of Girl Scouts while at the same time advocating for getting rid of those tools that support the traditions is contradictory. Do you really support outdoor programs if you sell all the camps? Do you really love the wilderness if you sell them so that you can’t protect them any more?
In at least the heart of the country it sounds like volunteers are making a stand against this new trend by the professional organization. Is it the right move? I don’t know, but I haven’t heard anything from the paid staff that sounds as successful as a good, old-fashioned Girl Scout Camp.
- OK GSUSA, Hispanics Eager
- Lack of Outdoor Activity Leads to Other Girl Groups
- Any Questions, Girls?
- Girl Scouts Supports Children of Military Families
- Girl Scouts Los Angeles Resident Camps Terminated
