EP Girl Scouts Celebrate Success, Plan For Summer

Spring brings lots of changes, celebrations and time to begin new things. Flowers, returning birds, end of school, graduations, trips to plan. And the Estes Park Girl Scouts join in that time of celebration with their annual Bridging and Awards Ceremony, which was held recently at the Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies.

earned their petals and center circles and quite a few other badges. Brownies are in grades two and three and Juniors are in grades four and five. This year Troop 77784 was a combined level troop of 8 Brownies and 4 Juniors. Accomplishments include earning the Space Exploration Badge, the Observatory Badge, the Outdoor Art Plein Air Painting badge and the Pets Badge. Summer plans include a troop trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and a performance at a nearby dinner theater. These trips are completely paid for by money earned in this year’s cookie sale. Bridging from Brownies to Juniors were Emily Reese and Ariel Kosch, and bridging from Juniors to Cadettes is Jamie Fischer.

Girl Scout programs runs through six program levels with all grades of school aged girls, from Kindergarten through 12th grade. This year, Estes Park is super happy to celebrate transitions with girls staying in current levels and also bridging up to the next level, with members in grades K through 9. Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors. Progression is extremely important in the Girl Scout program with younger age-appropriate simpler activities, building up to try for nearly completely girlplanned activities in the older grades. Of course, any girls may join at any level, and GSCO makes it easy to register at any time during the year. Membership fees can be waived by the troops and some financial aid is usually available to help pay for uniforms, insignia, activities, etc.

When girls get to grades six, seven and eight, they become Cadette Girl Scouts. They are more directly involved in selecting their own badges, planning their own meeting schedules, and making plans for their futures. This year the current Cadette troop earned the following badges: Night Owl, Animal Helper, Cadette Girl Scout Way, Cookie Innovator, Good Sportsmanship, and New Cuisine. A train trip to the Great Lakes and an overnight adventure into the Cave of the Winds will be funded by their cookie profits.

To join, check out the Girl Scouts of Colorado Council web site and follow the prompts to join a troop.

On to local recognitions and bridging ceremony activities. The Daisies are in kindergarten and first grade. Four girls bridged from Daisies to Brownies this year. They are Aspen Kinch, Hailey Roberts, Jordan Stamey and Olivia Reihing.

One hundred boxes of cookies were delivered by the Daisies to Hometown Heroes in Larimer County Search and Rescue. This year, girls in the Daisy troop

Two bridging Cadettes, Amy Schwartz and Sara Hoskins will complete their Silver Award this summer, with a project to plant trees in the burn scar areas in The Retreat and Little Valley. A “Journey” project on Trees must be completed in preparation for the highest award on the Cadette level.

Sara Hoskins and Amy Schwartz will bridge to Seniors going into ninth grade. The more the merrier as girls get into high school, are involved in many more outside activities and sports, but Senior and Ambassador levels introduce girls to opportunities further outside their community, even to five World Centers around the world. Girl Scouts of the U. S.A. also offers “Destinations, ” individual travel and learning opportunities from computer coding to theater, horseback riding to museum operations. Truly the sky is the limit.

Thanks go out to all the family members and adult leaders who helped make this year such a great success for all the Girl Scouts in the Estes Park area. Please contact me, Penny Roberts, Service Unit Manager, at probertscolo@gmail.com for information on how to register either girls or adults or anything else Girl Scout related.