Girl Scouts Challenge 100 Girls to Earn Religious Awards for 100th Anniversary

The Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama encourages Girl Scouts to pursue religious awards to help them explore their faith. These religious scouting awards are offered to all girls and include God and Me, I Live My Faith Award, God and Life and Mary, the First Disciple Award – each badge offering age-appropriate material and activities. There are also awards for adults.

“Girl Scouting encourages girls to grow strong in faith,” says Trish Coghlan, chief executive officer of GSNCA and member at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. “We hold up three fingers when we make the Girl Scout Promise because there are three parts to the promise. The first part of the promise is to ‘serve God.’ One way a Girl Scout can ‘serve God’ is to earn the religious award of her faith and to wear the award on her uniform.”

Additionally, GSNCA would like to challenge 100 girls to earn their religious awards in honor of our 100th anniversary. There is a kindergarten through 5th grade workshop planned for the morning of January 7, 2012 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Shelby County. Additional workshops will be scheduled upon request of Girl Scout leaders and parishes. This may be done as a troop or as individuals. There are virtual opportunities available for older girls as well.

For information on the workshop, or if you are interested in older girl opportunities, contact Mary Jo Cree at maryjo@me.com.

For a listing of PRAY awards, please visit our website at www.girlscoutsnca.org/volunteers/forms-and-resources/patch-programs and click on PRAY Awards or www.praypub.org to view all of the awards available for different denominations. There are also awards available from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministries at www.nfcym.org/gscf/recognitions.htm.

Girl Scouts Paint Pumpkins with Kappa Delta Sorority

Pictured: A Kappa Delta sorority sister and Girl Scout Ashton Anthony

By: Brittney Knox

Volunteer Writer

Indians, cows, power rangers and many other characters ran down Sorority Row at the University of Alabama late Monday evening on October 24 during the annual Sorority Row Trick or Treat.

Girl Scouts attended the festivities and painted pumpkins with members of Kappa Delta Sorority.

“We were excited the sorority members prepared this for the girls,” said Lori Walters, Troop 12 leader.

Girls in Troop 12 painted faces on pumpkins, while other participants painted pumpkins different colors.

Margaret Prester, president of Kappa Delta, said their community service chair helped to coordinate the event with the Girl Scouts, one of Kappa Delta's philanthropy partners.

“We wanted to have fun with the girls and be sure they had a good time,” she said.

Even though Walters has a full-time job and her daughter is older now, she still enjoys her time with the Girl Scouts and remains devoted to her troop.

“I hope the girls have fun with the event and enjoy themselves,” Walters said.

Local Girl Scouts and AT&T Unite to Advance Underserved High School Girls in Science and Engineering

Pictured: Margaret Ritchie, GSNCA VP of Resource Development; 

Terri Gualano AT&T Alabama; and Trish Coghlan, CEO of GSNCA.

BIRMINGHAM--As minority students and women are gravitating away from science and engineering toward other professions, and employment in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields are increasing at a faster pace than in non-STEM fields, educational experts say the U.S. must increase proficiency and interest in these areas to compete in the global economy. Today, the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama (GSNCA) and AT&T announced a new program to help 500 Birmingham and Huntsville high school girls gain interest in STEM classes and future careers.

The local initiative, called “IMAGINE Yourself, Alabama,” is funded through an AT&T Aspire contribution designed to expose young women to a variety of career options in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

The Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama will receive a $45,000 grant to conduct the program from November 2011 through summer 2012 and is one of 18 councils, selected through a national competitive grant process, to participate.

“We have some of the most promising young women eager to learn and make a positive impact in both their personal lives and future careers, said Trish Coghlan, chief executive officer of GSNCA. “AT&T’s contribution enables us to expand our focus to help them explore educational and workforce options.”

“IMAGINE Yourself, Alabama” program offers opportunities for high school girls to team up with AT&T employees and other volunteers to participate in interactive activities and visual experiments, such as extracting DNA from a banana. These activities are designed to help students imagine a future STEM career and spark interest in taking additional STEM courses in high school and college, while opening doors to new career options.

Experts say the country’s need for a world-leading STEM workforce will continue to grow. Recent research from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce predicts 2.8 million STEM job openings by 2018, including 1.2 million new jobs and an additional 1.6 million replacement openings.

“The STEM disciplines are at the heart our business and we understand how essential they are becoming to every business and the growth of our economy,” Terri Gualano, Regional Director of Legislative and External Affairs for AT&T Alabama. “We are committed to helping teens succeed and are excited that Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama has been selected to participate in this program and will help these young women develop more skills to enjoy productive and rewarding careers.”

The contribution was made through AT&T Aspire, a $100 million commitment with the goal of helping students achieve their best possible futures. Launched in 2008, AT&T Aspire is one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to address high school success leading to college and career readiness.

As an additional contribution, AT&T will match employee gifts to the Girl Scouts up to $500,000 until December 31, 2011.