| The tradition of Girl Scouts is a long one. Over the past 100 years, over 50 million American women have spent at least some time as a brownie or girl scout since it's inception in 1912.
The Girl Scout's mission states, "Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place."
The tradition of Girl Scouts includes girls from every walk of life, starting when they are in kindergarten, discovering new friendships, having fun, learning and improving new skills and empowering them all to strive to do great things and become strong leaders in the community.
Being a part of many enriching experiences like camping and spending time learning about the wonders of nature, field trips, becoming proficient at sports and fitness by attending various clinics, serving the community, studying and visiting other cultures, and learning to care for the environment, all help the girls grow confident and strong.
Girl Scouting not only helps girls develop their full individual potential, but it helps them learn to work as a team and develop values they can take with them throughout their lives. They learn to relate to others with an increased understanding, skill, and respect and with these abilities and leaderships skills, contribute to making the world around them a better place to live.
From Daisy to Ambassador all the girls of every age group can earn badges by completing certain requirements and display those badges on a vest or sash and participate in selling the cookies the world loves so much every year. During the time of the annual cookie sales the girls must abide by all safety rules and regulations and use the buddy system when going door to door or have a responsible adult accompany them while selling.
Every Girl Scout must learn and abide by the Girl Scout Promise and Law:
The Girl Scout Promise
On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.
With such a long-standing history there are bound to be quite a few traditions that get passed down to each new generation of girls who become members. Who doesn't remember the friendship circle and the handshake? The handshake is completed with the left hand (being closest to the heart and signifying friendship) while the Girl Scout sign is shown with the right hand. (Three fingers held up together signifying the three parts of the Promise.)
The Friendship Circle is a tradition of Girl Scouts that completed with the group standing in a circle and crossing their arms over their bodies and grasping hands with those on either side of them. The friendship squeeze travels from hand to hand while each girl makes a silent wish. |