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You may be wondering what cookies have to do with manatees. 

For one thing, we sell cookies in the winter in our council, and in winter manatees swim in from cold water in the Gulf of Mexico looking for warm water springs. The other way that cookies have to do with manatees, is that my troop and I saved cookie proceeds from our sale last year and used those profits to take our own trip to warm waters to swim with the manatees. It was an awesomely awesome experience!

We snorkeled and saw 15 to 20 manatees. Some of them were swimming and "walking" along the bottom, but most of them were sleeping and if you stayed still long enough you could watch them rise to the top to breath and sink back down. 

We also went to Homosassa State Park wildlife refuge which you should check out if you are in the Crystal River area. We heard an interesting presentation on the manatees and we also met Lu, a hippo! He's not a native animal of Florida, but the Governor declared him a citizen, so he lives in the state park. He turns 57 this week! 

Everyone in our council should make the trip to see the manatees one winter.

by Press Rep Claire and Lisa Harden

 

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Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama, and our community, lost a bright light with the recent  passing of Susan Deloney.


Girl Scouting can mean different things to different people, but for Ms. Susan, Girl Scouting meant going new places and trying new things.  Ms. Susan always thought big and when there was a trip opportunity, she encouraged us to take it--to Gulf Port, to Dauphin Island, to Atlanta etc.  Because our troop covers the cost of troop trips, to go on these trips, we had to raise money by selling cookies. Ms. Susan was a talented Cookie Chair for four years for our troop.  She would explain to us during cookie training what it would cost for us to take the trip, and then she would help us sell enough cookies to get to that goal. She juggled booth schedules, made countless trips to the cupboard, and always had cookies to sell in her car.

 

We always did Walk About Weekend in her neighborhood, and she opened her house up to all of us to come in and out while we did it.  But, the Deloneys' house was always kind of that way--people stopping by and coming in and out. Ms Susan did not know many strangers.

She was active with our troop in other ways too.  When we decided to make our own troop shirts, she taught herself to tie-dye, bought the supplies, and then helped us make troop shirts.  She went on our camping trips with us and helped comfort younger girls new to camping. She also loaned us beautiful kimonos to wear for our Thinking Day celebration and loaned us her big family tent to take on a trip that she could not go on with us. 

 

We will miss Susan so much, but we will carry the memory of her boundless enthusiasm and big heart with us forever.

 

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Press Rep JaKayla and her Girl Scout Troop 9128 participated in the Sister to Sister - Helping Louisiana Flood Victims community service project.  Here is her report:

Recently I was privileged to be given the opportunity to assist in the Louisiana flood victim supply drive hosted by our Girl Scouts.

As we loaded the truck for our items to be delivered, It really saddened me that the flood victims of Louisiana have had to endure such catastrophic events not one time but a second time within a few years. I know that this will be difficult for them but I also understand that this will make them stronger individuals. 

This experience has taught me that communities are families, they are key factors in the success of building up those who are weak or those who have fallen. I must say that those cases of bottled water were really heavy, though. I was a little flushed; honestly, I was really tired after the supply/food drive, but the great feeling that I had after helping load the trailer and drinking the vanilla bean cotton candy frappe' that my mom gave me was unexplainable. Honestly, it was a great feeling and also rewarding.

Along with our city leaders, civil service people, and other governing bodies, we Girl Scouts have a lot of work to do. Let's get busy and be proactive in our community. 

Last but not least, I hope that our donations will give them a sense of hope, love, and comfort in knowing that the Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama really cares. 

Thanks A lot-Jakayla 
Signing Out From Troop 9128 

 

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This was such a good program to be in. But Program Aide is a serious program and you need to be ready for a class. It is very informational and I enjoyed it very much. But this is just the training; you still have to do service hours. They give you a list of things that you can choose from to do the hours.  They give you different scenarios so that you are familiar with them all.

You make tons of new friends. And we may have eaten some Girl Scouts cookies. I love this program and I think you will, too. 

-- Press Rep Abby

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I had the opportunity to interview Girl Scout Ambassador, Deja Chappell. Deja is a Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP) graduate who will be attending Yale in 2017. She was selected to participate in the 2016 United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP). The USSYP has a very competitive application process. Only two students from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity are selected to attend what is known as "Washington Week."The selectees were also awarded a $10,000 scholarship.

Deja began Girl Scout in first grade as a Daisy and remained until she graduated high school. Although, she didn't earn awards she made memories that will last a lifetime. Deja's favorite memory was learning to sail at Kamp Kiwanis. She enjoyed going to Kamp Kiwanis every summer as a Girl Scout so much so, that she became a camp counselor. She loved working at camp, however, Deja said if she could change one thing about camp it would be the cost. She would like to have grants available so more girls could experience Kamp Kiwanis which could possibly add more diversity among the girls.

Deja has been a leader in class as well as in Girl Scouts so I asked her what advice she had for other girls. She said "follow your passion". If there is something that you want to do, don't allow your gender or fear to keep you from it. Instead, research about it and DO IT!

-- Press Rep Allyson, Troop 9327

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Troop 7182 of Auburn remodeled the two playrooms at Hosanna Homes, a residential facility where women undergoing a addiction recovery program may live with their children. 

 

One of the Troop's Co-leaders is a volunteer at Hosanna Homes; she took the four Cadettes on a field trip to learn about Hosanna Homes. The Cadettes saw the state of the playrooms, and decided to help with cleaning, shelving and organization. 

 

The children at Hosanna Homes were very excited at the prospect of the newly-painted room, with its new bookshelves full of new toys. They really wanted to help out the Girl Scouts! 

 

Emily, Elisa, Emma, and Carly all worked on this project. Their takeaway from this project? They were made aware of addiction recovery and learned many life skills including budgeting, following directions, serving others, working together as a team and time management. 

 

Congratulations, Girl Scouts!

 

 

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Emily of Troop 9080, chose dyslexia education and collecting books for Ronald McDonald House for her Bronze Award project.  

She educated people in her school and her community about dyslexia, and how it affects not just reading but other everyday activities. She created flyers with facts about dyslexia and activities to help the public understand the condition. She did presentations to educate friends, family and the public and collected books at these presentations to donate to Ronald McDonald House.



Boxes of books are heavy!

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Excellent project, excellent work, Emily!
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For the past two years, some of the Cadettes in my troop (9327) and I have been babysitters for the Army!  

The Soldier and Family Assistance Program for Montgomery's Recruiting Battalion has an Annual Training Meeting Banquet at Maxwell Air Force Base. This year it was on June 3, 2016.  

Several of the Cadettes in my troop and I earned our Babysitting badge at the Badge Day put on by the Kappa Deltas at Troy University.  We used what we learned earning our badge while we babysat the children of the Army officers who attended the training banquet.  We watched some really young kids who were still in diapers and also some older kids who wanted to play board games and Twister.  

We were glad to help the Army in this way, and had fun too.

-- Press Rep Claire

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Jeralynn has been a Girl Scout for 10 years, beginning as a Brownie. She earned her Bronze Award, evaluating the effects of plastic bags on the environment. Jeralynn will graduate from Spanish Fort High School in 2016, and will attend University of Southern Mississippi, studying business and dance. Her proud parents are Mark and Deann Servos of Spanish Fort. 

Jeralynn researched the effects of reading to young children. Her Gold Award Take Action Project, "Give a Book, Build a Future!" was created to provide books to children and families who cannot afford them and to promote early reading. While the parents are being interviewed about their situation at Prodisee Pantry, a volunteer reads to the children. The children are able to take the books home with them along with the food they received. She contacted all her local public, school, and church libraries to see if they would help by donating books. The support was overwhelming. Over 2000 gently used books were donated.

How did you come up with your idea? I can remember always being read to before bed by my parents, babysitters, or friends. I loved spending time with them while hearing a good story or while looking at the pictures in a book. I still enjoy reading and want other children to be able to have these same memories. After researching the effects of reading to young children and seeing all the positive outcomes, I decided this would be the perfect project for me to do.

Were you intimidated by the scale of the project? At first, I wasn't sure how much work this project would actually take. Getting into it, I did feel some intimidation from the scale of it. However, it taught me how to work harder and how to balance my time more.

How did you keep up the momentum for the project? I set goals and dates that I wanted parts of my project to be finished by. Having groups come in every few weeks to help kept me motivated to keep going. I think seeing the children's smiles every week was the biggest factor in keeping the momentum going.

Were you ever discouraged? If so, what did you do to overcome that? There were points that became pretty tough, but I never really felt discouraged. I had so much support from the community that I could tell that my project would be successful and be carried on by some great individuals in my community.

Can you tell us a little story about some part of your project that was special to you? Something funny, or touching, or that went terribly wrong and how you fixed it? When I think about my project, I always think about one of the little boys that was read to. He chose a book filled with pictures of animals. I watched as one of the volunteers read to him. He had the biggest smile on his face while he pointed at the silly pictures. After his mother received food assistance, she came and watched her son continuously laugh. She told the volunteer reader thank you over and over again after she found out he could keep the book along with others he chose. This moment made me feel proud because I could see my project making a difference.

How will people benefit from this? Many statistics show that children who are read to at a young age will have better grades in school. The low income children who are read to while their parents are receiving food assistance, will be exposed to books and develop a love of reading thus building a brighter future!

How did you feel after you finished? I was really proud when I finished the project. "Give a Book, Build a Future!" was more successful than I had originally planned. It was great to see all the support I received from the community.

What advice would you give to other girls considering a Gold Award? Find something you feel strongly about! Find something you are passionate about! Find something that impacts something you love! It will make it easier for you to stay motivated and will make the process more enjoyable. Also, don't wait until last minute to do your project. Start before your Senior year of high school if possible. This way you won't be as busy and will have more time just in case you run into any bumps in the road.

Your Gold Project made a change for the better in your community. Did it change you? What will you take away from this experience? My project helped me to remain humble and helped to remind me to not take the small things for granted. Seeing the way the children's faces and even their parent's faces would light up when they were told they could keep the books made it all worth it. I used to see it as just a simple book, but now I know that something so simple can mean so much to someone else.
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Three girls from Troop 9327 built a rolling book cart for the Nehemiah Center in Montgomery, collected and labeled books for it, and read to afterschool care kids and ESL (English as a Second Language) kids. 

The Girl Scouts wanted to tutor children and so they spoke with the Director of the Nehemiah Project (a Christian Community Development Program which provides after school care and other programs in a lower-income community). The Director expressed that the Center really needed a rolling book cart and Accelerated Reader program books. The Girl Scouts chose this as their project, and also to read to the children after school with the books they would donate. 

 The Girl Scouts felt that they had a good plan, even though at times the huge stack of books they collected which had to be labeled was a little intimidating. They encouraged one another and worked on their Silver project during their regular meeting time. There was another Silver project being worked on at the same time in their troop, so the entire troop was engaged during meetings on Silver projects.. 

 The Girl Scouts hope that students served by the center will come to love reading. And that the ESL students will improve their English skills and the English skills of their families by checking books out of the cart and taking them home with them. 

 All the girls enjoyed helping the students, and were proud of their accomplishments, and they learned many practical DIY skills along the way with their project.

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