“In the late 1960s, as a school-age girl and tomboy, my experience with Girl Scouts was short lived. My troop leader was interested in teaching us crochet and macaroni art when I wanted to get outdoors, camp, hike, and do what the boys were doing. I was seeking “something with a little swagger in it.” I crossed the bridge from Brownies to Cadets to never return until surprisingly, decades later, after having pursued a long career in outdoor adventure education. In 2011, I arrived at Girl Scouts of Northern California (GSNorCal), looking through the lens of an outdoor professional with a broad scope of leadership and extensive outdoor programme experience. With me, I also brought my own stereotype of Girls Scouts that soon would require me to pay closer attention to what this meant and re-examine my own biases”.
During my seven year tenure at GSNorCal, I was invited to submit a chapter about Girl Scouts in a significantly historic, a first ever of its kind, book entitled, The International Handbook of Outdoor Learning and Women. It has just been published and above is the introduction to my chapter. The textbook is a collection of chapters written by 62 women outdoor professionals and academics. This is my third time being published in academics related to Girl Outdoor Programs. Very exciting.
At GSNorCal, one of my missions besides increasing use and visibility of the camp properties was to get every Girl Scout outdoors. I began this campaign in 2011, long before GSNorCal wove it into their current strategic plan. For example, I started by making topographic maps for each camp that included all of the hiking trails on the property to increase awareness and be used for teaching orienteering and map skills. I targeted troop leaders meetings and emphasized the troop camping opportunities and outdoor activities that their camps offered. In 2015, I was invited to serve on the Outdoor Initiative Team at GSUSA and developed an outdoor component for their Volunteer Toolkit.
Last week, Outside Magazine did a piece on Girl Scouts and its partnership with North Face entitled, “Girl Scouts Are Getting More Adventurous”,
click here. Great to see this coverage. Girl Scouts has a long history, in fact, over a 100 years, of getting girls and women outdoors. This is nothing new but the public thinks so.
An increase of visibility and images of Girl Scouts in the Outdoors and being in Outdoor Leadership roles especially on Girl Scouts’ social media feeds is a must to change the image of Girl Scouts. Over the years and currently, I have noticed most of their social media and marketing focuses on cookies, gold awards, community service and STEM programs. All of these Girl Scout experiences are important but take center stage while images of Girl Scouts in the outdoors and being adventurous only receive a seasonal and an occasional spotlight as a marketing tool for promoting their summer camps.
Girl Scouts are adventurous all year round. If Girl Scouts is going to attract the girls who are now able to sign up with Boy Scouts, then there must be a more concerted effort to transform and bust the stereotype of Girl Scouts. My chapter does just that, putting a spotlight on our outdoor adventurers and leaders.
For more Girl Scout adventures, be sure to read my blog, Girl Scout Adventures; Bold Not Bossy,
by clicking here. More on my story, click here
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