The Girl Scouts Turn 100

Imagine if you will, these lovely ladies (and others) shouting the following cheer at the Girl Scout Day Camp morning flag ceremony. 

"JULIET GORDON LOW

A.K.A DAISY

SHE HAD DETERMINATION

BROUGHT GIRL SCOUTS TO THIS NATION

WE'D LIKE TO THANK HER (*TOE TOUCH!*)

SHE WAS A GREAT LEADER" 

  

Yes, it was epic. And for some reason, not embarrassing. It was the feeling of acceptance, of kindness, and of being around one's own. How often have you felt like that in your life? In my experience, it’s a rarity.

A lot of people think being a Girl Scout means that you’re a sugar hawker of the highest grade. I'm here to tell you that it’s not just about cookies, although that part was a big learning experience, too. Thin Mints don’t just taste like God’s answer to cookies to me; they taste like “character-building” sales pitches to reluctant neighbors in the dead of winter. They taste like pavement-pounding work. They taste like accomplishment, rewards, and friendship. Also mint. And chocolate.

March 12^th, 2012 marked the centennial anniversary of the Girl Scouts of America. One hundred years ago Juliet Gordon Low founded an organization that has grown to over 3.2 million members, bringing together women in 90 different countries. I count myself among the 60 million living alumnae in the U.S.

The focus of the organization 100 years ago was the same as it is today: To give girls an opportunity to grow as individuals, to make a difference in their community through volunteerism, and to value the world around them. Early girl scouts hiked, played sports, and camped. They could tell time by the stars and they knew first aid.

Modern girl scouts learn those things, too, but the organization has changed with the cultural and societal needs of today’s young women. The Girl Scouts of today research and educate on political involvement, eating disorders, societal pressures, and more. It’s a female-centric organization that gives voice to women everywhere. A hundred years ago, girls were disenfranchised second-class citizens relegated to their designated social sphere. A hundred years later, girls have a lot more power and many more opportunities, but an organization that promotes their education and social, physical, and mental well-being is more important than ever.

As my friends and I grew into full-fledged teenagers, things changed a bit. It wasn’t cool to be a Girl Scout, and that mattered more than before. We had different groups and different interests, but secret codes (meetings were referred to as O.G.i.G.S for Oh God it’s Girl Scouts), and shared values and experiences held us together.

We also had the most amazing leadership *. Adolescence is a time when it’s beyond normal for children to scorn every move their parents make, every thought. But the women who mentored us were leaders in the community, or going to school to give their families more opportunities, or such incredibly devoted parents that they would spend their weekends camping in the rain trying to salvage the Bunsen burner dinner. 

I had so many opportunities through Girl Scouts. I traveled internationally, met several local and state dignitaries, earned awards, and learned things that are still with me today.

I can’t tell the time by the stars like those early Girl Scouts, but I can always find north and I know how to stay un-lost and alive in the woods. I don’t volunteer as much as I used to, but the importance of being an asset to my community is still deeply ingrained. I still love to camp, and I make every effort to be responsible to the earth and the world around me.

When I was 11 years old, I took my first long trip with the Girl Scouts for the 75^th anniversary celebration in Washington D.C. At the time, I wondered how I would celebrate the 100^th. Knowing I would be an old lady of 36, I wondered if I would be taking a little troop of me-like people to a Centennial Jubilee. I didn’t do that, but twenty-five years later, I’m a proud alumna, and I still live by the Girl Scout law.

The Girl Scout Promise

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.

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be 
honest and fair, friendly and helpful, 
considerate and caring,
 courageous and strong, and 
responsible for what I say and do,
 and to 
respect myself and others, 
respect authority,
 use resources wisely, 
make the world a better place, and 
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

Check out the Girl Scouts of America here.

*I’m not sucking up, Mom and Bev, although you are pretty great.

Remembering ...

I was teaching on Tuesday, September 11^th, 2001. It was a normal morning, until it wasn’t.

In the teacher’s lounge early in the a.m., I heard the first of it. By the time school started, both towers in New York and the Pentagon had been hit, Flight 93 had crashed, the South Tower had fallen, and the North Tower had started to collapse.

My fifteen-year-old students were, in a word, confused. There was high emotion, anger, but mostly, there was disbelief. Think about how you felt that morning, waking up to terror.

We turned on the TV but the images were unreal. Far away.

Early in the morning the news was reporting that Al Qaeda was responsible. I could explain the word “terrorist,” for what it meant at the time. My students could study maps and internet pages for what “facts” we could find. I explained about the conflict of the Middle East in recent history, from the 1960’s on, something we hadn’t covered in World History at the start of school.

And then afterward, there were so many questions about who we should hate, and who the enemy was. Were the Arabs the enemy? Were the Muslims? What was the difference? I could explain that, at least.

Sitting in class with students in the East Bay Area, it was easy to point out that there was no race or religion that was to blame. These were our classmates, our friends. Our people.

It’s easier when diversity is right in front of you. It must be harder when your world is smaller, because that night, when I went home and watched TV, I saw fear. I saw people blaming Arabs for the attack. I heard that Muslims, one and all, were out to get us.

Being a history lover and, you know, a human, I was alarmed. Similar sentiments caused the Japanese internment in the 1940s, a great stain on the canvas of American history. On a more extreme and terrifying level, I had read similar justifications for The Holocaust.

So I talked about it with my friends, and my family, and my students. Some listened, others didn’t, but it brought me back, as questions always do, to history. In the chaos that was Ellis Island and mass immigration, one artist was able to capture a critical sentiment in a poem:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

These are my people. And unless you are a descendant of a native, you are my people, too. I don’t know much about my ancestors, but guaranteed they were lucky to get across from whence they came, thrilled to work, happy to have a chance.  

Recall, Americans, that regardless of your origin, you are an immigrant. You are the result of someone risking life and limb to become part of this great country of ours.

So, on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, I remember the fallen and the heroes of that day. I also remember that our nation is stronger because of its diversity. Let us not forget that in the days after 9/11 there was cooperation and patriotism, but there was also confusion and fear. We have the freedom to honor each other for our differences every day. Let us not forget.