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National Girl Scout Week is this upcoming March 10-16 with the Girl Scouts 107th Birthday on March 12. The following feature article was submitted by Lee Snodgrass, Director of Communications & Customer Care at Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes:
As a young girl growing up in Wrightstown, Wisconsin, I began my leadership journey at Girl Scouts. My mom was my leader and once I became a mom, I too was a leader for my three daughters. It was here in the company of friends and in an inviting, all-girl, girl-led space that I first learned a simple truth: I was capable of accomplishing pretty much anything I set my mind to. In the supportive, single-gender space of Girl Scouts, I felt free—free to be myself, free to try new things, and free to take the lead. With encouragement, guidance, training, and confidence, I grew into a someone who leads by example and fondly remembers how Girl Scouts instilled the sense of purpose and confidence.
Unsurprisingly, Girl Scouts knows that the secret to creating female leaders is starting young. The organization provides the world’s best leadership experience, created specifically with and for girls. Girl Scouts’ more than 100 years of experience giving girls the tools they need to empower themselves, provided a safe haven where I was free from the pressures and social anxieties that can come from a mixed-gender environment.
Mom was my leader and she inspired me most. She was a single mom raising three kids, working full time, and still made time for Girl Scouts. I remember looking forward to wearing my uniform to school on the day of our meetings. We would gather in the basement of St. Paul Church, first with a snack before the meeting officially began. I looked forward to seeing my friends who came from different schools to unite as Girl Scouts. We would plan all sorts of activities including community service projects, learning new skills like ceramics, day camp where I learned to churn butter, and my favorite was the overnight sleepovers at the YWCA in Downtown Green Bay. I’m proud to say many of my Girl Scout friends have become my life-long friends whom I cherish every day.
Girl Scouts played a huge part in making me the woman I am today. There is simply no other leadership experience in the world that can give girls the opportunities that Girl Scouts provides. More importantly, there is no other experience that fosters in girls those intangible qualities that are so endemic to personal development—courage, confidence, and character—and that also happen to be the cornerstone of the Girl Scout mission.
If you know a girl who could benefit from a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) experience, please call Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes council today to learn more: 888-747-6945 or visit www.gsnwgl.org
Lemke joined the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes (GSNWGL) in November 2018 as the new CEO. GSNWGL serves approximately 15,000 girls and 5,000 adult volunteers from 58 counties across central and northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
