|
|
|
| Lafayette Girl Scouts Newsletter 2009 |
|
|
|
|
Important Dates
DEC
1 Cookie Training
JAN
7 LCT Meeting
11-12 Powell's Fundraiser
15-31 Cookie Pre-Sales
26 Winter Leader Meeting |
 Lafayette Service Unit Fundraising
Thank you to the families and troops who support the Lafayette Service Unit. The mission of the Service Unit is to help nurture and grow the local Girl Scout movement, and to support local Girl Scout leaders in their efforts to provide leadership and personal development opportunities for girls.
We support over 901 girls, 745 adults and 72 troops. The Service Unit covers costs such as communication (constant contact and website), leader meetings, resources (first aid supplies for events, camping equipment, etc.), recruiting events (Stanley ice cream social) and financial aid. We accomplish this with a combination of dinner nights during the year and a small contribution from each troop. Again, thank you for your support. Questions, please contact Service Unit Treasurer, Anne Mitchell..
| |
Lafayette Service Unit Girl Scouts are "In the Pink" in
the Bay Area during Breast Cancer Awareness Month
By Sandra Patterson
42 older Lafayette Girl Scouts (Cadettes and
Seniors) attended a special "In the Pink" Breast Cancer Awareness
workshop on October 2, 2009. The scouts learned about the importance of
good nutrition and exercise, early detection and how treatments for breast
cancer have improved since Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouts of the USA,
died of breast cancer in 1927. The scouts made pink scarves they donated
to the American Cancer Society and decorated water bottles to be passed out at
a cheering station to walkers during the Susan G. Komen3-day 60 mile-walk held
in San Francisco October 2-4, 2009. These girl scouts were definitely "In
the Pink"!
|
|
 Urban Orienteering in San Francisco
By Maureen Bagley
Last month (Sunday September 27), eight members of Girl Scout Troop 31042 (Stanley Middle School) tested their skills at urban orienteering in San Francisco.
They used compasses and maps with no street names to guide themselves on a walking tour through the city. After a quick review of compass and map use, the troop was divided into two patrols, each with different routes and different landmarks to find.
Both patrols began on Market Street and navigated through parts of the financial district, Chinatown, the Telegraph Hill neighborhood and North Beach.
Every stopping point on the route was a point of historical interest and the girls learned some curious details about life in San Francisco in the 1800's and early 1900's. Among the stopping points were the old Customs House, the building where Philo Farnsworth invented the television and the narrowest store in the city - a jewelry store in Chinatown that is less than 7' wide.
About 3 hours into the hike (it was a long orienteering route!) the paths of the two patrols crossed in North Beach. Since we had all just hiked the hundreds of steps up to Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, we were ready for lunch. We stopped in one of the many well known North Beach restaurants for a delicious pasta lunch and then made a side trip for Italian gelato - a great way to end the day.
 |
Two Patch Design Contests!
Due January 8th is the Lafayette Girl Scout SKATE PARTY Patch deadline
Due Febuary 26th is the 2010 DIABLO DAY CAMP patch deadline
Click the links on the main page of the Lafayette Girl Scouts webpage to get more info!
|
King Tut
Troop 30195 from Burton Valley Submitted by Kathi Torres
Remember when Steve Martin asked the
question, lyrically, "King Tut, how'd you get so funky?" Well,
BVE 3rd grade Brownie troop 30195 decided to find out! On Veterans' Day
the Brownies and their families visited the Tut exhibit at the De Young Museum
in San Francisco, taking advantage of the special Girl Scout ticket offer.
To prepare for this exciting outing, we spent one meeting learning more
about ancient Egyptian culture and traditions. Julie Lyverse from LASF,
who works with Stanley 6th graders, graciously accepted an invitation to our
troop meeting and brought a wealth of information as well as some fun
activities.
Each girl decorated a mini-sarcophagus cover and created a
cartouche (name
plate) using hieroglyphics! Many thanks to Julie.
We learned a lot from her, and had a blast on our field trip!
|
 Booth Coordinator Needed!
Are you a Girl Scout Cookie aficionado? If so, we
need someone to coordinate the Lafayette Booth Sales in 2010. It is a fun
job with lots of rewards. Call Colleen at 944-7163 to learn more.
|
Amazing Bay Day
Troop 31017 hosted the Bird Feeder booth at fourth annual Amazing Bay Day -Flyaway Fiesta! The event on October 17th at Sugarloaf Open Space allowed scouts to learn why our ecosystem is so important to the birds. Troop 31017 showed Girl Scouts and their families how easy it create a simple bird feeder using bagels, vegetable oil, and bird seed! It was a fun event for the girls and Noah's generously donated the bagels for the booth.
|
|
Travel Interest Project
By Linda Bailey Wurgley
Lafayette Stanley Middle School Girl Scouts 7th Grade Troop 31077 cadets enjoyed a day learning travel skills for the Travel Interest Project, one of the steps to earning the Silver Award, the second highest honor in Girl Scouting. The girls sampled new modes of travel by riding bikes to the BART station, travelling on San Francisco city streets, and boat ferrying to Angel Island. The girls rode the islands entirety, then caught up with the local news in the Lamorinda Sun on the afternoon ferry ride back to the Embarcadero Piers.
|
Winter Nights Pro gram
For the fifth year in a row, Troop 31017 planned and prepared dinner for the Winter Nights Program at St. Anselm's Episcopal Church in Lafayette.
The Winter Nights Program provides a clean, safe, and warm facility at
night and a daytime services center during winter for homeless families
with children and for homeless seniors. Congregations throughout central
and east Contra Costa provide space, meals, and volunteers.
This event is consistently a favorite of the girls in Troop.
|
Color Me Mine
Text by Kathi Torres
Photo by Sandra Patterson
Countless
children and adults alike have delighted in the experience of hand-painting
beautiful ceramic objects at Color Me Mine in Lafayette since it opened
earlier this year. During the week of November 9th - 15th, patrons were
able to express their creativity AND benefit Lafayette Girl Scouts
through a unique fall fundraiser. In partnership with the Lafayette
Service Unit of Girl Scouts, Behjat Yazdifar, owner of Color Me
Mine and a Lafayette resident, agreed to donate 5% of proceeds and waive the
studio and firing fees for scouts and their friends and family who brought in a
promotional flyer. In addition to creating works of art, Girl Scouts were
also eligible to earn a special edition Color Me Mine patch for their
vest or sash. We deeply value our association with local establishments
such as Color Me Mine, and appreciate Behjat's generous
support of our programs!
Pictured: The newly formed 2nd grade troop at Happy Valley Elementary
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
Girl Scout Destination
Chaco Canyon Archaeology Expedition
Summer 2009
By Lauren Mitchell, Troop 31983
The opportunity to travel to ancient ruins and learn the history of another culture is the opportunity of a lifetime. That is why I didn't let the chance to do this pass me by. Getting on a plane and traveling to a new place by myself was a exciting experience and doing it gave me a great sense of independence. I believe going to Chaco Canyon this summer helped me grow as a Girl Scout and as a person.
The Chaco Canyon is one of the most unique ancient places in the world. Once I arrived there I got to meet the 31 other girls from all over the country who I would be living with for the week. While in Chaco we stayed on the Navajo reservation with a Navajo family, camping near their home. By day we would get up, hike the canyon and take tons of pictures. Since we were the first of many destinations to Chaco Canyon one of the goals of our destination was to create a website to explain the destination to other Girl Scouts, so the first step was to learn about photography and take lots of pictures.
In addition to learning about photography we had the chance to talk and work with archeologists that were working in the canyon. In the afternoon we would come back to our camp, relax and hang out. At night we would eat great dinners and talk under the stars. After four days of exploring the canyon and taking amazing pictures we drove up the mountain to our next location. For the next three days we stayed at a Girl Scout camp in the beautiful and green New Mexico mountains. There we got a chance to hang out and put together our website. It was relaxing, fun and exciting to see the hundreds of pictures we took turn into a website.
On the last night we had a party where we watched Indiana Jones. It was so hard to part from my new friends; it was amazing how close we all became over the short time span of one week. On the last morning we all went to the airport together, said our goodbyes and we wished each other good luck on our flights home.
The trip was a great experience and helped me become more independent. I would suggest this and other Girl Scout destinations to girls who want to explore the world and learn a lot about themselves.
Learn more:
Girl Scout Destinations
Chaco Canyon Project
|
|
| |
|
|
