Girl Scouts of the USA

The Girl Scouts of the USA is an organization for American girls in the United States and those living overseas. It is based on the scouting principles developed by the founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Like boy scouts, girl scouts are taught values such as courage, honesty, fairness, compassion, character, confidence, and citizenship. They can also earn badges for demonstrating their skills in practical exercises.

For over 90 years, girl scouts worldwide have participated in an annual fund raising drive during which they sell boxes of cookies to community members. The exercise is designed to develop skills such as goal setting, money and time management, teamwork and entrepreneurship among the girls. The funds remain in the community in which they were raised and go towards improving and maintaining Girl Scout facilities and programs.

The Girl Scouts of America are making a concerted effort to become more trendy. In a bid to boost falling enrollment, the organization is planning a complete make-over. Badges and text-book style lessons are to be replaced with blogs written by girls and video conferences with Girl Scout groups in other countries.Washington Post: Blogs In, Badges Out as Girl Scouts Modernize (March 2, 2009)

• 1908: Lord Robert Baden-Powell founds Boy Scouting in England

• 1915: Organization incorporated as Girl Scouts, Inc.

• 1919: First celebration of Girl Scout Week

• 1920: Nearly 70,000 Girl Scouts nationwide

• 1927: Juliette Low dies and is buried in her Girl Scout uniform

• 1930: Girl Scout program divided into three groups - Brownie, Intermediate, and Senior

• 1936: First cookie sale

• 1950: Re-incorporated under Congressional Charter

• 1960: Handbooks translated into Spanish and Japanese.

• 1970: Elected the first African American National Girl Scout President, Gloria D. Scott

• 1980: Contemporary Issues series was developed

• 1990: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, the first and only mother-daughter prison visitation program, formed

• Girl Scouts of the USA: Who We Are

• Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana: A Girl Scout Time Line, 1908 - 2000 (28.0 kbs)