Girl Scouts

“ GIRL SCOUTS AT DANDELION CAMP
This is a story which centers around the making and the enjoying of a mountain camp, spiced with the fun of a lively troop of Girl Scouts. The charm of living in the woods, of learning woodcraft of all sorts, of adventuring into the unknown, combine to make a busy and an exciting summer for the girls. ”

“ The object of the Girl Scouts is to bring to all girls the opportunity for group experience, outdoor life, and to learn through work, but more by play, to serve their community. Patterned after the Girl Guides of England, the sister organization of the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts have developed a method of self-government and a variety of activities that appear to be well suited to the desires of the girls, as the 89,864 scouts and the 2,500 new applicants each month testify. ”

“ A few days after the girl scouts' visit to Grey Fox Camp, they were agreeably surprised by having the boys visit them. Mr. Gilroy was with them, and as each boy carried an ax and a woodman's knife, the girls knew they came to work.
"We decided to cut a shorter trail over the crest, and as to-day is so cool, we thought it would be a fine time for work," explained Alec, the leader in the boys' camp.
"One day's as good as another! We're ready to help any time," replied Julie, as leader of the Girl Scouts' Troop. ”

“ The activities of the Girl Scouts may be grouped under five headings corresponding to five phases of women's life today:
I. Woman's most ancient way of service—the home-maker, the nurse, and the mother. The program provides incentives for practicing woman's world-old arts by requiring an elementary proficiency in cooking, housekeeping, first aid, and the rules of healthful living for any Girl Scout passing beyond the Tenderfoot stage. ”

“ Remember last summer—how we didn’t know whether we were going to the training camp or not—and then later when19 we hardly dared dream that Pansy Girl Scouts would be the ones to go to Canada.”
“Yes,” said Marjorie; “and everything always seems more thrilling in reality than we ever hoped it would be. So perhaps, this summer will be, too.”
“Your father said something about Girl Scouts—oh, don’t you wish the whole senior patrol could be together?” ”

“ The girls jumped joyfully to the ground.
"The Girl Scouts don't know what they're here for," laughed Miss Phillips, while they were removing their wraps. "They think it's a party!"
"Isn't it?" asked Marjorie, quite distressed.
"For some of the girls, but not for you!" replied the Captain, significantly. "All the Scouts who wish to qualify for first-class test are to take signalling with Mr. Remington. The rest of us will stay here for games."
"Oh!" exclaimed Ruth, sinking down in her chair. "How could you, Captain?" ”

“ I want to arrange about our cabin party with the Boy Scouts. School reopens April fifteenth, which is on Wednesday; so all the Girl Scouts are to come back here on Tuesday morning. Get here before twelve o’clock. The housekeeper, Mrs. Rock, is going to give us a light lunch, and we are to change into our scout uniforms, take a trolley to Bear’s Hill and hike to the cabin. Each girl is to bring her own mess-kit, and wear warm clothes; the Boy Scouts prepare the rest.”
Ruth’s eyes danced. “How many Boy Scouts are there?” ”

“ Then, not one of the Scouts answered, but the Troop Captain, Sheila Mason, with the gentler, happier expression that her Troop of girls were accustomed to seeing upon her face of late.
213 “Perhaps, Kara, you do not recognise as we do what you have accomplished. Is it nothing to fight the good fight as you have fought it, to have kept your courage and faith and humor under such difficulties?
“The members of your Troop of Girl Scouts do not agree with you. Edith Linder is the only one of us who at present wears the Golden Eaglet badge. ”

“ The hostesses were most cordial, showing the girls everything, and then inviting them to a big rally that afternoon.
"That reminds me," remarked one of the officers, who was evidently a representative from National Headquarters in New York City, "I have a list of Girl Scouts here, from all parts of the country, who want to correspond with other Girl Scouts. Would you girls, any of you, like to take some names?"
Marjorie was the first to accept the suggestion. "Oh, I would!" she cried. "That would be lots of fun!" ”

“ Girl Scouts, like Boy Scouts, are found all over the world. When Sir Robert Baden-Powell formed the first troops of Boy Scouts, six thousand girls enrolled themselves, but, as Sir Robert's project did not include the admission of girls, he asked his sister, Miss Baden-Powell, to found a similar organization for girls, based on the Boy Scout laws, with activities and occupations properly adapted for girls. She then founded the Girl Guide organization. ”

“ I have always heard that the Girl Scouts is an organization along athletic lines.”
Ruth was not a favorite with Miss Phillips. She frowned. “Oh, don’t let’s have any teachers in it! Except you,” she added diplomatically.
“But you have to have a Captain—a woman over twenty-one. And I see each troop has thirty-two members, but there are ninety-five girls in the school—how would you decide who was to belong?”
“Why, that’s easy—I started it, so Evelyn and two or three more of our friends would vote on the new members.”
Miss Allen smiled. “You want another sorority, Ruth,” she said. ”

“ The outstanding feature of the girl-scout organization is its voluntary character. Among some 7,400 officers and leaders of girl scouts throughout the country in the fall of 1920, just 211 were “paid workers.” This is about 3 per cent. The organization is actually a great volunteer school of citizenship in which the women of the country share with their younger sisters the results of their own experience in ideals and practical working knowledge of community living. ”

“ Involuntarily the scouts gasped at the danger; for if their horses should slip, there would be no chance for their lives. But no one said anything until the worst was past; then Doris heaved a sigh of relief.
“Is there anything worse than that?” asked Florence, a few minutes later.
“Not on this trip,” replied Mr. Hilton. “But I will say that Girl Scouts are plucky!”
“They certainly are!” added Kirk, admiringly.
149 The rest of the ride was comparatively easy. At three o’clock the party came to a stop in a pleasant place where a few pine trees afforded a little protection. ”

“ People went down the aisles in gaily clad groups, the delicate perfumes of the flowers worn by beautiful women wafting to the girls as they passed. Mrs. Breen’s two brothers and the brothers of the two Girl Scouts who had helped at the benefit were all acting as ushers and they were certainly busy. ”

“ Then, "I certainly am crazy to get acquainted with the freshmen. I know most of them by sight now, and I've talked to two or three, but I don't know any of their names."
"Won't it be fun to pick out the Girl Scouts?" remarked Ruth.
"But we don't pick them, Ruth," protested Marjorie; "they pick themselves."
At this moment half a dozen freshmen entered the open door of the gymnasium, and the girls hastened over to welcome them and to make them feel at home. They walked in shyly, hesitating just inside the door, for everything was new and strange to them. ”

“ It is not intended that Girl Scouts should necessarily form a new club separated from all others. Girls who belong to any kind of existing organization, such as school clubs or Y. W. C. A.'s may also undertake, in addition to their other work or play, the Girl Scouts' training and games, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
It is not meant that girls should play or work on Sunday, but that they may take walks where they can carry on a study of plants and animals.
Groups or bands of girls not already belonging to any club may be organized directly as a Girl Scout Patrol or Troop. ”

“ When they attain success after facing difficulties, then they feel really happy and triumphant. It is a big satisfaction to them to have succeeded and [51] to have made other people succeed also. That is what the Girl Scouts want to do, just like the mountaineer guides do among the mountains.
Then, too, a woman who can do things is looked up to by others, both men and women, and they are always ready to follow her advice and example, so there she becomes a Scout too. And later on if she has children of her own, or if she becomes a teacher of children, she can be a really good Scout to them. ”

“ Nora Blair is the pampered daughter of a frivolous mother. Her dislike for the rugged life of Girl Scouts is eventually changed to appreciation, when the rescue of little Lucia, a woodland waif, becomes a problem for the girls to solve. ”

“ Well, I want Girl Scouts to learn to be almost like detectives in their sharpness in noticing small signs and reading the meaning of them, not merely for the purpose of studying animals and birds, but also for studying their human fellow creatures. ”

“ Not only should the activities be those which they are not getting through other channels, but they should be presented in ways which attract the girls. It should never be forgotten that Scouting is chosen by the girls because it interests them. Use as bait the food the fish likes. If you bait your hook with the kind of food that you yourself like, unless you happen to have a natural affinity for young people, it is probable that you will not catch many. If the Scouting program fails to interest girls, they will find something that does. ”

“ Marjorie colored at the words and the tone of this statement; she so much desired that her classmates appear dignified and well-poised to the freshmen.
Esther Taylor, a stylish girl with a flippant manner, laughed derisively. "Scouts don't mean much in my young life," she said, defiantly. "I'm no soldier-girl!"
Marjorie did not feel ready to go into the explanation of what Girl Scouts really stand for ”

“ She first ranks as Tenderfoot or third-class Girl Scout, then, after one month, she becomes, after passing certain tests, a second-class Girl Scout, and finally attains the rank of first-class Girl Scout.
After she has reached the age of eighteen, a girl can become a lieutenant, and when she is twenty-one years old she may become a captain if she has passed the first-class examinations. Girl Scouts' patrols in Europe are sometimes formed by grown-up women, who wish to carry out the Girl Scout program of preparedness, and these are called Senior Scouts. ”

“ Marjorie laughed in relief. "Why, child, you can easily make that up! In less than a week you'll be a Scout! Is everything else all right?"
"Apparently."
Immensely cheered by Marjorie's words and manner, Alice proclaimed herself ready to join the Girl Scouts at the other end of the room. Here they encountered wild hilarity. Everybody was congratulating the new girls. Mae VanHorn, Florence Evans, Daisy Gravers, and Barbara Hill had all made the required mark. ”

“ As we practice the Scout laws they become a part of us.
Modesty
Girl Scouts have often been complimented for their modest bearing. One does not hear them talk about what they have done, or what they are going to do. They just do the thing and say nothing about it. They go about their business or pleasure quietly and gently, and never draw attention to themselves unnecessarily by behaving noisily and talking or laughing loudly in public. They should be particularly careful of this when in the company of boys or men. ”

“ More than 50,000,000 American women enjoyed Girl Scouting during their childhood--and that number continues to grow as Girl Scouts of the United States of America continues to inspire, challenge, and empower girls everywhere. ”

“ On that evening they had formed the first Patrol of the Girl Scouts of the Eagle’s Wing Troop. Margaret Hale remained the Patrol Leader and Dorothy McClain her Corporal. The other girls were Victoria Drew, Joan Peters, Louise Miller, Teresa Peterson and Katherine Moore. ”

“ A great Englishman calls her "the first Girl Scout," and every Scout must feel proud to the core of her heart when she thinks that this statue which we have selected for the honor of our frontispiece, standing as it does on British soil, on the American continent, commemorating a French girl, the daughter of our Sister Republic, joins the three great countries closely together, through the Girl Scouts! Magdelaine de Verchères lived in the French colonies around Quebec late in the seventeenth century. The colonies were constantly being attacked by the Iroquois Indians. ”

“ From the start the organization has been nonsectarian and open to all races and nationalities. Through the International Council the Girl Scouts are affiliated with the Girl Guides of England and all parts of the British Empire, and similar organizations in other parts of the world. ”

“ Promoting leadership and altruism, the Girl Scouts organization has played a unique and important role in preparing millions of girls to master challenges and to pursue dreams.
The Girl Scouts offers many ways for members to explore their interests and talents. With participation spanning five levels, girls ages 5 to 17 learn the importance of strong values as they strive to fulfill the highest ideals of good citizenship. The pure enjoyment of camping and other recreational activities is matched with lessons in compassionate caring for their neighbors. ”

“ In the same way many organizations for women have died because they have not remembered that woman is first of all a human being. Thus nearly all institutions for women, even those supposedly purely educational in character, have existed to shelter her from the world, or to segregate her, or have been designed to make her into a good servant or to "finish" her for society. The activities of the Girl Scouts have been selected on quite a different plan. ”