Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts has garnered over 10 million members in 146 different countries since being founded nearly 100 years ago.

The Girl Scouts website states the goal of Girl Scouts is to empower girls, provide for the community and “grow courageous and strong through a wide variety of enriching experiences,” such as field trips, skill-building sports clinics, community service projects, cultural exchanges, and environmental stewardships.

Girl Scout meetings are dedicated to either obtaining badges, community service or learning new skills. Senior Elly Hayes and sophomore Allyse Fulps are in the same troop, and they go on a trip once a year. They do different fundraisers throughout the year to be able to afford the trip.

“This year we’re going to New York right after school ends, and I’m really excited for it,” Hayes said. “We learn about Girl Scout related stuff there. Like, when we go to New York we’re going to the Girl Scout headquarters. [We also learn] about other communities.”

Girl Scouts also provides a day camp, Camp Tongawood, that their members can go to. The older teens get together in groups to make a station that the younger troops can go to. The stations can be anything from a STEM activity to a craft. Camp Tongawood is Fulps’s favorite part about Girl Scouts.

“My favorite part [about camp] is listening to all the kid’s names because they get to create their own camp name, and some of them are really funny,” Fulps said. “I [also] wanted to continue counseling at a Tongawood day camp because I always wanted to do that as a kid.

Girl Scouts also benefits the girls within it, not just the community they are helping. Hayes has met many other people through her troop and their service.

“I think it’s made me a better socializer. I’m better at talking and meeting new people,” Hayes said. “I’m not as scared to do that anymore. Also trying new things, because I’ve done a lot of things through Girl Scouts I would have never done.”

Fulps has also seen positive effects on her personality and mindset.

“[It’s made me more] giving and caring for others, and being open-minded because you see the other things that people don’t see,” Fulps said. “I feel like it makes you more open-minded to what other people are going through. I think it makes you realize these people don’t have this.”

Boy Scouts

Many students are involved with Boy Scouts of America. Through Boy Scouts students are able to explore the outdoors, meet new people and be involved in their communities.

According to the Scouting America website the main goal of Boy Scouts is to empower young people to become “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”

The organization focuses on achieving this goal through outdoor activities and community service which allow people to achieve merit badges. There are over 100 badges that can be earned doing various activities but many focus on outdoor activities such as inventing, fire safety and backpacking.

Sophomore Turner Bruce enjoys working on earning his badges by doing activity around the community.

“[Scouts has] allowed me to be more involved because I have been working around [Shawnee],” Bruce said. “We pick up trash after some of the home football games and we’ve picked up trash around Monticello Trails.”

Along with the many community service projects, Boy Scouts participates in outdoor activities. Junior Nate Petrowsky enjoyed getting to work at Camp Naish over the summer.

“[My favorite experience was] working at Camp Naish because of the experiences that I give the kids who go there,” Petrowsky said. “I feel like it’s a very positive thing for both for me and for them, because it keeps people from sitting inside on their phones all the time.”

However, some badges and experiences are reserved for a specific kind of scout, Eagle Scouts. There are many requirements to become an Eagle Scout, including completing a project that benefits a group in their community.

Senior Hank Danielson achieved his Eagle Scout rank this fall and was able to complete it thanks to the collaboration from other scouts in his troop.

“People would take leadership positions in the troop to help us get what we did to get done,” Danielson said. “The community that helped was just that group of guys that were all together and we all helped push each other and worked towards [getting our Eagle Scout].”

Besides the outdoor and service opportunities Boy Scouts also teaches important life lessons.

“There’s a thing called the Scout Oath, and it’s basically a set of rules to live by,” Danielson said. “If you do that and try and live by what those rules say, then you’re going to be living as a better person.”