The Girl Scouts Are More Than Just Cookies

When you first think of the Girl Scouts, I know you think of cookies. Don’t even try to lie – they’re good cookies, it’s okay if that’s your first thought, I think of them often too. But there’s a lot more to the Girl Scouts of America than sweet, delicious cookie sales. Of the many organizations out there for young women and girls across the country, the Girl Scouts provide an experience entirely worth talking about during Women’s History Month, so let’s do it.

When it comes to the Girl Scouts, I may be a little bit biased. I have been an active Girl Scout member for the majority of my life; I was a scout from Daisies to Seniors, and have been a Girl Scouts employee since I left my troop in high school. I am currently twenty-one, so that makes my time with the Girl Scouts over fifteen years, about 75% of my lifetime. I can say all I want about my own personal experiences with the Girl Scouts – and I will, but later. First, a little history.

The Girl Scouts were founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low. She gathered 18 girls of all different backgrounds in Savannah, Georgia, to give them an opportunity to learn outdoors skills, leadership, and the power of lending a helping hand. Her vision was to always have programs be “girl-led,” a value the Girl Scouts still hold today, and to give girls the opportunities that they were not afforded during the Progressive Era before women even had the right to vote. 

Throughout the years and around the world, the Girl Scouts have added new programs and afforded new opportunities for girls. Girl Scouts provided relief during the Great Depression and taught women survival skills during World War II, held “Speak Out” sessions for racial equality during the 1960s, and viewed the moon landing of Apollo 12 as guests of NASA. There are global Girl Scout Troops, and Girl Scout camps all across the country to aid girls in their outdoor education and love of nature, one of Ms. Low’s first ideals.

Today, there are 2.5 million active Girl Scouts worldwide.

1.8 million girls and 800,000 adults can be found in over 90 countries all over the world. 50 million women globally are Girl Scout alumni; that’s more individuals than the entire population of Spain. Girl Scouts still sell cookies – with a whole bunch of new delicious flavors – and from this, they learn important marketing, budgeting, entrepreneurship, and STEM skills.

Speaking of STEM, the Girl Scouts have some of the best current STEM programs out there for young women today – and I should know, I’ve led some of those programs! Girls can earn badges, complete Journeys, or partner with one of the numerous Girl Scout partner organizations to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and math.

In closing, I’d like to say a few words about my own experience with the Girl Scouts. I understand that my own experience is not like everyone else’s. I’ve met plenty of women who quit after one year of Daisy’s and still add up to that 50 million number I mentioned earlier. Some women were in Girl Scouts for years and didn’t want to be. I wasn’t even sure if the Girl Scouts was right for me when I first started working as a camp counselor seven years ago. But what I do know is this: the Girl Scouts afford opportunities to women that I would not have been able to get anywhere else. It is an organization that I believe in, and that I know believes in me. The Girl Scout Mission states that:

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

Because I have been a Girl Scout, not because I have been one for so many years, I believe this mission has come true for me. I have courage, I am confident in myself, and am always reevaluating my character as a woman. And of course, what Girl Scout doesn’t want to make the world a better place?

• girl scouts
• STEM
• Women's History Month