Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians

the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians (gscsa) is a mission-driven, girl-focused organization that strives to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Through programs offered to girls k-12 in 46 counties from southwest Virginia, through east Tennessee, and into north Georgia, Girl scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges. Backed by trusted and dedicated adult volunteers, mentors, and alums, Girl scouts lead the way as they find their voices and learn they can do anything they set their minds to. For more than 112 years, Girl scouts has brought to life the dreams of girls and worked together to develop our next generation of successful female leaders. [continued on sched. O]gscsa continues to create new programming to support and educate its Girl members. the programs and leadership skills provided by Girl scouts are needed today more than ever.girl Scout programming is provided through the Girl Scout leadership experience and Girl Scout community troops, serving more than 7,300 girls in our 46-county footprint. the Council ended the 2024 membership year (oct. 1, 2023 sept. 30, 2024) with 11,074 Girl and adult members. In addition to individual troop activities, 2,639 girls participated in more than 352 programs, either organized by gscsa staff or one of our community programs partners during the 2024 membership year. Girls did everything from stem workshops to rafting to helping others, many earning badges along the way. In the Girl Scout leadership experience, girls learn through activities that earn them badges for things like leadership, stem, financial and business literacy, healthy living, the environment, and global citizenship. Girl scouts helps girls learn these five attitudes, skills, and behaviors of effective leadership:1. Strong sense of self2. Positive values3. Challenge seeking4. Healthy relationships5. Community problem solvingwhy do these five outcomes matter? When girls exhibit these attitudes and skills, they become responsible, productive, caring, and engaged citizens. Studies show that the development of attitudes, behaviors, and skills like confidence, conflict resolution, and problem solving are critical to well-being and rival academic and technical skills in their capacity to predict long-term positive life outcomes.a recent research study provides evidence that Girl scouts stand out significantly from nongirl scouts, demonstrating more well-rounded lifestyles and a stronger propensity for success. Compared to nongirl scouts, Girl scouts are more likely to: exhibit strong leadership outcomes earn "excellent" grades expect to graduate college aspire to stem, business, and law careers feel hopeful about their futuregirls who are Girl scouts do better in school and, as adults, are better educated, have a higher income level, are more active as community volunteers, and vote more often than girls who were not. Girl Scout alums say Girl scouting prepared them to face life's challenges and opportunities with resourcefulness, ingenuity, and discipline. Compared to women who were not Girl scouts, our alumnae feel more capable and competent in their lives, have more supportive social relationships, and feel more optimistic about their futures. (Girl Scout research institute, Girl scouting works: the alumnae impact study)girl scouts performed more than 7,000 hours of community service projects in the communities across our Council. An impressive example of girls giving back to their communities was demonstrated by girls and troops coming together to help those affected by the devastating aftermath of hurricane helene. 742 girls representing 74 troops completed service projects to help communities and fellow Girl scouts who lost so much due to the natural disaster that ripped through many towns in our service area. Additionally, gscsa donated approximately 17,352 boxes of cookies to friends of the troops, hugs for our soldiers, and other local organizations in need. We also had two successful product programs that helped fund all the fun and educational programs: fall product and the cookie program. Gscsa is proud to say that 4,454 Girl scouts sold 1,182,008 boxes of cookies and girls sold nearly 60,000 items for the fall product program. By selling cookies and fall product, girls develop five essential skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics, all of which help them succeed today and in the future. They grow their confidence and practice leadership, too.approximately 300 girls attended our summer resident camp at camp tanasi in andersonville, tn. Whether they spent a few days or two weeks, girls learned a variety of outdoors skills as well as abilities they can use in their everyday, indoor life. Girls also had the chance to try out archery, climbing, swimming, boating, and hiking. In addition to summer resident camp, 1,230 girls participated in troop camping at one of our three beautiful camps, located in various areas of our Council footprint. Our Girl Scout community troop program has grown since its launch in the summer of 2018. This year we were able to serve 268 girls through 13 community troop partner sites across our Council footprint. Gscsa recognizes that not every Girl in our area is able to access Girl scouts because of limitations due to family finances, transportation, or finding volunteers to lead troops in specific areas. That is where the gscsa community troop program comes in to ensure girls can join Girl scouts and gain the skills and confidence that is necessary to success. Our community troop program is staff-led in community centers and schools from southwest Virginia throughout all of eastern Tennessee and on into northwest Georgia. the program is designed to bring the Girl Scout leadership experience (gsle) directly to the Girl in her community, especially to those who may never have the means to participate in Girl scouts.girl scouting goes way beyond cookies and badges and encourages girls to make real, concrete change for the better in their communities. 162 high award recipients completed 6,300 service hours on projects that made their communities a better place.our senior and ambassador level girls work tirelessly to earn the gold award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn. By completing a gold award project, girls tackle issues that are dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond. Twenty-four amazing girls in our Council earned their gold award this year. One exceptional Girl Scout from our Council received the gsusa gold award scholarship in the generous amount of $5,000. the gsusa gold award scholarship recognizes one outstanding gold award Girl Scout per Council, and the 2024 awardee for gscsa is sarah b. of hixson, tn. Her gold award project addressed the importance of healthy eating habits and good nutrition. As an athlete, sarah understood the importance of healthy eating habits and good nutrition, and she wanted to ensure young students would be educated on how to properly fuel their bodies. She teamed up with hamilton county teachers and staff to develop a curriculum that would teach students the importance of nutrition and how to create a balanced diet through hands-on activities and videos. Sarah's curriculum aligns with Tennessee state education standards and has been formally implemented into hamilton county schools. It is being taught to all first and second grade students in the county.our extremely popular summer stack club summer reading program completed its fifth year and had a participation number of 1,481 girls: 499 members from within our Council, and 980 Girl scouts from other councils (including Girl scouts overseas). Participants hailed from 40 different states, puerto rico, and mexico. Reading comprehension is so important to helping girls achieve success and we are extremely proud of this important program. We have received positive feedback from parents who appreciate how our curated reading list helped their Girl find a new book or series to love. Parents have also shared stories of how their "reluctant readers" became motivated to read more while completing the patch requirements.