You're never too young to learn to develop leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Sylvia Foglia, a rising 6th grader, shares how Girl Scouts is preparing her for the future. This past spring, Sylvia earned her Bronze Award, the highest award available for Girl Scouts in elementary school for helping to make the world a better place.
Did you know that:
- More than one in three women in the United States were Girl Scouts at some point in their lives;
- Fifty-eight% of the female delegates in the 117th United States Congress, five of the nine current female governors, and ALL female secretaries of state were Girl Scouts at some point in their lives;
- More than half of female business owners and entrepreneurs were Girl Scouts; and
- 90% of current astronauts were Girl Scouts!
While I don't know what I'll be when I get older, I'm leaning towards being a marine biologist, I know the chances are it'll be something great! As a Girl Scout since kindergarten, I've learned a lot of lessons that will help prepare me for middle school and the future.
- Giving back - For my bronze award, my friends and I did a project to help families near our school whose apartment building burned down. The kids who lived in the apartment building got a lot of what they needed from charities, but not what they wanted. So we partnered with the school counselors and PTA to set up a way for community members to donate items to make packages for individual family requests to replace toys, books, and specific brands of clothing that had been lost. We were even able to replace a violin!
- Entrepreneurship - As everyone knows, most Girl Scouts sell cookies! This requires marketing (learning how to draw in a crowd is a great skill if you want to have a future business!), public speaking, and a strong work ethic (it's not easy working a cookie booth in the winter).
My troop has sold cookies every year since kindergarten to help pay for our activities. As a troop, we set goals, come up with a business plan, and decide as a group how to spend our money. Most recently we used some of the money we raised to have a sleepover at the Maryland Science Center. For the long term, we are saving money for a field trip to Savannah in 8th grade to learn about the founder of Girl Scouts and hopefully for a trip to Europe in high school. We'll have to balance saving and spending (which is an important skill to learn early). Luckily, Girl Scouts teaches that with something everyone loves: cookies! - Leadership -Finally, you don't have to be a Girl Scout to live by the Girl Scout law. Being honest, fair, friendly, helpful, considerate, caring, courageous, and strong are the things we want in all of our leaders. Each year I become more empowered and find ways to live this. My goal is to be able to help others and to be a person others see as someone they can trust for help.