Page 18 - KC Cunningham Issue

"Girl Scouts"… It is more that just Cookies!

Story and Photos By Lisa K. Miller

The young ladies from Girl Scout Troop 8116 are
sophomores at Westview High School in Rancho
Penasquitos. Since they are getting their permits
and learning to drive, they thought it would be a
great Dad and daughter event for them to earn the
Car Sense Interest Project. Together with their
Dads, these girls discovered the inside workings
of a car and basic maintenance techniques. Each
girl learned to check the oil level, check and refill
the washer fluid and coolants. They checked tire
pressure and located the spare tire in their family
car. They also learned how to change a tire and
discovered how hard it can be to loosen lug nuts!
Other requirements included calculating the cost
of owning a car, learning about insurance options
and consequences of
not having insurance.
Police officer Broddas
came to a meeting and
talked about the realities
and consequences of
drinking and driving, and
how to be a safe defen-
sive driver.
18
Most of these girls
have been active in Girl
scouts since Kindergar-
ten. Over the years they
have done fun activities
such as mountain camp-
ing, tent desert camping,
kayaking, and most re-
cently tried White Water
Rafting. Girl scouting
also has a community
service component to it.
Girl Scouts has A High
Level Award for each
Level of scouting. These them several members of this troop choose to do Individual
awards are on average 20-80 hours of work, and include an Silver Award Projects which is the Highest Award a Cadette
education component as well as a community service or im- Girl Scout can achieve. In the next year many will start their
provement component to them. When this troop was in 6th Gold Award which is equivalent to that of a Boy Scout Eagle
grade they spent a weekend renovating a room in the previ- Award.
ous Ronald McDonald house earning their bronze award
for Junior Scouts. They learned to use power tools, built Girl Scouts exposes girls to activities, Interest projects,
head and foot board and frames, created art for the walls, careers, and adventures that they may not have had the
sewed decorator pillows and painted walls. As a group they opportunity to experience otherwise. Girls find out they can
learned the process of a large project. It was an adventure achieve more than they thought initially, discover careers
like the show Trading spaces. With that experience behind that they are passionate about, and help make a difference
in their community.
March/April 2010