女童子军不只是卖饼干

Girl Scouts² About More Than Selling Cookies 女童子军不只是卖饼干

For almost 29 years, Martha Gach has been a Girl Scout¹. She has been both a Girl Scout and an adult volunteer.

“One thing that has stayed the same – developing self- confidence for our girls and developing leadership skills,” Gach said. And Girl Scouts continue to raise money by selling cookies. It is something they have done for 99 years.

What is different today, she said, is that Girl Scouts spend more time on teaching outdoor skills, such as climbing mountains.

And they work on technology and engineering projects. Today, these kinds of activities are called, “STEM” -- short for developing skills in science, technology, engineering and math.

Girl Scouts are 104 years old

The Girl Scouts have been an organization since 1912, when Juliette Gordon Low set up the first “troop,” or group, of girls.

Today, there are 2.7 million Girl Scouts: 1.9 million girls and 800,000 adults who are mostly volunteers.

That is enough to make the Girl Scouts the largest girls’ organization in the United States. But the numbers are down by more than one million since 2003.

Girl Scout leaders say they have a harder time finding adult volunteers. That is because more women are not only working, but sometimes have more than one job, according to Girl Scouts.

Gach volunteers in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. She said it also is harder to keep girls interested in Girl Scouts after middle school.

“There are other demands on their time,” she said. Among those new demands is the growth in girls’ sports since a 1972 U.S. rule required equal sports programs for girls and boys.

Wishes More Money Went for Girl Causes

Anna Maria Chavez left the Girl Scouts on June 30 after five years as chief executive³ officer. She said she wishes more money went to help girls succeed. She said people give more money to “animal causes than girl causes.”

“Now, don’t get me wrong,” Chavez said in a recent speech in Washington D.C. “I have a brand new puppy⁴. His name is Cody. He’s a wonderful dog, but he will not be president of the United States one day. A Girl Scout will be.”

She did not mention Hillary Clinton. She was a former Girl Scout who, later this month, is expected to be selected as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.

Some Girl Scouts in the Washington D.C. area say scouting⁵ has helped them learn skills and, more importantly, build confidence in their own abilities.

Meeting Michelle Obama and Desmond Tutu

Lalah Williams said Girl Scouts gave her wonderful experiences – from hiking in a national forest to learning to be a “locavore.” That is someone whose diet is mostly food that is locally grown or produced. She has met First Lady Michelle Obama and gotten to see South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak.

“As my mother jokes, ‘all for only $15 a year,’” said Williams, about the yearly cost of Girl Scout membership⁶.

She recently won the Girl Scouts Gold Award for a project she completed. Williams set up a meal so 50 middle school students could meet and talk to women elected to public office. “The purpose of my project was to get girls to envision themselves in elected office,” Lalah said.

Another Girl Scout 18-year-old Helena Doms also won the Gold Award for teaching girls Taekwondo, a Korean martial⁷ art. The idea, Doms said, was to help girls learn to protect themselves if they face a threat.

“People think of Girl Scouts as little girls selling cookies,” Helena said. “I want to change that -- to show people that Girl Scouts is about harnessing your talents and using (them) to empower yourself and others to the benefit of all of us.”

But Girl Scouts continue to raise money selling cookies, such as Thin Mints⁸ and Do-si-dos. In a recent change, they are not only selling cookies from tables in front of stores. Now, Girl Scouts cookies can be bought on line.

Helena will begin study in international relations next year at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Taylor Swift the Girl Scout

The Girl Scouts has a long list of famous former members.

They include well-known performers Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey, Abigail Breslin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dakota Fanning and Carrie Fisher. Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams were also members. And almost every female astronaut who has flown in space was once a Girl Scout.

But the Girl Scouts have some serious problems, not the least of which is fewer members.

In a 2014 column for the New York Times, Kristin O’Keefe wrote about one reason she stopped volunteering for the Girl Scouts: too much paper work. She said her Girl Scout chapter had 16 separate kinds of forms.

“The Girl Scouts organization has a form and a requirement for everything. And in an area of crazy busy family life, parents do not have time for this,” O’Keefe wrote.

Chavez said she feels good about the long-term future for Girl Scouts. The organization is helping⁹ girls deal with the world’s many problems. These include issues like mass shootings, the 2008 recession¹⁰ and continuing military conflicts in the Middle East, she said.

“But what I’ve also been very surprised about, if you take a moment to sit down and talk to a girl about issues that she cares about, they are actually very positive about their future opportunities,” Chavez said.

And, in a good sign, she said girls are very “empathetic.” That means they care about people facing problems, including other girls.

Words in This Story

self-confidence – n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

cookie – n. a sweet baked food that is usually small, flat, and round and is made from flour and sugar

outdoor – adj. done, used, or located outside a building

chief executive officer – n. The head of a company or organization

puppy – n. a young dog

harness – v. to use something for a particular purpose

form – n. a document with blank spaces for filling in information

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

1 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

2 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

3 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

4 puppy   

n.小狗，幼犬

参考例句：

• You must school your puppy to obey you.你要训练你的小狗服从你。
• Their lively puppy frisks all over the house.他们的小狗在屋里到处欢快地蹦跳。

5 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

6 membership   

n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系

参考例句：

• I must renew my membership of the sailing club.我必须延续我的航海俱乐部会员的资格。
• He made up his mind to apply for membership in the Party.他决心申请入党。

7 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

8 mints   

薄荷( mint的名词复数 )； 铸币厂； 薄荷糖； 巨额（的钱）

参考例句：

• Taxes were regularized, tariffs lifted, private mints abolished and the debased currency restored. 税收调整了，关税提高了，私人造币厂废除了，贬值货币恢复了。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Rough-surfaced mints without surfactant did not create such large fountains. 由粗糙表面的薄荷糖们没有表面活性剂的话不会有那么大的喷泉。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。