Voting and Veterans Cards!

At this meeting (Nov. 6) we had the girls vote on the area they wanted to focus on for their Bronze Project. These girls have such big hearts, they want to help a LOT of different groups -- sick babies in the neonatal unit, kids in orphanages, animal shelters, seniors, the environment/parks, underprivileged kids who don't have a lot of books or toys, etc., etc.! We needed to get them to narrow their focus so we could figure out how to best use their time and our resources for their Bronze Award.

Here's the interesting thing: Many Girl Scout troops do ONE thing for their Bronze Project. These girls have so much energy and enthusiasm we will be doing service projects all year long! How amazing is that?! Talk about the Girl Scout slogan: "Leave a place better than how you found it." They are living examples of making the world a better place!

The "vote" on a Bronze project "won" by one vote: Helping Animals. But we plan to also help many other organizations this year, including making a meal for the homeless on December 5, making blankets for Neonatal babies on November 20 and collecting books for needy kids at a Hammond School. Letters keep pouring in in response to the girls' letters to community organizations, and we're confident we will be able to help many other organizations this year.

Suzanne and I are working to give the girls choices on how they want to help animals, whether it's through the Humane Society, a group called Power Paws, or another local shelter that assists wildlife. We will keep you posted on our plans.

At the end of our meeting, with Veterans Day coming up, the girls made cards for service men and women. I am mailing them to an organization that gets letters to service men and women currently serving in our Armed Forces. I'm sure these will brighten their day!

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!

Camp Tecumseh September 19-20!

Camp Tecumseh is always a good idea! This year, September 19-20, was one of our best yet! We had so much fun hanging out together, exploring camp, horseback riding, doing archery, climbing, riflery, hiking through the woods and enjoying a campfire and s'mores!


It's hard to believe many of us have been returning to Camp T. for Girl Scout fun since these girls were in second grade. Time really does fly!

The weather was perfect fall weather, sunny and a little cool at night, but warm during the day. Everyone had a great weekend!

We're In The Army Now!

Military Police Officer Brooke Ellis shares one of her M.R.E.s (meals ready to eat) with the girls

Wow! What a visit we had when Brooke Ellis came to town!

Brooke is not only the daughter of Frank Hammond Principal Nancy Ellis, but she's an inspiring hero in her own right! Brooke is a trained military police officer and soon-to-become second lieutenant in the U.S. Army!

She is a senior at Purdue University, a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and a member of the National Guard!

She has won honors for her accomplishments in physical contests against her fellow students, often beating her male fellow soldiers at number of push-ups, a "hang" test, etc.!

The girls loved her visit so much they were literally begging her for more! More meals-ready-to-eat (M.R.E.s); more military-style drills (in the FHH library!), and more show-and-tell with her cool military sleeping bag system, ammo pouch, load-bearing vest and other gear!

The girls again asked some great questions as they explored the roles for women in the military.

Brooke explained that the best way to battle stereotypes that women aren't as strong as men is simply to "overcome them."

"Show guys women are just as good if not better than guys at many things," she said.

Brooke said she was inspired to go into the military by playing with GI Joe dolls growing up and the fact that her grandparents and father were in the Army. She said she has three older brothers, none of whom went into the military. Her family was supportive of her desire to be an officer, but wanted her to make sure she got an education first.

Brooke taught the girls some basic training and how to salute!

Lindsey Army crawls through as the girls "Igloo Up!"

Tori Army crawls through the troop igloo.

Brooke leads the girls through a drill called "Front! Back! Go!"

Brooke explains some of her boot-camp drills!

Who knew M.R.E.s could be so popular?! ;-)

So grateful we've had such great speakers so far!

The girls, meanwhile, are doing an awesome job filling out their journals and bringing their great ideas for a Bronze (community service) project to our meetings! Keep up the GREAT work, girls!

We got to Camp Tecumseh next weekend and then have a pause before our next meeting on Friday, October 16. The girls should be filling out their journals through "Section Three" and keep writing down any project ideas for improving our community in the Bronze (tabbed) section of the journal. If we add in any extra activities or meetings we'll keep you posted!

Moviemaker inspiration!

Kendall Goldberg, FHH graduate and 20-year-old Hollywood moviemaker!

                                     

A movie maker.

A military police officer.

A professional artist and painter.

A neonatal nurse.

What do these women have in common?

They are all busy inspiring Troop 10265 this year!

Our girls are hearing from many incredible young women as they learn about different roles for women, part of a Girl Scout journey they are taking. This leadership journey is designed to help them learn who they are now and who they may want to become in the future. 

Our first guest was the awesome Kendall Goldberg, a former Frank Hammond student and MHS 2013 graduate who is a real Hollywood moviemaker!

An award-winning director at the ripe old age of 20, Kendall has already made several short films that have been shown at film festivals. Some of her films can be seen on her website www.kendallgoldbergfilms.com. They include Washing Away, which she made while at junior at Munster High School, Water, and Bark Mitzvah. She just filmed her very first feature-length film over the summer in Michigan called Lake Effect. 

Kendall is in her junior year of film school at Chapman University in California. She spoke to the girls via FaceTime, and they were able to interview her and see her on the white board in Room 7 during our meeting. One of her filmmaking friends, Trevor, also stopped by to talk about how Kendall's work ethic and persistence inspired him to never give up on his filmmaking dreams.

Kendall on the set of her feature film, The Lake Effect

                   

                               

The girls asked Kendall all about her life as a movie maker and if she faced stereotypes and how she overcame them. Kendall said she faced stereotypes "every day" as one of a small number of female film students at her university. But she said they don't stand in her way as a filmmaker. "If anyone ever tells me I can't do something, it just motivated me and I think, 'Someday, you'll be watching my movies,' " she said.

"I'm a filmmaker who happens to be a girl," she said.

Kendall shooting her movie Water

                                  

                                              

While growing up she said her mom and grandmother inspired her to follow her dreams and work hard. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it!" they told her.

She started making movies when she was just five years old! She went on to act in plays at Wilbur Wright Middle School and Munster High School and to be a part of the high school speech and debate team. She said both helped her to be more confident when talking to people in Holkywood as a filmmaker.

After our girls talked about their favorite characters from movies or books and other entries from their journals, Kendall shared her favorites, including Katniss from the Hunger Games, Merida from Brave, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Anna Kendrick from Pitch Perfect and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean.

As the girls mentioned their favorites and we compared them later with Kendall's answers, we noticed a common theme: They were all brave, confident young women. Just like the girls of Troop 10265!

The girls made collages representing themselves

         

Kendall's great advice!

       

                              

Kendall directing a movie

                       

                                             

Make Your Own Cookie/Lemonade Stand (August 30)

This is an example of how to sell those Girl Scout Cookies! In our own case, we had some extras. We saved them to give as "thank you" gifts to speakers for our troop, but also we had a feeling people might be excited to buy some in the "off season," the end of summer. On August 30 we set up a combined lemonade/cookie stand that Naomi and Julianna staffed outside our house. Cars started stopping immediately! We did very well that day. Naomi and Julianna worked hard on a very hot day!

Later in the fall, Tresa Radermacher, head of Munster Mints, bought the remainder of our cookies. 

Troop 10265 sold all of our cookies!

Girl Scouts 2015-2016

Welcome Back!

Hello All and welcome back to another year of Girl Scouts! We met once over the summer to go fishing at Oak Ridge Prairie, which was a lot of fun for all! Jilli's Dad, Gerry, was an awesome fishing teacher and most of the girls caught a fish and all learned to cast. Everyone wants to go back another time and Gerry says he's up for going again, too! Don't miss it if we try this again! The girls also learned the basics of building a campfire and we roasted hot dogs and s'mores.

Julianna with a blue gill

Jilli and Gerry with a catfish!

We're looking forward to another fun year of Girl Scouts! This year the girls can earn the third-highest award in Girl Scouts: The Bronze Award. This one is based around a community service project. We've asked them to look for ideas of things that can be improved upon in the community when they're out and about and record their ideas in the journals we gave them at our first meeting, August 21. Please encourage them to bring any bronze ideas they have to our meetings and jot down ideas in their journals. These could be things like beautifying a neighborhood park, helping sick kids in the hospital, cheering up a senior citizen home, helping create something useful at a school, etc.

For the beginning of the school year, we'll be focusing on helping the girls complete a "Girl Scout journey" designed to help them explore different women's roles. This journey is required before we can earn a bronze award. Some of the journey will explore stereotypes about women and how to break those stereotypes and build self esteem and confidence. This is especially good timing since they'll be transitioning to middle school next year. The stronger and more self-confident they are now, the easier the transition will be to middle school.

The girls are to complete the first three sections in their journals by our next meeting, September 4. These sections include: Who are you right now? (a few short sentences describing themselves: "I am a sister. I am good at climbing and love to ride my scooter. I am a dancer.") The second section includes naming their favorite five characters in books or movies (this can also include TV shows). The third section involves them writing all the women they meet in their daily lives and what qualities they have -- so, for example, they might name their teacher and what they like about her; or their pediatrician and whatever her qualities are).

We'll be talking about what they've written in their journals in upcoming meetings so, the more the girls bring their ideas, the better our discussions will be. 

The girls made yarn dolls out of pipe cleaners and yarn at our first meeting to represent someone they admire. Some made dolls of famous gymnasts; others made teachers or parents. It was great to see their creativity! They seemed to love the craft so we'll do more like these!

We are looking forward to our annual trip to Camp Tecumseh with the other FHH Girl Scout troops September 19 & 20. Checks made out to Troop 10265 will be due at our next meeting Sept. 4, along with permission slips. If you didn't already contribute $10 per girl toward snack this year, please get that to us before the next meeting. We also need EVERYONE to read and initial/sign their health histories for themselves and their daughters. Most of you did this at our first meeting, but if you haven't yet, please plan on doing so September 4. And register yourself and your daughter for Girl Scouts if you haven't already done so. Thanks! 

UPCOMING CALENDAR 2015-2016
September 4

September 19-20 -- Camp Tecumseh

October 16

October 23

November 6

November 20

December 4

January 15

January 29

February 12

March 11

April 8

April 22

May 6

May 20

Hammond Mission, CBS News, Culture Fest and Cookies!

Time for an update on Troop 10265! I haven't updated the blog since November -- too busy! We have done a LOT since then!

In November, we cooked and served a meal for the Hammond Mission. It was a GREAT day! The girls (and parents and siblings) all pitched in to make spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and brownies. We all had fun cooking and the girls earned their "Simple Meals" badge! (Be sure and let them practice cooking at home, too, if you aren't already! They are pretty skilled in the kitchen!)

Once we had everything cooked, we drove to the Hammond Mission to set up and serve lunch. I think everyone there enjoyed it a lot. Ava led us in grace and everyone was able to take turns serving and asking people if they wanted seconds or thirds. I was impressed with how well the girls were able to talk to people at the shelter and make them feel that it was our pleasure to serve them lunch, which it was! We had some leftover food that we were able to donate to another area shelter the same day. I'm so proud of our troop for giving back to the community this way! Parents who helped set a great example for the girls, too. Hopefully all of the girls will be inspired to continue being involved in community service for their whole lives!

Next up we visited CBS News in Chicago for the "Entertainment Technology" badge. Mr. Dodge led us on a tour of the station, where the girls saw how producers and writers come up with the news stories for each broadcast, how the control room works, and learned some history of the CBS Chicago station (site of the Presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy).

Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist explained "green screen" technology to the girls. The girls' green vests blended right in to the weather maps on the screen, so it looked like they were being overtaken by storms! All the girls got to try their hand at seeing how to use the green screen.

Lindsey and Julianna try the green screen and their vests blend right in!

With Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist

A Troop 10265 Forecast!

Anchor Jim Williams let the girls not only watch his rehearsal for the evening news, but also let them stay in the studio for the live (!) broadcast. I was so proud of the girls because they stayed super quiet during the news! During the broadcast we got to see the remote-controlled cameras at work in the studio. At the end of the broadcast, the girls were able to stand outside and BE on the actual news at the end, with Jim Williams mentioning our troop as being from Munster! It was exciting!

Hopefully the girls learned a little something about the news business and the technology used to bring us the news. Maybe one of them will be inspired to go into the news, technology or entertainment business someday!

Learning how a producer writes the news for the broadcast.

Live, on the actual CBS Chicago News, Troop 10265!

Troop in the newsroom

We also got ready for the holidays by making yarn and twig ornaments for the "Go Green!" themed Girl Scout tree at the Center for Performing Arts. We learned about making a campfire by making our own edible campfires, and the girls all said they wanted to go camping as a troop!

In January and February we spent time preparing for Culture Fest. We made beaded animals to represent the many creatures in our country, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Mr. Raffin helped get us on the right track with the craft (Eagle Scouts can do anything!) and the girls took it from the there, making dozens of beaded animals on their own at home and in a couple of crafting sessions together.

I can't thank the parents, siblings, and girls enough for all the help before, during and after Culture Fest. Mrs. Regan made beautiful scarves for the girls to wear as costumes. Mrs. Perez made amazing arroz con pollo. Mr. Perez, Mrs. Perez, Mr. Regan, Mrs. Heritage, Mr. and Mrs. Raffin, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Christopher, Mrs. Surd and Mr. Dodge helped us  to decorate, supervise, set up and clean up afterward and the girls proved that they are natural businesswomen! They walked around Wilbur Wright selling our foods and crafts and, in the end, our troop made $389 in ticket sales! (With expenses, we made a tiny profit, but still, we did very well!)

At the same time the girls have been working hard to sell cookies during a very long and snowy winter! So proud of them for not giving up!

We had a cookie booth sale at Strak's in Schererville in February where the girls worked very hard and sold a LOT of cookies. Each girl who worked will get credit for selling 31 boxes. We also raised more money in donations to be able to send "Gift of Caring" cookies to the military.

Initial order!!

Team Regan at work selling cookies in Strak's

Final cookie orders are due THIS FRIDAY MARCH 13 in one email to Mr. Dodge or me and I will pick up your final orders at the cookie cupboard and should have them ready for you to pickup this Sunday, March 15, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.


Final Cookie Money (100 percent of what you owe including any toffeetastic orders) is due by no later than 3 p.m. Friday March 20 so we have time to deposit it before we leave for Spring Break. (I do have extra gluten-free toffeetastics. They are $5 a box and they are DELICIOUS so let me know if you want to add any on. We were lucky to get the ones we have because they are in high demand in our area!

Thanks all for being so good about making deadlines so far and for working so hard to help your daughters with their sales! Many have exceeded this year's troop goal of 150 boxes! I'm sure they would have had a tough time doing that without some awesome moms and dads, so thank you!

Next up on our calendar will be our next meeting Friday April 10 after school. Tea Party at Hartsfield Village (and bingo with the seniors) on Saturday April 11 at 1:30 p.m. (We spent our last meeting getting ready for the tea party, transplanting African violets and decorating pots that we will bring as gifts to the tea party. The girls also earned their gardening badge and brought a tomato plant (in seed form) home. We got a visit from master gardener Susan Radovich, who taught us a bit about gardening and even brought her old Girl Scout sash to show us!

Whew, that'll teach me to wait so long before updating this blog!