This year for Earth Hour on March 26th, Girl Scouts from across Colorado gathered at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver for an evening of environmental action and educational activities.
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Girl Scouts compete in robotics competitions
View more photos in Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Flickr gallery.
From Troop Leader Susan Baker
Linda Baker, 9th grade, and Savanna Inman, 10th grade, are Girl Scout Seniors in Troop 66 from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins. Linda and Savanna competed this year in two different robotics community teams in Northern Colorado.
Their VEX Robotics team built and programmed a robot that is under 18” in size, and competed in Berthoud, Loveland, Logan (Utah) and at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Orlando (Florida) April 13-17. Their team of five freshmen and sophomores competed with and against more 500 teams from around the world in matches and interviews over a period of three days. The team ended up winning the Build Award, which is presented by a panel of judges to the team that has constructed and programmed the best robot consisting of mechanical and electrical components.
The girls’ Lego Robotics team built and programmed a robot that is under 12” in size and is pre-programmed to perform missions autonomously to earn as many points as possible in 2 and half minutes. They also participated in a research project to measure and record gait disorders in elderly people. The team won the second-highest award at the Colorado Championship in Denver. Linda joined another team to compete in the North American Open at LegoLand in California against 76 teams from the United States and Canada May 21-22. Linda’s team there won the highest award for Gracious Professionalism, which encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.
“My favorite part of robotics was getting the chance to teach programming to students who are younger than I am,” said Linda. “I really enjoy mentoring others in the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math. This year I have come to realize that I have a lot more to learn, as well as a lot that I can teach others. I would like to see more Girl Scouts involved in STEM subjects in school, as well as in extracurricular activities.”
“My favorite part was learning the fun ways of doing math, building things and making it all fit together,” said Savanna. “I also liked the new skills I learned, such as soldering and teamwork. I also really liked building the robot. I enjoyed working with everyone, brainstorming ideas and trying them out. It was fun to work as a team to decide what was better for whatever we needed at the time.”
Western Slope Girl Scout troop honored by Red Cross
View more photos on Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Flickr gallery
On April 29th, the American Red Cross Western Colorado Chapter honored an area Girl Scout troop with one of the organizations top honors – the Real Heroes Award.
During the spring of 2010, Girl Scout Troop 411 of Cedaredge joined Girl Scouts across Colorado as well as the nation in organizing a community action Girl Scouts Forever Green project in their community to benefit the environment.
For their project, the girls held a Lights Out contest at their school to see which class could keep their lights off the longest during one day, thus saving the most money. They made signs saying “Lights Out Please” to remind staff and students to keep the lights out when
they weren’t needed. In fact, these signs were so successful during this
project that they are still being used at the school today.
Seventeen out of eighteen classes at the school participated in this project. The only one class who didn’t participate did so because the class had no other light source. Eight classes were able to keep the lights out all day, and all others did so at least half the day. The winning classes received prizes. The school saved approximately 142 kilowatt hours in just the one day. And its estimated thousands of dollars would be saved if the school did it every day.
Delta Montrose Electric Association provided a grant to these Girl Scouts to offer information to all students about saving energy at home as well as at school. A pledge card was given to all 450 students who participated saying they would use less energy at home and school.
This troop’s story and honor gained area media coverage. One of the stories was done by KJCT-TV in Grand Junction.
Troop 2692 earns Bronze Award with Xeriscape Garden project
Part of being a Girl Scout is learning the skills needed to plan, coordinate and execute projects that contribute to your community. Junior Girl Scout Troop 2629 displayed their leadership by planting a Xeriscape garden at Pine Grove Elementary to earn their Bronze Award.
The Bronze Award is the highest award possible for Junior Girl Scouts. The pursuit of this award began in early 2009 and finally came to fruition during Memorial Day Weekend. All 12 girls worked over the holiday to ensure this project was completed before summer break.
The girls selected a Xeriscape garden because part of the Girl Scout Law is to “use resources wisely.” The girls know that is the purpose of a Xeriscape garden and want their work to serve as a shining example of how lovely a Xeriscape garden can be.
The garden would not have materialized without the support of the Pine Grove staff and especially Principal David Minter. Over a 2 ½ year period, Minter championed this project with the Douglas County School District to gain district approval.
In addition to DCSD, several organizations made this project a success:
* A grant from Colorado Garden Show, Inc made this project possible
*Underground Sprinkler Corps donated the installation of our sprinklers
*Master Gardener, Julie Pfankuch, donated her expertise and countless hours
* Nick’s Garden Center donated plants
* Pine Lane Nursery Garden Center donated plants
* Tagawa Gardens donated plants
* Walmart supplied most of the compost
Troop 2629 is proud to be of service to the Parker community.
Row 1: Kelli M.; Meredity M.; Ashley L.; Mary D.
Row 2: Emily V.; Olivia R.; Abby U.; Lauren M.; Leah M.; Katelyn K.; Kristen H.; Macy D.
Row 3: Troop Leader Wendy R.; Troop Leader Suan H.; Troop Leader Kim L.
Troop 2251 makes a difference for dogs
Posted by Kim Q., Troop Leader 2251
I just wanted to let you and Girl Scout Council know what a good deed the Brownie girls of Troop 2251 out of Westminster did this weekend.
The girls thought “since we sell cookies, why don’t we make cookies…but for dogs.” So at their troop meeting the girls found a doggie treat recipe online, made and baked the treats, then donated the tasty treats to the German Shepherd Rescue of the Rockies Shelter.
Representatives from the Rescue Shelter arrived with one of their dogs and gave the girls a great introduction into what a Rescued Dog is and taught the girls important safety tips on being around dogs and dogs that they’re not familiar with.
The doggie treats were a huge success with all the dogs that got to have their cookies.
Note from Katie, who runs the shelter:
Janice, Me and Hayden were invited to speak at Brownie Troop #2251 about rescued dogs and safety.
We took Hayden to be our spokesdog and he was much loved and very well behaved – except when he decided to steal some dog cookies the girls baked for us right off the counter, but the girls thought that was pretty cute.
Janice is a natural with the kids and Hayden had a blast.
I also enjoyed all the excitment that “the little people” have to give.
Thank You
Katie – German Shepherd Rescue of the Rockies
Girl Scout license plate becomes law
Girl Scout license plate becomes law, a set on Flickr.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIn2iDP_qnY?rel=0]
History was made on Friday morning, June 3rd, at the State Capitol as Governor Hickenlooper signed SB 197, officially creating a commemorative Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary license plate. Local Girl Scouts, as well as volunteers instrumental in making this idea a reality and Sen. Betty Boyd and Rep. Cindy Acree, bill sponsors, joined the Governor for the bill signing.
The Girl Scout Colorado license plate will be available for purchase without any special qualifications or donations starting in January 2012 through Colorado’s Division of Motor Vehicles. Those interested in the Girl Scout license plate pay a one-time, $50 fee, just like other state specialty license plates, and the cost is added to that of licensing a vehicle. There is no limited time for purchase, and unless the plate is “sunsetted,” by having too few on the active registration records, there will be no ending date for production and distribution.
Several media outlets around the state covered this historic Girl Scout event. Here is a sample of some of that media coverage:
- http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/201630/346/Girl-Scouts-get-own-license-plate?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|t
- http://www.850koa.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=124975&article=8660130
- http://www.gazette.com/news/girl-119252-colorado-plate.html
- http://in.news.yahoo.com/video/denvercbs4-15750663/colorado-license-plate-celebrates-girl-scouts-100th-anniversary-25436465.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fdenvercbs4-15750663%252Fcolorado-license-plate-celebrates-girl-scouts-100th-anniversary-25436465.html
- http://www.csfreshink.com/profiles/blogs/girl-scout-license-plate
- http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Stories/News/General-News/Story~992244.aspx?IsDraft=False
More than 3 million active Girl Scouts and volunteers are joining more than 50 million Girl Scout alumnae across the nation in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting in 2012. Official celebrations in Colorado will begin this fall. This momentous occasion provides a unique opportunity to learn how Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. For more information, visit girlscoutsofcolorado.org.
Girl Scout license plate to be signed into law Friday
In honor of Girl Scouts upcoming 100th anniversary celebration, Girl Scouts of Colorado will join Governor Hickenlooper tomorrow, June 3rd, as he signs SB 197, the commemorative Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary license plate bill, into law. The bill signing will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the state capitol. Girl Scout volunteers instrumental in helping collect the 3,000 supporter signatures needed before legislators carried the bill at the state capitol, as well as local Girl Scouts of all ages who have also helped support the bill and Girl Scouts of Colorado’s President and CEO, Megan Ferland, will be present at the bill signing.
The Girl Scout Colorado license plate will be available for purchase without any special qualifications or donations starting in 2012 through Colorado’s Division of Motor Vehicles. Those interested in the Girl Scout license plate pay a one-time, $50 fee, just like other state specialty license plates, and the cost is added to that of licensing a vehicle.
More than 3 million active Girl Scouts and volunteers are joining more than 50 million Girl Scout alumnae across the nation in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting in 2012. Official celebrations in Colorado will begin this fall. This momentous occasion provides a unique opportunity to learn how Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. For more information, visit girlscoutsofcolorado.org.
Colorado Springs troop sells 25K cookies, donates 140 cases of Girl Scout Cookies to local military
Troop 931 Delivering GS Cookies to Military 2011, a set on Flickr.
This year Girl Scout Troop 931 from Colorado Springs sold an amazing 25,144 packages of Girl Scout Cookies! Girl Scout Troop 931 loves Girl Scout Cookie time, and with 12 of their parents actively serving, the girls also hold a special place in their hearts for our United States military.
A few weeks ago, Girl Scout Cadettes from Troop 931 took a trip to Peterson Air Force Base, armed with 140 cases of Girl Scout Cookies. The girls were given a tour of the base from officers bound for deployment early the next morning. The girls were even allowed to board a C130 and learn some of the inner workings of the airplanes and highlights of navigation before shaking hands and thanking the soldiers for their service. The cases of Girl Scout Cookies were off the next morning, alongside the officers, bound for Afghanistan.
The girls of Troop 931 love setting high goals, and this year they were building on success, selling 22,931 packages last year. Girl Scout Troop 931 was extra motivated this year because they are saving to go on a cruise to Alaska in July, among other activities. These 21 girls gave up their nights and weekends from January through the second week in March, traveling all over the community selling cookies door-to-door, at sporting events and in front of supermarkets to reach their goal. In fact, the Colorado Springs Gazette recently profiled this troop and all they’ve gained through Girl Scouts and selling cookies.
Through the Girl Scout Cookie Activity Girl Scouts hone their goal setting, money management, decision making and people skills. They also discover more about business ethics and how to give back to their local community. Girl Scout Troop 931 teamed up with Girl Scout Daisies and Brownies for Booth Sales in front of retail locations, learning valuable leadership skills as they taught the younger girls how to sell cookies and count back change.
How else will Troop 931 celebrate their success? Hiking, camping, spelunking, slumber parties, movies, theme parks and overnights at the mall and aquarium. They will also use a portion of the proceeds to fund their Silver Award projects, the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette in middle school can earn, and various community service projects for next year.
The Girl Scout Cadettes of Troop 931 would like to thank their parents for all of their hard work during cookie sales. They drove girls to booths, hauled cookies, and stood in the rain, wind and snow to help their daughters achieve their goals. The girls know couldn’t have done it without you!
Graffiti Fun
By Girl Scout Ellie Wroble from Girl Scout Senior Troop 448 of Denver
Being a Girl Scout isn’t just selling cookies and singing around the campfire. Being a Girl Scout means you get to change things into something more beautiful.
It took three tries for our Girl Scout troop to finally be able to help graffiti the Girl Scout of Colorado headquarters. After weekends cancelled because of horrible weather, we managed to get an absolutely spectacular day. We were assigned the piece of wall that goes down the stairs to the basement.
When we first arrived at Girl Scouts all we saw was a plain wall with blue outlines. Graffiti and tattoo artist Chris “PhEud” Bernal was the lead artist, working with Johnny Santos of the Gang Rescue and Support Project. Chris explained how to control the paint and the process that we were about to go though. We were allowed to choose our colors to take the flowers and butterfly outlines into vibrant beautiful colorful paintings. In a matter of less than four hours, the wall was transformed with countless colors and shapes using only cans of spray paint.
When you first think of spray paint, you don’t think of much except a can with paint in it that you can spray. Spray paint turns out to be way more complicated and interesting then we all first thought. It turns out that spray paint isn’t all the same. There is spray paint from America, Europe and more. We used spray paint on the wall mostly from Europe in order to get more vibrant, stunning colors. The European spray cans are much easier to spray and have colors that drip less. By directing the cans in certain directions and holding the cans different lengths away from the wall, we were able to change the painting style. It was incredible to see the transformation using only spray paint.
Painting doesn’t have to be with a brush on a canvas. It can be on a wall with spray paint. But the simple act of adding color to a blank space can transform it forever. Watching the Girl Scout building evolve and transform with color and beauty has been amazing. We as a troop consider ourselves to be very lucky to be able to help with the process to graffiti (legally!) the Girl Scouts of Colorado Denver office.
Mural work continues at Denver Girl Scout office
GSCO Denver Service Center Mural Project 2011, a set on Flickr.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovGnNl-dOy8?rel=0]
Despite the cold weather and rain, Girl Scouts have continued to be hard at work on the mural outside the Denver Girl Scout office at 400 S. Broadway during the month of May. However, due to the cool and wet spring weather, the unveiling of the mural has been moved from June 22nd to July 13th to allow for a few more weeks of mural work during, hopefully, a dry and warm weather build up to summer.
Troop 3322 worked on the mural on Saturday, May 21st, and troop member, Elisabeth, thought the experience was “like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Seeing the true beauty behind the incredible artwork and how much work really goes into it was astonishing. If I could do this again, I would.”
Troop 448 of Denver worked on the mural just this last Saturday, May 28th. Read about one of the troop member’s experiences.
After being plagued with repeated incidents of illegal tagging on their office building, Girl Scouts of Colorado has partnered with the Denver Police Department and a group of reformed taggers the police department works with from the Gang Rescue and Support Project to create a fun, girl-friendly mural to wrap their building, dissuade taggers and illustrate and embrace the Girl Scout mission and leadership programs. The lead artist on the project is Chris “PhEud” Bernal.
On Saturday, May 7th, Girl Scouts with the Family Crisis Center, a residential care facility, helped work on the mural. Many of the Girl Scouts from this program have been previously involved in illegal tagging activities and were anxious to learn how they can use tagging as a hobby or possible career and make a positive impact on the community.
“This project is helping bring out my true colors,” said one of the Girl Scouts from the Family Crisis Center as she displayed her hands covered in paint from the mural project. “Girl Scouts has taught me to be more patient and creative. I would like to be an artist in the future. I’ve spray painted before, and now know how to do it in a fun, legal way. This is something I will always remember. I’m learning a lot. This mural is awesome!”
The Girl Scout leader for the Family Crisis Center group, Ivana, also thought the project was a memorable experience. “The girls enjoyed themselves very much and learned a very positive way to experience and do graffiti art. It meant a lot to the girls and me. Thank you for all staff of Girl Scouts who gave me and them this opportunity,” she said.
Keep updated on the latest mural news and share it like others have been doing for weeks via Girl Scouts of Colorado’s website or blog or our Facebook and Twitter pages. Channel 7 (ABC, Denver/statewide) did a story on the mural project on several of their May 7th and 8th weekend newscasts, and there is a story about the project posted in the Denver Post’s YourHub.