October 2004 Volume 30 Issue 9  

Congratulations Gold Award recipients

These Senior Girl Scouts recently completed their Gold Award projects and by doing so, earned the Gold Award.
Katherine R. created an interactive program to introduce younger children to music that they might not normally listen to. She incorporated 14 different types of music and four different methods or responding to music. She encouraged the children to react to the music through discussion, writing, drawing, and dance. Laura M. collected non-perishable food items for the Baptist Mission Center at Gano. She collected food from Tallowood Baptist Church adult Sunday school classes, troops, and members of her community. She collected more than 1,400 pounds of food. Camille M. collected gently used sporting items to Amigos por Vida and Guadalupe schools. She also helped with Amigos pro Vida’s field day and incorporated new games with the equipment she donated. She wanted to teach kids that exercising can be fun.
Amanda M. made emergency medical kits for the 50 classrooms of Brookwood Elementary. She organized a drive for the goods at the school and rewarded classrooms who completed an entire kit. The kits included bandaids, antiseptic, gauze, steri stirps, antibiotic wipes, and information on what to do in certain medical emergencies. Teresa M. and Sara A. worked together to organized a beach clean up on Bolivar Peninsula. More that 100 people participated to help clean 15 miles of beach. Each participant donated two cans of food for St. Rose Food Pantry. Teresa also held conservation talks with a troop about local trees and ecology of Texas. Sara held a beach conservation talk at a park for Girl Scouts and Sea Scouts.

Girl Scouts take the field at a Texans game


McNair presents CEO Mary Vitek, President Cora Ann Blytas, and President of the Senior Senate Jeannae M. with a check for $25,000. The money will go to community outreach programs. This is the third year of a three year commitment to the community outreach program by the Texans Foundation.

Follow the Reader,
Family Reading Project

GSUSA had developed outstanding bilingual literacy tools called “Follow the Reader” to foster a love of reading among girls.

“Follow the Reader:” a Girl Scout Family Reading Project can involve every parent and caretaker in a child’s learning process. The bilingual books allow children to read in English, Spanish, or both languages. “Follow the Reader” books address phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency, in both English and Spanish.

Recently, the “Follow the Reader” program was offered to students at Epps Island Elementary in the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. For six weeks, second through fifth grade girls registered in the school’s after school program increased their literacy skills by participating in a reading and discussion group. In addition, the girls were given writing journals and encouraged to chronicle their daily thoughts and feelings. The girls selected four books to read with thir parents.

This is a great program girls ages 4-11 can use in the troop and at home with fun reading skill-building activities.

These books are available in the Girl Scout Shop. For more information contact Melinda Gaskill at 713-292-0232.