9 December 2008
Holistic Girl Scouts, Batman!
Posted by admin under: Girl Scout Badges .
Whenever I hear someone use the word “holistic” I automatically think “snake oil salesman” and go on my way, but this article by Rebecca DeLaGloria in the Miami Herald doesn’t sound too bad. Except for that word. When my Junior level Girl Scouts earned their Career Badge we had a bunch of moms talk about their jobs and the girls worked on some other things out of my sight. The troop Rebecca talks about went whole hog, figuratively speaking.
The Girl Scouts leafed through the want ads looking for jobs. Sales rep maybe? Or how about a case manager?
The economy may be tough, but no, the Girl Scouts’ parents were not sending their children off to look for work.
It was all part of an afternoon of exercises Friday to help the girls — who hail from Coconut Grove, Perrine, Doral and Kendall — earn their Careers badges, one of more than 100 badges available to Junior Girl Scouts.
Helping the girls, age 8 to 11, work to achieve their goals was Penny Shaffer, the South Florida market president for BlueCross BlueShield, and a one-time scout herself.
…
”In 1967, the Girl Scouts didn’t have a career badge,” said Shaffer, who noted she’d received badges in cooking, hospitality and community service when she was a Girl Scout in the 1960s.
She said the Girl Scout organization now takes a more holistic approach to reaching a new generation of girls.
Maria Tejera, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida, agreed, but noted that the organization still offers the same fun things that have come to characterize the scouts over the years — from camping to selling Girl Scout cookies.
I’m so happy that all of these, “The Girl Scouts is Changing for the 21st Century!” stories are more often reassuring traditionalists like me that the old ways are not the gone ways. We’ve seen what can happen when they don’t.
- Another Scout Maxes the Merit Badges
- More Hispanic Push in Florida
- Changing Scouts Necessary?
- Something Afoot in Girl Scouts
- Declining Interest in Girl Scouts – By Parents
