Civic Activists!

We had a special meeting October 23 so the girls could narrow their focus for a Bronze Project. I can't even tell you how cool this meeting was! I didn't expect it would be all that exciting, since it involved them writing letters, but it was! 

It seems the girls felt empowered learning to write REAL business letters like adults to local organizations, asking how we could help. They each put their own spin on their letters, which was also very gratifying to see. I can remember back a few years ago, when writing sentences for these girls was a struggle. Now they are able to write persuasive business letters! Amazing to see how they've progressed. Hopefully this is a skill they'll be able to use as they get older, too.

We had each girl write a letter, and some that finished early wrote more than one. We only used first names in the letters and had everyone respond to my home address. We've heard back from several of the organizations and plan to do projects with more than one of them!

Painting! October 16 meeting

A few of our amazing artists! (lots more photos at the bottom of this post...keep reading!)

On Friday, October 16, we had a GREAT meeting featuring Dawn Diamontopoulos, a local artist. She was wonderful with the girls, teaching them to paint a modern "Mondrian" style painting, complete with measuring first, primary colors and canvases.

As the girls asked her questions, we learned that -- even in the art world -- stereotypes exist that male painters are somehow more talented -- or sell their work for more money -- than female artists. The girls were interested to learn that Dawn had to overcome stereotypes to make a name for herself as a female artist, and how she followed her dream to become a painter. 

We talked about gender-based stereotypes the girls might have to break through -- or already have -- in their lives. 

Several brought up the idea that boys are considered "better" at sports or math, and how they have combatted that already by practicing sports or math and proving to others that they are just as good as boys, if not better. 

They are confident girls and we want to keep that going for them, as middle school tends to bring on a loss in self-esteem for so many young girls. The more we can give them skills to break through stereotypes, and be confident in their talents, the better off they will be as they head off to middle school and the teen years.

Example of one of the girl's awesome journal entries where they had to find quotes about success and failure

Suzanne and I have been very happy to see how engaged the girls have been in our discussions. They can't wait to share thoughts from their journal, or just be a part of the discussion on all of the topics that we've covered.

A reminder that Girl Scouts may seem different to you this year because the girls are required to complete a journey (the purpose of the journals and speakers this year) in order to earn the Bronze Award for their Bronze Project, the third highest award in Girl Scouts. We've been surprised how enthusiastic they've been with the curriculum we've come up with. Girl Scouts publishes books with journeys and we have picked and chosen things we think were most relevant or interesting for the girls to do for their journey. Basically we created our own curriculum in the journals. It's meant to get them to think about themselves a bit. 

The journal activities should only take a few minutes of time and they should be doing it between meetings, not in the meeting. We are rewarding them with treats for bringing it (one piece of candy) and for filling out the sections we've asked them to fill out ahead of the meeting (second piece of candy). They really want the candy, as you can imagine!

Dawn talking to the girls

More photos from our cool painting meeting!