BIDDEFORD — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and ABC News correspondent Barbara Walters all have at least one thing in common. These women, who have reached the top in their chosen careers, are among the female leaders who can call themselves former Girl Scouts.
The Girl Scouts of the USA describes itself as the preeminent leadership development organization for girls.
Since 1912, when Juliette Gordon Low brought together 18 girls in Savannah, Ga. to form the first Girl Scout troop, originally called Girl Guides, teaching girls leadership skills and sharing the message that they can have successful careers, has been an important component of the organization’s mission.
Now marking its 100th year, the organization is still going strong.
Today, there are more than 3 million Girl Scouts, from grades K-12, and nearly 60 million alumnae of the organization. In Maine, there are 12,000 members ”“ that’s about one in seven girls in the state, said Girl Scouts of Maine CEO Joan McDonald.
Girl Scout activities ”“ like cookie sales, working on team projects and helping in the community ”“ are designed to teach girls valuable skills that will be important throughout their lives. The Girl Scout values are designed to teach girls to be better people and contributing members of society, according to the organization. The values encourage girls to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, responsible for what they say and do, respectful of self and others, to use resources wisely, and to make the world a better place.
The draw for girls to join varies though.
“I wanted to get her involved in community activities, and involved with a group of girls,” said Suellen Haskett, whose daughter, Melina, is a first-grader and Girl Scout in Biddeford.
Jennifer McCurry, a fellow parent of a Girl Scout, said making friends and volunteering were among the reasons she signed her first-grader, Hannah, up in the organization. Hannah has also learned a lot since becoming a Girl Scout, said McCurry, such as leadership and decision-making skills, as well as skills relating to working with a group.
In addition, said McCurry, “I hope she gains more confidence in doing things on her own.”
For the Girl Scouts themselves, having fun and learning along the way are reasons they give for their involvement.
“We get to do fun activities,” said fourth-grader Ellie Judice, who belongs to a troop in Dayton. “It’s fun making people happy.”
In addition to fun, she said, as a Girl Scout, she learns important values, and being a Girl Scout has taught her, “If you’re driven and you keep trying and don’t give up, you can achieve (anything).”
These lessons “help us to be a better person,” said Ellie, and to “live life as a happy person.”
“I think we’re learning more about how to be with different people around us. Nobody’s perfect,” said fifth-grader Caroline Riley, also from Dayton.
She said she learned a lot from selling Girl Scout cookies.
“It’s fun to work together,” said Caroline.
The first time she sold cookies, “I was a little nervous,” she said, but “by the second time around, it’s like I was doing it forever.”
While women have come a long way in 100 years since the Girl Scouts were formed, said McDonald, “We’ve got a long way to go still.”
There are still few female politicians, scientists, engineers and in senior positions in business, she said.
A Girl Scout study, “ToGetHerThere: Girls’ Insights on Leadership,” reveals that while girls are generally optimistic about their futures, they still see glass ceilings blocking their way to leadership positions. The study, based on a telephone survey of 1,000 girls, ages 8-17, found that close to three in five girls think that a woman can rise up in a company, but will rarely be a senior leader.
However, the Girls Scouts are determined to change that.
“We declared 2012 as the ”˜Year of the Girl’ to help bring attention to girls and the value of encouraging and supporting them,” said Anna Maria Chávez, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA, in a prepared statement.
“To strengthen that support beyond the boundaries of Girl Scouting, we’ve launched ToGetHerThere, with the goal of reaching gender-balanced leadership in one generation,” she said.
This initiative is designed to reach both Girl Scout members and non-members.
Based on another recent study by the organization, being a Girl Scout can help women live up to their potential later in life. Women who had been Girl Scouts as children displayed more positive life outcomes, compared to non-alumnae, according to the study that surveyed a sample of 3,550 women age 18 and older.
Compared to those who had never belonged to the organization, the study revealed, former Girl Scouts were more likely to have gone to college, have a higher household income, vote, volunteer and consider themselves more competent and capable.
“Girl Scouts turns 100 this year, and we couldn’t ask for a better birthday present than this kind of validation,” said Chávez.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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