ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Young ladies ready to try fun new things, make lasting memories, discover hidden talents and have real world learning experiences, all in a safe space to be their unique selves, can do so through Girl Scouts.
Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland’s Troop Engagement Specialist for Southwest Kansas Michelle Daniels hosts multiple sign-ups throughout the area from about the end of August until early November.
Every event has a theme, and Daniels recently hosted a sign-up in Liberal with an animal safari party theme. The evening featured girls with binoculars made from toilet paper rolls as they went on a safari with stuffed animals based on the Disney movie, “The Lion King.”
Later, Daniels had a game of Safari Bingo and fun animal workshops for the youth to do. She said this is just the start of fun for young ladies who join this year in both Southwest Kansas and the rest of the Sunflower State.
“They’ll have the Girl Scouts Grand Prix in Garden City,” she said. “The big thing everybody’s talking about in the Wichita area is the Haunted Stroll. We’re trying to do a lot of community events as they pop up. One of the Garden City troops was actually able to do a flag ceremony at the 9/11 memorial the Presbyterian church in Garden City puts on.”
Daniels does about three sign-up events a week, and she has new troop leaders in Liberal in Sarah Moyer and Jamie Hailey. With new leaders in place, Daniels said she wanted to help them get the hang of both the sign-up process and the rest of what Girl Scouts provides.
“I know it can be chaotic, especially with it being a themed party,” she said. “I’ll be doing about three or four a week until the beginning of November.”
“I like to look at my schools in all of my areas,” she said. “I do have four areas, and I try to look at this school starts early, but this school starts late and try to get my early schools in first and go on.”
To host this many sign-up events naturally takes some motivation, and Daniels explained where her motivation comes from is simply wanting girls to join Girl Scouts.
“I think it’s such a great program for the girls,” she said. “We are doing so many things for the girls. We are teaching them so many skills and not just them, but they’re teaching us. I feel more and more girls, with the way the world is now, we need to show them how powerful they are and how capable they are.”
Daniels encourages young ladies thinking of joining Girl Scouts to absolutely do it.
“There is not a single thing we don’t offer,” she said. “If a girl is into cooking, we have that. If they’re into history, we have badges for that. If they are into Harry Potter, we have Harry Potter camps. If they are into chemistry, we have those things. We offer all of those things.”
In this way, Daniels said Girl Scouts has something for everyone, and girls also learn skills needed throughout life.
“They’re learning how to balance checkbooks, how to budget and how to make those decisions, the hard decisions, and they’re gaining the confidence they need to continue making decisions,” she said.
Daniels said as girls continue in Girl Scouts, they likewise get experiences such as community service that could help them in graduating from high school.
“Completing your higher award, which is your Gold Award, you enter into the military a rank higher than everybody else,” she said. “It offers so much, and I think if people aren’t knowledgeable, it’s like they underestimate how much girls can do and how much Girl Scouts do.”
Daniels said troop numbers continue to increase in Southwest Kansas.
“We have new troops growing and popping up,” she said. “I have a new troop that started in Elkhart, and they are doing fantastic. They’ll be going into their first full year. They started at the very end of the fall last year. There hadn’t been a troop in Elkhart in years. I have two amazing troop leaders here. I have the troop in Plains. I just got one started in Meade, and Meade hasn’t had one for a while.”
Through all of this, Daniels said Girl Scouts are making a difference, and they are also able to do community events such as the recent Southwest Community Fiesta in Liberal and the flag ceremony for the 9/11 memorial in Garden City where they were able to honor fallen soldiers and law enforcement.
Of course, many people look forward to the annual cookie sales Girl Scouts bring, and even though those sales are not scheduled to begin until early 2025, Daniels said things are already looking great for the sales.
“We’re doing amazing,” she said. “We sold so many cookies last year, we had to order more. Thin Mint is still our number one top seller. It’s going great.”
For those looking for other goodies, nuts and candy sales are going on at this time with Girl Scouts, and Daniels said a new nut has been added for this year.
“It’s a vanilla honey pecan,” she said. “It’s marvelous. With all of those things, with all of the sales, our troops are able to do big things.”
In addition to in-person sales, Daniels said Girl Scouts are now able to sell online as well, and items can be found in other locations as well.
“All the girls have online platforms, as well as in person,” she said. “We will have cookie booths in Liberal.”
Daniels said, though, not all troops take part in fall product sales.
“It is hard because you’re starting right when school starts, and sports are going on,” she said. “It’s a very crazy time, but anytime you go on the kansasgirlscouts.org Web site, you’ll be able to find those things. By calling the hotline, they can direct you to somebody who’s selling.”
The growth of technology, Daniels said, has likewise helped with getting young ladies signed up for Girl Scouts.
“It’s great,” she said. “We added a new feature to our sign-ups this year. Our flyers have a QR code on the back. Parents get these flyers, and they’re busy.”
Daniels also has a sign-up event scheduled for the upcoming Fall Festival Oct. 12 in Garden City, and she said flyers will available at that event and many other places.
“They got these flyers, and if they want to go to a party, they can scan that QR code, and that’ll take you to a Web site that has a map,” she said. “That map will show all of the safari parties that are going on and where they’re located.”
If parents and youth cannot make it to a sign-up event, this can always be done online at kansasgirlscouts.org, and Daniels advised everyone to look for Girl Scouts at upcoming community events throughout Southwest Kansas.
“Call us, and we will direct you to the troop leader,” she said. “We will direct you to the membership specialist. We will direct you to the troop engagement specialist, and for my areas, I’ll give you all the information. If there’s a town with multiple troops, we’ll talk about what day works best for you.”
Daniels said every troop comes with its own personality.
“There are troops that are more prone to going outdoors versus ones that like to do the cooking badges and crafting,” she said. “We all do camping and try to get outdoors.”
Daniels said event flyers will be posted at post offices and other locations with QR codes that will lead to a Web site to sign up for Girl Scouts.
