FYI

Hello Readers,

Just a heads up - I will be on vacation all next week, and will be adding no new posts. Have a wonderful Holiday. Cheers, Josh

Washington Art Camp Garners Gold Award

There is another truly inspiring Gold Award story this week - this time coming from The Weatchee World in Washington. Sixteen-year-old Kay Havlicek organized a free, week long children’s art camp in August 2008. It was aimed at reaching kids whose parents might not be able to afford the typical art summer camp. The project was the culmination of the Wenatchee teenager’s participation in Girl Scouts that earned her a Gold Award - the highest Girl Scout honor - in April.

One amazing aspect of the story is Havlicek's resilience in the face of a debilitating brain tumor. The diagnosis - a dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor - a rare, very slow growing benign brain tumor assumed to be present since birth. A surgery took away some of the pain - the headaches she refers to as “brain freeze” and a migraine-type headache - but despite the surgery to remove the tumor, Havliceck still has constant headaches and does not know their cause. Despite all of this, she continues to work toward instilling the joy of art in others. She has a passion for art and says half of the closet in her room is filled with her art and supplies. Be sure to read the entire article, and share with us inspiring examples of Girl Scouting in your communities.

Girl Scouts Go Platinum

Congratulations to The Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council, whose Science and Technology Lodge in Hockessin, DE, has been awarded the platinum certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It is the first building in Delaware to attain this top rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED rating system is an internationally recognized green building certification system that verifies that a facility was designed and built to improve performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources and sensitivity to the impact of resources on the environment.

Going for the Gold

In Endwell, NY, Maine-Endwell High School Junior Hannah Valentine is working to achieve the highest honor in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award, by bringing good things out of a tragic situation.

On April 4 of this year, A gunman in Binghampton, NY, barricaded the back door of the American Civic Association community center with his car and then opened fire on a room of immigrants taking a citizenship class, killing 13 people before committing suicide. Among those was Almir Alves - from Brazil - in the U.S. doing post-doctorate work at Binghamton University.

After the tragedy at the American Civic Association earlier this year, Valentine had the idea of having 4th graders at Homer Brink Elementary write to students in the hometown where Alves lived. Speaking to News Channel 34 in Binghampton, Valentine said, "I thought about something that I wanted to do and accomplish with my project. I knew something that was important to me was spreading awareness and making people aware of diversity. Also, I wanted to help people in need. I knew that the children in Brazil live in an impoverished area."

Make sure you check out Hannah's inspiring project and, while you're at it, let us know of any Gold Award projects in your communities that inspire you.

Utah Girl Scout Fights for Diabetes Awareness

The Deseret News has a truly awesome story about Genevieve Ellis, a Salt Lake City Girl Scout who was recently honored at a press conference by the American Diabetes Association, for her efforts to share her story and warn people of the risks involved with Diabetes.

Laura Landon, executive director of Utah's ADA chapter, presented Genevieve with the American Diabetes Association Teaching Award during the press conference and stated,

"We can have doctors and endocrinologists speak, and people don't listen, but
they listen to a 14-year-old."

Inspired by the death of her Grandmother and her Mother's own Diagnosis with Diabetes - Genevieve runs her own blog, Inspired By Diabetes - which has become the centerpiece for a new public awareness campaign, Faces of Diabetes - designed to give the people of Utah information they need to either avoid or postpone contracting the disease, and to give them hope for the future if they already have it. Definitely check out the article, Genevieve's Blog and see her video posted blow:

President’s Volunteer Service Award

In Connecticut, The Weston Forum is reporting on Weston Middle School seventh grade students Danielle DeCanio and Sydney Fain, who have been awarded the 2009 President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing over 50 hours of voluntary service, individually.

For the award, both girls assisted their Girl Scout troop in collecting diapers and backpacks for the Community Closet facility in Bridgeport. Separately, Danielle helped run two school food drives, while Sydney participated in “The 30-Hour Famine,” an international youth movement to raise awareness and money to help eradicate world hunger. Two fantastic examples of community minded individuals indeed - Congrats to both Danielle and Sydney!

Girls' Self-Esteem Coming Under Fire

Girls' self-esteem coming under fire is the headline of a fantastic article running today in Alabama's Times Daily. The article deals with the external pressures set on girls to attain a certain type of body in today's society. Of the beauty standard, author Jess Weiner says it's not up to the girls to decide:

"Women's bodies for a long time have been separated from women's lives... We're
used to seeing women's bodies pulled apart and hyper-airbrushed so as to look
like mechanized, robotic images of a woman's body."

Evidence of this is not hard to miss - check out website about-face.org for a more in depth analysis of media messages that affect self-esteem and body image.

The Times Daily piece also touches base with GSUSA's own Judy Schoenberg. Schoenberg relates research to the topic conducted by The Girl Scout Research Institute by saying,

"In 2006, we released a report called the 'New Normal' about what girls say
about healthy living, and we talked in terms of the childhood obesity epidemic,
how they define health and what health means to them... What we found is that
girls view health not just about physical health, but there's an emotional
component to it, too."

Make sure you check out the article - and let us know your thoughts on the matter. What connections do you make between the media and self-esteem?

Weekend Run-Down

Welcome to this Monday's Weekend Run-Down - there is much to cover, so let's get to work:

• In California, Girl Scouts helped The Woodland Food Closet by delivering donations. Read about it in The Woodland Daily Democrat.
• In Bellingham, WA, The News Tribune reports on how 1950s Girl Scout Troop #2 proved life-changing for local woman.
• In Illinois, The Bloomington Pantagraph says, "Girl Scouts still relevant nearly a century later " - We say, awesome!
• In Great Falls, MT, Girl Scouts from troops across the the state got together and danced the night away with their favorite men...their dads! It was a Sadie Hawkins style dance and fundraiser - read about it via Montana's News Station.
• Nevada Appeal reports that more than 150 overseas troops will soon receive a sweet memento from Carson City, thanks to the efforts of Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 176.
• In New Jersey, The Asbury Park Press explains how the Girl Scouts nut program helps FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
• Last but never least, more White House news: The Desoto Times-Tribune in Mississippi is reporting that more than 500 Girl Scouts, including cadettes, seniors and ambassadors, are helping decorate the White House for the holidays.

Enjoy.

LMK Tours the Conference Circuit

In late October, I was honored to attend California's Women's Conference, on behalf of LMK(Let Me Know)- Girl Scouts of the USA's online safety initiative launched through a partnership with Microsoft Windows. At the conference I met Paula Deen, Maria Shriver, Geena Davis and along with my colleagues, spread the word about GSUSA's commitment to making the Internet a safer place for girls.

The following week, on the same topic, my colleagues got the opportunity to attend FOSI, Family Online Safety Institute Conference in Washington DC. More importantly was the presence of five teens (representing Greater New York and Northern New Jersey Councils) from the LMK Online Safety initiative. Cadettes to Ambassadors took center stage at the FOSI’s first Teen Panel Session, moderated by Marsali Hancock, the President of iKeepSafe. The session highlighted how and why teens use the Internet today and their behaviors and usage trends. They were joined by international students from Denmark, Brazil and members of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington. Our girl representatives also attended various breakout sessions including Getting Kids Hooked on Safety When They are Young and Kids On the Go – Challenges Confronting Mobility. See a video of the events at FOSI posted below and let us know what measures you take to keep safe online.

Flocking, V2.0

Let's revisit one of my all time favorite fund raising ideas: Flocking! What is flocking you may ask? Flocking is surprising someone by decorating their yards with an army of plastic pink flamingos - probably the best idea ever. Unsurprisingly, this is fast becoming a fund raising trend among Girl Scouts.

In North Platte, NE, NBC News 2 is reporting on Jayla Trosper, a scout who is flocking to raise money in order for her troop to visit Savannah Georgia - the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, who was the founder of girl scouts - and all around beautiful city... In other news, I wish I had a yard for people to flock. I am a big proponent of pink flamingo decorations, in any capacity.