Volunteer Connections by Girl Scouts of Nassau County

Sunday, I attended the Girl Scouts of Nassau County Gold Award Ceremony. As the Director of Marketing, this event is full of anxiety for me. I worry that everything is going to go right. Are the Gold Award Recipients and their families going to think the day was special? Will all the media presentations run without a hitch? Will enough Chorus members show up so we can do the planned repertoire? These are just details.   This anxiety is always overshadowed by the other emotions I feel on this day. I am filled with pride for all the accomplishments of the girls we honor at this event. Yesterday it was 74 young women. I am filled with wonder at how many people they have helped through their projects. They are the cream of the crop in the Girl Scout world but they represent all the 22,000 girls in Nassau County on this day. I am curious about where these girls will be in five years. At the ceremony Danielle D’Ambrioso answered that question as the keynote speaker and a 2004 Gold Award Re

Take Actio n is where the rubber meets the road. A goal without a plan is just an unfulfilled wish. As girls “Discover” and “Connect” they will see areas in our world that need their attention, problems that need to be solved and wrongs that need to be righted.  If we only bring girls to awareness, then we have not done our job. Girls must be empowered to Take Action to make the world a better place.     Because all of the programs and activities in Girl Scouting are age-appropriate, the action steps are geared to a girl’s capacity.  As an example, let’s take the issue of bullying – something that receives a lot of press these days, and is one of Girl Scouts of Nassau’s County’s priorities in our Critical Issues Initiative .  Action for a girl in kindergarten might be to recognize that someone is being bullied or picked-on, and then just going to an adult to get help.  For girls in elementary school, action might include befriending someone who is the target of aggression or even spe

Connect   - In Girl Scouting girls learn to connect with other girls, adults and even with ideas … Girls who are part of a Girl Scout Troop are often lucky enough to have a built-in set of friends, along with a caring group of adults to support them.  These friendships can go with a girl throughout her life.  -- I’m still friends with Sandy Chojnowski, who was in my Brownie Troop in 1958!    Girl Scouting also takes girls outside their comfortzone and helps them to connect with other girls, and with a wide range of people in their community and beyond. Camping and Girl Scout  destinations! offer great opportunities for expanded connections within the Girl Scout family.  Participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program® can connect girls with the public, and with the world of commerce and business. Providing quality customer service is a prime connection that even a child will understand and value.  Everyone appreciates being treated with a smile and a few kinds words during any busine

Discover, Connect and Take Action are the keys to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Most people know about the fun things that Girl Scouts do, how they hang out with their friends and laugh a lot, how their Troops take on projects to help the community, how girls do crafty things and maybe go to camp.   All of these activities are calculated to help girls build courage, confidence and character so that they can make the world a better place.  So, how does this work together? … All Girl Scout of Nassau County activities and programs use at least one of the three keys.  Some activities incorporate two or even all three … Lots of top thinkers and practitioners in youth development have been part of designing the new Girl Scout Leadership experience, and while we have new books and materials, all of this builds on a strong foundation of Girl Scout programs and activities that have been around for almost a century! The following three blog entries will discuss each of these keys. Le