Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland Blog

What Can a Cookie Do

This video was created to spread the word about the Cookie Program in a fun way. We know that women of all ages, along with young adults, love our cookies. The video speaks not only to our beloved cookie sale but also to the Girl Scout brand.

Ten Girl Scouts Honored as 2009 National Young Women of Distinction

Girl Scouts of the USA is proud to announce its 2009 National Young Women of Distinction honorees. Each of the ten young women has earned her Girl Scout Gold Award—the highest award in Girl Scouting—and has been selected as a National Young Woman of Distinction for demonstrating extraordinary leadership in the completion of her community action project. The Girl Scout Gold Award is earned by fewer than six percent of all Girl Scouts.

Each honoree spent one to two years on a community action project that has had far-reaching effects in her community and beyond. Among the honorees this year are authors, advocates, and environmentalists with projects based in a wide range of locations—from India, Africa, and China to neighborhoods in Louisiana and California.

The young women will be honored at a special awards ceremony on February 27 during the Girl Scout National Corporate Leadership Meeting in St. Louis.

“Earning the Young Women of Distinction designation is truly a remarkable achievement, and these young women exemplify leadership in all its forms,” said Kathy Cloninger, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of the USA. “They saw a need in their communities and around the world and took action. Their extraordinary dedication, perseverance, and leadership, is making the world a better place.”

To learn more about these girls and their great accomplishments, read the official Girl Scouts of the USA release.

Girl Scout Cookie Program Kicks Off: Girls Learn Skills and Give Back

From now through mid-March, community members are invited to indulge their sweet tooth – and to support local Girl Scouts as they participate in the United States’ leading entrepreneurial program for girls. During the past several months, girls have been learning about goal-setting, budgeting, and customer service. They have set individual goals, and will earn recognition items such as Girl Scout Cookie Credit, which they can use to help pay for Girl Scout summer camp, program events, uniform pieces, and more. Each Girl Scout troop also sets goals, and earns proceeds for learning activities, field trips, and service projects.

Since its inception Continue reading Girl Scout Cookie Program Kicks Off: Girls Learn Skills and Give Back

Three Fires Weekend

Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is proud to offer the Three Fires Weekend for members of Cherokee Ridge’s Ikhato, Latonka’s Osage Society and Mintahama’s Tribe of the Silver Arrow. Also invited will be those who have attended summer camp at Finbrooke Program Center for at least 4 years and are in at least the 7th grade.

GSMH supports the idea of these organizations, but because we are one council now, we need to have one consistent organization, not several. Opportunities, requirements and basic initiation procedures need to be the same across the board.

GSMH wants members of the current organization to be the ones who lay the foundation for the new organization. Discussions on this subject and planning for the future will be the major focus of discussion during the Three Fires event.

One organization will be stronger than three — by working together to plan this merger, we will be able to maintain those parts of our traditions that are most sacred to us.

Event details: Friday, Feb. 26, 6:00 pm – Sunday; Feb. 28, 1:00 pm, at the Latonka Program Center, Wappapello, MO. Cost (for girl or adult) is $30, and the registration deadline is February 12th, 2010. All participants must be currently registered Girl Scouts. Program event registration forms and girl and adult membership forms may be found here: http://www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org/page.php?pid=forms.

“The Cookie” PSA

New Girl Scouts of the USA Cookie Program PSA:

GSRI Study Draws Coverage Throughout the Country

The Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) released its latest study, Good Intentions:The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today, on December 2 and the findings have appeared in more than 200 publications—from newspapers and magazines to Web sites and blogs. Some of the placements include Forbes.com and Yahoo News, as well as newspapers such as the Asbury (N.J.) Park Press (www.app.com) and WREX-TV (wrex.com) in Rockford, Illinois. Anna Maria Chávez, Chief Executive Office of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, used her blog on the San Antonio Express-News Web site to discuss the study. You can find the blog post here (voices.mysanantonio.com.)

Some of the good news the GSRI study determined about teen behavior?

Youth today intend to make responsible choices and refrain from risky behaviors.
Youth today value diversity and acceptance.
Young people today appear to have a stronger sense of civic engagement.

Help these girls of proven courage, confidence, and character take action and encourage them to become positive leaders in their communities, families, future careers, and in their lives — support the Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland Council whether it’s with your time, effort, or donations. You can help ensure these beliefs and values are life-long!

Exciting Shop News!

GSMH Shops Holiday Open House

Saturday, December 5
9 am – 1 pm

All GSMH Shop Locations

* New holiday items & specials
* Cookies & punch
* Enter the Happy Holidays drawing!
– $20 GSMH Shop Certificate for adults
– Giant Ardella Groovy Girls Doll for girls

Happy Holidays Drawing!
Come to any GSMH shop location November 15 – December 15 and put your name put in the drawing. You can enter each time you visit the shop, but you must be a registered Girl Scout!

Girl Scouts learn financial literacy in hands-on program

Weekends are about having fun, but more than 200 Girl Scouts from Girl Scouts of the Missouri
Heartland made last weekend about gaining practical life skills at the same time. In the fun,
interactive Making Cents in the City programs held on Saturday, Girl Scouts in kindergarten
through eighth learned about budgeting, goal-setting, and saving money.

Girls at the program discussed the difference between needs and wants, practiced budgeting for
those items, and made savings banks to take home and work towards a specific savings goal.
They also learned about the realities of adult budgeting with a game that taught them how to
manage their “paychecks” to pay for home expenses, living necessities, and other bills. Girl
Scout Cadettes had the added challenge of trying to budget for “want” items like cell phones
and cable service after paying for necessities – and sometimes receiving late fees and overdue
notices. “Wow,” said one participant, “I didn’t know everything that my parents had to do for me.”

Girls even had to use their critical-thinking skills during the program’s snack time; they selected
and purchased items from a “Girl Scout Snack Shack” with $2 that they were given at the start
of the program. “One of the best things about this program is that it is so hands-on,” said Girl
Scouts of the Missouri Heartland CEO Jennifer M. Orban, “By actually being given the money to
practice spending, and seeing the numbers written in front of them, the girls get to engage in the
kind of experiential learning that Girl Scouts is all about.”

The harsh reality of today’s economy makes it especially important that youth understand
budgeting and spending wisely. The money used in the games and activities may have been
cartoon-printed play money, but the skills that girls learned were very real. Said one Girl Scout
Junior in attendance, “I used to spend all my money and regret it later, but now I know to spend
my money without spending all my money.” Continue reading Girl Scouts learn financial literacy in hands-on program

GIRLS – Additional Opportunity for Fall Product Recognitions!

Hey Girls!

We have an additional opportunity for you to earn even more recognitions for the Fall Product Program. On the council website (www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org) under Programs/ Fall Product, there is a ”Solve It Together” patch you can click on it and it will take you to the QSP online magazine ordering portal. If you have already done this, great, you can still earn additional recognitions! If not, now is your chance!

Girls who send out additional e-mails inviting friends and family to purchase magazines, will earn the following recognitions:

13-24 e-mails – earn a mystery bag from QSP

25+ e-mails – earn a chance to win a Nintendo Wii or one of 5 Ipod Nano’s

To take advantage of this limited time opportunity for registered girls in the Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland, log onto the QSP online magazine ordering portal and send out e-mail invitations, between December 1 – December 15, 2009. Only e-mails sent between December 1 and December 15, will count towards the recognitions outlined above.

If you have any questions, please contact the Product Program Department at 877-312-4764.

Wishing you the best of luck!

Videos: More reasons to volunteer

More choices, more reasons to volunteer!

Come to our Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland Facebook page! There are new things all the time…

including two new videos that show how you too can volunteer!

Volunteering with the Girl Scouts doesn’t have to be a full-time commitment. There are countless ways you can share your experience and expertise with girls in your area.

Come check out how you can make a difference!

For more information about volunteering, visit our official Council Web site: www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org , or call 1-877-312-4764.