25 things you didn't know about the Girl Scouts
Revisit your memories of elementary and middle school, and you may think of those extra-special days you got to wear a Girl Scout uniform. Remember delivering boxes of cookies in the snow, battling with a sewing machine or climbing a rocky trail for a badge? How about an unenthused Wednesday Addams trying to swap cookies for lemonade in the 1991 hit "The Addams Family"?
It's not all desserts, though 鈥 continue to do plenty of other community-centered activities. We've searched through current and past Girl Scout programs and services, along with news reports from the last 106 years to find out more about this enduring (and endearing) organization. Whether your experience with the Girl Scouts was first-hand, through pop culture or purely cookie-centric, here are 25 facts about the organization you probably never knew.
1. The cookie crumbles differently across the country
Those famous cookies come from two different bakeries, and depending on where you live, your cookies can look and taste very different. They may even have other names. If you鈥檙e in Denver or Seattle, your and caramel lovers have access to Samoas, courtesy of Little Brownie Bakers. But in Boston and Kansas City, ABC Bakers give you a crunchier, more minty Thin Mint and Caramel deLites instead of Samoas, which are heavier on cookie than their sticky-sweet namesake.
2. Transgender allies
A donation of $100,000 may sound tempting, but in 2015 after the donor stipulated that they not use any of the money to welcome transgender girls. A subsequent fundraising campaign they turned down. In 2012, the Girl Scouts of Colorado intervened when a local troop turned away a transgender girl, attesting that she was welcome as a Girl Scout.
3. An idea from across the pond
A kindergartener entering Girl Scouts is called a Daisy, after the woman who first established the Girls in the United States: . The Savannah, Georgia native met Boy Scouts founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell in 1912, in England. Hearing about his groups inspired Low to found Girls Scouts in America.
4. Being a Girl Scout abroad
Originally called Lone Troops on Foreign Soil, USA Girl Scouts Overseas got its with a troop of 18 girls in Shanghai, China. Today, the group focuses on making the scout experience available to , including for military or foreign service. Troops are available through USAGSO in 90 countries, from Uzbekistan and El Salvador to Romania and Rwanda.
5. SWAP-ing with other Scouts
When connecting with girls from other troops, often from different parts of the country, Scouts exchange SWAPS: . The organization encourages girls to make items with recycled materials that others can wear or display. As a show of friendship, they're also supposed to have an item ready for each Scout they're expecting to meet, and not to refuse to do a SWAP with any fellow Scout.
6. A historical stance of multicultural support
Martin Luther King, Jr. praised the Girl Scouts as in 1956. African-American girls took part in Girl Scouts The organization also offered its support to a Latina troop in Houston in 1922, and to during World War II.
7. Badges aren't Just for crafts and camping
STEM hasn鈥檛 replaced camping as an activity in Girl Scouts, but it鈥檚 certainly right up there. Girls learn about for the organization鈥檚 new tech-focused badges. Also on the table are badges in . Could that be because the organization鈥檚 CEO, Silvia Acevedo, at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory? We hope so!
8. Cooking up an iconic fundraiser
Back in the earlier decades of scouting, there were no commercially-baked Girl Scout cookies鈥. The for Girl Scout cookies was basically a sugar cookie. By 1922, there was at least one standardized recipe provided by a group leader in Chicago. That stalwart favorite the Thin Mint, originally called a Chocolate Mint, became common by the 1950s. Rationing during World War II temporarily halted cookie sales in favor of calendar sales.
9. Evolving uniforms
You might picture a girl wearing a sash full of badges when you think of Girl Scouts, but the first Girl Scouts . They did wear wide-brimmed hats, like their British counterparts. The and came into vogue in the 1930s and 1940s. Uniforms nowadays are far less stringent. Scouts only have to wear over their clothing (their choice) to display their badges.
10. Familiar faces
Girl Scouts of the USA estimates that 59 million American women living today have been Girl Scouts, and . Abigail Breslin, Venus and Serena Williams, Katie Couric, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, as well as 76 percent of female U.S. senators and 52 percent of female U.S. representatives were Girl Scouts.
11. Teaching safe boundaries
Just as this past holiday season began in 2017, Girl Scouts posted a piece of advice on its website: she doesn鈥檛 want to, even if that person is a relative. about safe physical boundaries on Facebook, and to analyze when and how to teach consent.
12. If you鈥檙e homeless, you can still be a Girl Scout
Girl Scout Troop 6000 in New York City is different from a lot of other troops: . It鈥檚 not the first, either鈥攔egional representatives of the organization have previously reached out to girls living in homeless shelters in Florida, Georgia, and California.
13. Girl Scouts鈥 highest award can help you in college-- and the Military
The highest award you can earn as a Girl Scout is the Gold Award, which challenges girls to choose an issue, research it, make a plan to help, then implement that plan. Earning it can lead to Recent projects have and .
14. You can go to Girl Scout Camp even if you鈥檙e not a Girl Scout
Girls Scouts welcomes all girls to its camps, at home. You can also go to Girl Scout camp outside the United States. Official programs are available in .
15. Any religion (or no religion) Is OK
The reads "On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law," but in practice, the organization or simply leave it out. Religious accommodations have helped Girl Scouts .
16. Art imitates life
Both wax museum and the United States Post Office have honored Juliette Gordon Low as the founder of Girl Scouts with art in her likeness. The themed postage stamp was released in 1948, 21 years after Low鈥檚 death, while the waxwork celebrated the centennial anniversary of Girl Scouts.
17. 聽Connecting girls with mothers in jail
, Girls Scouts has run under the umbrella title 鈥淕irl Scouts Beyond Bars鈥 to provide resources for daughters to stay connected to incarcerated mothers. organizes a trip once a month to help Scouts visit with their moms.
18. Ranking with the best
There have been different ranking systems within Girl Scouts over the years. Initially, there were just three levels. The current system has six of the Scout: Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador.
19. War efforts
In World War I and World War II, Girl Scouts worked to advance national campaigns that helped with the war efforts. During World War I (starting before the United States entered the war), Scouts collected clothes for war refugees, then later rolled bandages and knitted socks. In 1941, Indiana troops . They also .
20. Variations on a theme
Summer camp isn't all s'mores and hiking鈥擥irl Scout camps offer activities ranging from arts and theater to horseback riding and technology. For Scouts seeking more intense physical challenges, there are and .
21. Lobbying for change
As an organization, Girl Scouts don鈥檛 advocate for either major political party. Girls are encouraged, however, to lobby their representatives on issues important to individual Scouts and troops. In February 2018, five Scouts in Aurora, Colo., to make smoking or vaping in a vehicle with a minor present .
22. Financial status isn鈥檛 a barrier to entry
If you can鈥檛 afford , the Girls Scouts still want you to participate. Regional councils have a variety of ways to to make sure every girl has a chance to be a Scout.
23. Counting the councils
Girls Scouts of the USA has covering all the states, plus Puerto Rico and overseas troops. Some states have more than one council, and some share councils across state borders. Though the national organization oversees them and sets policies, regional councils do exercise some autonomy in which programs they run and how they organize their region.
24. Scout activities aren鈥檛 just For elementary school
While we may think of Girl Scouts as aged 5 to 12, there are plenty of opportunities for girls to continue all the way through high school graduation. focus on STEM skills, training as camp counselors, and finding other leadership opportunities. Scouts focus their energy on earning college scholarships, and learning about international issues.
25. If you were a Scout, you've probably heard the song, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver. The other is gold."
"One is silver. The other is gold." Did you know it has ? Other lines include, "You help me, and I'll help you and together we will see it through," and "You have one hand, I have the other. Put them together. ."