Compass Your guide to Girl Scout adventures | Program 2021-2022 1 Discover your inner Paperwith Sappi! Scientist In this edition: G T S S I M T E N IE ☙ C PAPER S Thanks to the generosity of our long-time supporter and Program Partner, Sappi North America, Girl Scouts in Maine have the exclusive opportunity to work hands-on with engineers and paper scientists! Girls can complete the Sappi Paper Scientist patch while working in a lab, making paper, and conducting tests on products. A leading global provider of sustainable wood fiber products and solutions. 2 Sappi.com Compass Program Edition 2021-2022 A Letter Joanne Crepeau Editor: Laura Genese CEO from our CEO Girl Scouts of Maine Designer: Rebecca Benoski In this edition: Dear Girl Scouts, Have you ever heard the expression “If you want something done, ask a Message from CEO, busy person”? 3 Joanne Crepeau It seems to be a truism that fits Girl Scouts! This multi-task ability of our 4-10 Girl Stories girls and volunteers to engage, learn, and help in Girl Scouts (as they carry on with work, school, and family life) is evident as you read the pages of Girl Share Girl Scouts in Stories in this Compass. 11 Your Community And there are more Girl Scout stories to come from Girl Scouts in Maine! Stay tuned for our podcast series “Passion to Action” with the national 12 Fall Product Program platform, Daughters of Change, a content driven podcast inspiring collaboration, support, and acknowledgement of women and girls. Their Earn a Free Session mission is to: 13 at GSME Camp • Tell the stories of the Daughters of Change who are leading and 14-15 Patch Program Challenges changing the world—each in her own unique way. • Connect and support these women and girls. 16 GSME goes to... • Inspire others to take action and set an example for future generations. Upcoming Programs With a podcast series featuring Maine Girl Scouts telling their stories and 17 and Resources Girl Scout achievements, we hope to grow awareness of how we champion girl ambition, and showcase the myriad of modern-day opportunities New Badges and New available to Girl Scouts in Maine. 18 Troop Leader Tools I encourage all of you to go to our website to listen to our monthly Passion 19 Virtual Badge Series to Action podcast featuring rock star Girl Scouts from Maine! You will be amazed by the inspiring achievements that you will hear from our very 20-25 2021-2022 Program Guide own girls, in their own words. And you will know, that if you want something done, ask a busy Girl Scout! Transforming Leadership 26-27 Yours in Girl Scouting, 28 Teen Trainings Adult Learning 29-31 Joanne Crepeau CEO, Girl Scouts of Maine 32 Shop A leading global provider of sustainable wood fiber products and solutions. Sappi.com 3 Girl Stories Troop 141 Rain? What rain? Despite the weather, the girls from Troop 141 in Winthrop marched on to participate in the Memorial Day flag ceremony. Troop 26 Keeping Maine campers cozy—Cadette Troop 26 in Scarborough made fleece blankets to donate to the Linus Project. Troop 1054 Troop 629 Troop 1585 Daisy and Brownie Troop 1054 flexed Sharing the Joy of Reading! The Sweet fun for their volunteer skills at Gorham pandemic couldn't keep Junior Troop Troop 1585 in Cleans Up on April 17th. 629 in Scarborough from collecting Washburn— The girls collected three boxes and boxes of children's selling cookies and bags of trash on the books to support the Blue Point celebrating Mom trails and fields! Nice Congregational Church's mission of with a Mother’s work, Girl Scouts! having a new Little Free Library just Day activity. for children's books. 4 Giving back. Honoring heroes. Celebrating sisterhood. A glimpse of Girl Scouting in Maine. PJ’s for Paws – Bronze Award Journey In April, Troop 83 met and decided to try and earn the Bronze Award before their bridging ceremony in August. The girls researched options in their community of Fort Kent and decided to take action to benefit the Paws Cat Shelter, after learning that their other choice, the Red Cross, wasn’t an option with COVID-19 restrictions. The girls visited the shelter, asking questions to discover what help and supplies were needed. Armed with the shelter’s needs, Troop 83 created a supply drive called PJ's for Paws where their peers at school could wear PJ's if they donated a needed cat supply. Through this initiative the troop collected: 39 bags of dry food, 36 Rolls of Paper towels, 232 cans of wet food, 352lbs of litter, 2 disposable litter boxes, 19 toys, 11 containers of treats, and 17 cleaning supplies. The girls re-purposed a wooden chest for an after-hours donation box, decorated two bins for grocery store donations, and spent time helping to clean and organize the storage shed at the shelter! In addition, they took the funds that were donated to buy extra supplies. Amazing work! Congratulations on earning your Bronze Award and making a positive impact in your community. Celebrating A Successful Girl Scout Year Making the best of Zoom, Junior Troop 60 from Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, and Biddeford completed a journey and started their Bronze Award virtually. They were especially proud to have earned the Bronze Award for a PSA video they created focusing on ways kids and adults can reduce food waste, which has a big impact on our environment. Sharing the video with their schools this upcoming school year will be one way they continue to spread their message far and wide. They also loved finally being able to meet again in person this spring, and were lucky to meet near the ocean where they made candles in the sand and ended their year with a pizza party, Bronze Award video debut, and tie-dyed towels. They're looking forward to new adventures and memories next year, and we are excited to see what amazing things they do next! 5 Girl Stories Using Resources Wisely and Helping Others to Do the Same After seeing disposable mask litter on the ground and learning about the environmental impact of these masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, Troop 612 in Brunswick began working with Midcoast Hospital to help recycle disposable masks. Using funds earned from their cookie sale, they purchased mask recycling boxes through Terracycle to place in their community, keeping approximately 6,000 masks out of the trash! Outstanding problem solving to make a positive impact in your community girls! Reduce. Reuse. Recycle! Daisy/Brownie Troop 1097 in Scarborough worked with ecomaine to earn their Eco Learner and Household Elf badges. Vanessa Berry, an environmental educator from ecomaine hosted a virtual tour of the recycling center. The girls learned about what can be recycled, why it is so important for our environment, and about food waste and composting. The girls had a blast making homemade recycled paper too and learning about ways to help our environment! Superheroes on a Mission to Make the World a Better Place After a long winter of remote meetings, girls in Troop 113 were enthusiastic about starting a new journey, selecting the Agent of Change Junior Journey. Troop leaders went with a superhero theme to present the information to the girls which led to meaningful conversation around power, role models, and eventually the power the girls had to change the world. The girls thought about how they could make a difference in the world and how they are already making a positive impact around them. Outfitted in their superhero capes with positive traits for each girl on them, the girls met in person to share some of their individual work and work together on activities and brainstorm so they are ready to hit the ground running this fall with a Take Action project in their community! Great work, girls and kudos to your 6 creative and hard working leaders! Passion and Perseverance Prevails In the fall of 2019, Juniors from Troop 507 of Sabattus began the Agent of Change Journey—no one could have imagined the journey that it took them on! They set big goals to challenge themselves and were immediately faced with COVID-19 and many obstacles which prevented them from completing their Take Action project. As time went on, they thought of different ways they could make a change. In April, after an amazing cookie season, the girls regrouped via Zoom and redirected their ideas to their local food pantry. They invited Kadenz Kitchen to a meeting to get some feedback on a few ideas they had and after some research, troop members took it upon themselves to assist in building a cart to benefit the organization. Each of the girls participated initially from their homes, sanding down plywood, painting pieces, etc. They then brought it all together in May and collected food donations to fill the cart for delivery. We love your passion and perseverance. Congratulations, girls! For the Love of Animals and Community Cadette Troop 745 of Windham Think Big! When the girls met at the beginning of the Girl Scouting year they knew they had to be creative with the pandemic. They were determined to work their cookie business and set goals on what to do with the funds they earned. One of the girls, who is working on the Think Big financial literacy badge, reached out to a local farm to discover their “wish list” for the farm. With a shared love for animals and helping their community, the troop agreed to fund the project and help with the work.