How many Girl Scouts does it take to change a light bulb? How many Girl Scouts does it take to change the world?
More than 80 Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts from Centennial spent the weekend of February 29 to March 2 answering these and other environmentally-aware questions. Led by Cadette Troop 695, who were assisted by Cadette Troop 507, the third, fourth and fifth graders learned about water quality, recycling, energy conservation and famous environmentalist women.
Troop 695, made up of eighth-graders from Campus and West Middle Schools, led the "Rendezvous" at Magic Sky Ranch, the newly-renovated Girl Scout Camp located north of Fort Collins. By organizing and leading the 2-day event, the Cadettes will earn their Silver Award, the highest service and leadership honor available to Cadette Girl Scouts.
The Cadettes have been planning and preparing for the event since September 2007. At the opening activities on Friday night, the Brownies and Juniors learned about the importance of reducing their dependence on plastic shopping bags and decorated reusable shopping bags to bring home to their families.
On Saturday, Cadette I
rene Wehrwein led the girls in a recycling sorting race and a game testing their knowledge about ways to reduce their carbon footprints.
Morgan Dubois taught the girls about the effects of pollution on waterways through science experiments.
Stephanie Kihm led the girls in a seed-planting craft and
Katie McGee taught them how to make beads out of old magazines.
Anne Lindsey taught the girls how to make "trashy art", using old bottle caps to make jewelry, and
Ellen Singel showed them how to fold plastic grocery bags into little triangles that fit neatly into their pockets for later use.
To wrap up the day's activities,the younger Girl Scouts demonstrated what they had learned with imaginative skits and a giggly game of Jeopardy.
By the way, it only takes one Girl Scout to change a light bulb, and an environmentally-aware Girl Scout will use a compact fluorescent light bulb to save energy! It might take a whole troop of Girl Scouts to change the world.