Volunteer Spotlight -
Katherine Whitbeck
by Betsy Denson
Katherine Whitbeck started in Girl Scouts in 1967 as a Brownie
and continued the program until sixth grade. Little did she
know she would pick it up again thirty years later.
“I was a volunteer mom with my daughter Samantha’s
troop,” Katherine says, “and then in 2000 I was
the cookie mom and reregistered as an adult Girl Scout. I
enjoyed it because it was a great troop with great parents.”
 In
2002 at the Girl Scout Sing-A-Long at the San Jacinto Monument
Katherine saw the Green Starlettes perform. Samantha would
soon be in sixth grade and wanted to participate in the program.
“I had seen them advertised in The Golden Link before,”
Katherine says. “I was telling somebody that I wished
we had Green Starlettes in Nacogdoches and they said ‘why
don’t you start one there.’ It was like a light
bulb went off.”
“I wasn’t a big camper. I’m a dancer and
took dancing throughout my life. The reason I quit Girl Scouts
as a girl was because my troop activities interfered with
my dancing,” says Katherine. “I had to choose.
The girls don’t have to do that now.”
After her epiphany, Katherine convinced Gina Small to serve
as a co-director and started the East Texas division of the
drill team in Nacogdoches. They rehearse once a week from
the end of August through December and then again January
through May. She and the team travel all over the Council
for performances, parades, and dance clinics. “I hadn’t
even been to the Girl Scout Center until I got involved with
Green Starlettes,” says Katherine. Her favorite thing
is watching the girls perform at professional basketball games,
both the Rockets and the Comets. “How many people can
say they’ve been on the arena court and performed?”
Katherine’s newest responsibility is serving as the
Press Corps Representative of the Pine Burr Service Unit.
“I volunteered because I had a background in public
relations. I teach communications and speech to ninth graders
at Nacogdoches High School and I had already established a
rapport with the local newspaper and television station.”
She feels good about the coverage the girls are getting in
the newspaper. “At least one picture per week is my
goal and now I’m working on the county newspapers.”
 When
asked about her favorite aspect of volunteering with Girl
Scouts, Katherine doesn’t hesitate. “I enjoy watching
girls express their talents. It’s fun watching them
grow into leaders.” Because of Katherine’s commitment,
more girls from the Nacogdoches area will get that chance.
|
