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“I’ve learned more about how to be responsible, how to have fun,” said Kierian Kirby, 13. He added, “It’s a great way to meet new friends and have fun.” “I like outings and activities,” said
Cheridan Carter, 9. Her sister, Chynna, 8,
offered, “I like it when we go on outings and
make arts and crafts. I like when we make
things.” |
by Mandy Ochoa
What these kids have in common is they are all scouts. The girls are part of Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia Inc., formerly Concharty Council, and Kierian is a Cub Scout with the Chattahoochee Council of Boy Scouts of America. When school starts, he’ll be a Boy Scout.
The children quoted above are among thousands of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in the region. The 15-county Chattahoochee Council of BSA has some 11,100 youth, including Cub Scouts (grades 1-5), Boy Scouts (6-12), Explorers (males and females age 14-20 years), venture crews (males and females 14-20 years) and students in the in-school learning for life program (K-12 and special needs), according to executive director Don Sharitt.
For the Girl Scouts, it’s 18,000 girls in the newly-created 121-county region. That includes Daisies (grades K-1), Brownies (2-3), Juniors (4-5), Cadets (6-8), Seniors (9-10) and Ambassadors (11th and 12th grades), according to regional director Debbie Caballero.
Asked the most important foundations of scouting, Caballero and Sharitt had similar answers: leadership development, character development and reinforcement of values learned at home.
The Girl Scouts have brand-new program materials starting this fall, the Girl Scout Leadership Development Program, Caballero said. She explained that the materials will be written in language girls at all levels can understand. The three pillars of leadership development are: discover (who she is, what she believes, what her values are); connect (focus on the girl connecting with other girls, other people and their communities); take action (beginning to have a real impact on issues the girl is most passionate about, translating what she learned about herself to impact the world in a way that makes a difference.)
“We’re still girl-focused, still girl-led; we’re becoming an organization focused even more on allowing girls their own journey,” Caballero said, adding, “The core values are still there.”
Similarly, Sharitt said, the basic tenets for the Boy Scouts are leadership development and character formation. Scouting is “an extension of school—the classroom—and home. It reinforces values the parents want their children to have, enforces positive character traits,” Sharitt said.
Not to mention acquiring skills such as lifesaving or tying a knot, pursuing interests such as canoeing, sailing or water skiing—hobbies and interests boys might never have been exposed to before.
Sharitt and Caballero both emphasize the importance of adult volunteers to the scouting experience, especially parents. The parents insist they get as much out of scouting as they put into it. Erica Carter, Cheridan and Chynna’s mom, is in her third year as a troop leader.
“I wanted my daughters to do it, and I knew I had to be their troop leader,” she said.
Her favorite part has been getting toknow the girls and their parents, forming a troop that is like a family unit. Her troop consists of 13 girls, Brownies, Juniors and Cadets. “We learn something new every year, and each year we earn more from cookies sales,” Carter said.
Carter has enjoyed being able to organize things and present them to the troop. “For me personally, when I was growing up, I was really shy. This has helped me open up and be more of a people person,” Carter explained.
The girls aren’t the only ones to appreciate her efforts. The claims auditor at Aflac won the corporation’s volunteer award for 2007. “I was blown away, shocked,” she said, adding, “I got a check I was able to donate to Girl Scouts.”
Five years ago, Kim Harty started a troop for her twin daughters, Riley and Christina. Now she has 25 members ranging from Daisies to Juniors who are about to become Cadets. “I like seeing the girls grow and helping them learn how to give to other people,” Harty said.
She pointed to the fact that her troop had a bake sale and donated cookie money to buy a “jaws of life” saw for the Cataula Volunteer Fire Department. Another project was stitching together squares to make quilts for Project Linus, which donates quilts to children with cancer, Harty said.
Amy Kirby, Kierian’s mom, manages the Scout Shop for the Boy Scouts and has been a Cub Master for her son’s pack. “I’ve been involved almost six years, since my son was 8,” she said, adding that she’s been a Cub Master for about a year. “I think I have the best job in the pack. I get to work with the boys,” Kirby said, adding, “It’s so much fun.”
She has enjoyed being able to participate with her son as he’s grown and gone through the program. She’s learned a lot through the years. “The boys teach us as much as we teach them,” said Kirby. “They inspire us.”
Although Debbie Caballero was talking specifically about Girl Scouts, her words could apply to girls and boys: “Scouting is a vehicle we can use to give a gift to our girls.” To learn more about Girl Scouts, call 706-327-2646; for Boy Scouts, call 706-327-2634.
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