Emissary Network Summer Casting Calls!

Does your Girl Scout love the spotlight? If so, consider attending a casting call in your area with your girl to learn about the Girl Scout Emissary Network!

The Emissary Network consists of Girl Scout Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors who are trained in public speaking and are on call for Girl Scout media and networking opportunities. All registered Girl Scouts who attend a casting call and complete an application are accepted and can attend workshops where they learn about public speaking, personal presentation and poise.

Members of the Emissary Network are photographed for council publications, online publicity, newspapers or interviewed for television or radio opportunities. Girls also help at local events by interacting with community members. All girls are encouraged to participate in photo sessions and large scale community events!

Summer casting calls will be Saturday, August 11, 1-3 p.m., at the Elgin Service Center, 12N124 Coombs Road, in Elgin, and Saturday, August 18, 1-3 p.m., Grace United Methodist Church, 3555 McFarland Road, in Rockford.

Registration deadline is August 6 (Elgin) and August 13 (Rockford). Girls who attend casting calls will participate in a photo shoot and be interviewed and videotaped for future Girl Scout promotions! For more information, or to register via phone or e-mail, contact Ann-Marie Soderstrom, Emissary Network Coordinator, at 815-962-5591, Ext. 7172, or e-mail asoderstrom@girlscoutsni.org.

Young Women of Distinction Ticket Lottery

Young Women of Distinction (YWD), the council-wide event to honor Girl Scouts who have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award and Girl Scout Scholarships, will be held Sunday, June 10, at Giovanni’s restaurant in Rockford.

 

The 2012 YWD speaker is Anjali Forber-Pratt. Anjali was born in Calcutta, India, where she lived in an orphanage for two and a half months before being adopted by her loving family from Massachusetts. As an infant, she contracted an illness which left her paralyzed from the waist down. What some people might view as a tragedy, Anjali would come to view as a positive life-altering event.

 

Introduced to the world of disabled sports at the age of 5, Anjali became an elite wheelchair racer and Paralympic ambassador. She is a World Champion in the 200mm and holds two Bronze Medals from the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. She is currently preparing for the Paralympic Games in London 2012 while pursuing her doctorate at the University of Illinois.

 

Her message is truly inspirational as she shares how through adversity she developed an innate drive and determination which she has used in every facet of her life.

 

GSNI is working with select sponsors to help as many girls attend this event as possible! Girl members interested in attending will have the opportunity to enter a lottery for free attendance at YWD. While all age levels are encouraged to enter the lottery, Girl Scout Cadettes and Seniors will be given first priority. Please note that all girls attending must be accompanied by a paying adult. Girl Scout Gold Award recipients and scholarship recipients do not need to enter the lottery.

 

Please indicate your interest via e-mail by May 11, 2012, to jhenn@girlscoutsni.org with “YWD Lottery” in the subject line. Within the body of the e-mail, include the troop number (or indicate if an individually registered member) and Girl Scouts’ names including grade level and accompanying adult names.

Geneva Girl Scouts to Take Action for the Environment this Arbor Day!

GSNI’s Geneva Service Unit will take part in a tree planting ceremony outside of Geneva City Hall, 109 James Street, this Arbor Day—Friday, April 27, at 3 p.m. Girl will help shovel soil to plant a tree and install a marker to commemorate their efforts as part of a dedication ceremony.

The tree planting ceremony is the final step in the Service Unit’s “Geneva Forever Green” service project. Inspired by a 100^th Anniversary Girl Scout exhibit at the Geneva History Center, 16 troops in the Service Unit pledged to be a part of a Take Action Project benefitting their community. The girls decided to help the community recover from the tree devastation caused by Emerald Ash Borer Beetle (EAB) infestation.

The goals of the project were to plant at least one tree on a public parkway in Geneva and inform the community about the EAB problem and how to stop it. Girls achieved these goals by collecting change for 100 good deeds/acts of kindness in the spirit of the Girl Scout Promise and Law and/or donating a portion of their troop Girl Scout Cookie Program proceeds to the tree fund.

Girls also created posters for a public display to inform others of the EAB problem and encourage them to take action and participated in additional Forever Green initiatives developed by Girl Scouts of the USA, including reducing plastic waste, creating rain gardens and participating in Earth Hour.

Working together, girls were able to accomplish these goals and donated enough money to plant several trees on public parkways! The Geneva Forever Green Tree the girls will plant at City Hall will be a long standing symbol of their success.

Great job, Geneva!

GSNI Awarded LEGO® Education Showcase Grant!

GSNI will be building models depicting Girl Scouts—The Next 100 Years! on Saturday, April 28, using LEGO creativity! Starting at 11 a.m., we’ll host a LEGO Education Showcase Event in conjunction with our Centennial Event at NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb!

The Showcase Event is a customizable building activity that sparks creativity in participants by allowing them to use their imaginations to create LEGO models around a theme. The theme for this event is Girl Scouts—The Next 100 Years! in honor of the Girl Scout 100^th anniversary.

“By hosting a LEGO Education Showcase Event, we are offering Girl Scouts and community members the opportunity to work together to explore and build what they think Girl Scouts will be doing in one hundred years,” said our own Pam Schnecke, Program Specialist/STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) for GSNI. “We will also encourage girls to become part of or form a LEGO Robotics Team.”

The LEGO Education Showcase Grant was made available through Education Blueprints Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing learning resources and programs that deliver education solutions to individuals, teachers, and students. Only 100 LEGO Education Showcase Grants were available nationwide.

About the Centennial Celebration – In honor of 100 years of Girl Scouting, we’re hosting a family-friendly Centennial Celebration on April 28, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center, 1525 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.

The Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew will be providing interactive entertainment that includes music, dancing, prizes and more! BMO Harris Bank is proud to support our Centennial Celebration as sponsor of the Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew. The event will also feature a live stage performance by pop music sensation Savvy, stars of the TV series “The Wannabes” on STARZ Kids & Family Channel! State Street Dance of Geneva, Illinois, will be choreographing a dance designed especially for the event, celebrating Girl Scouts’ 100^th Anniversary.

Admission includes parking, performances and all activities:

• Rock-climbing wall
• Play zone with DJ, inflatables and photo booth
• Hands-on activity zones including environmental, financial literacy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), healthy living and Girl Scouts through the years
• Girl Scout Forever Green Service Project—GSNI is teaming up with Goodwill Industries and The Fabric Center of Morris, Illinois, to increase the use of reusable bags. Participants can stop by the GSFG station to make a reusable bag from a T-shirt. In fact, they can make two—one to take and one to be distributed to Goodwill shoppers. Participants may bring their own T-shirts if they prefer!

Vendors include an American Girl^® booth with an American Girl-themed craft and doll raffle. BMO Harris Bank will also help kids learn about financial literacy through a life-size board game based on their Helpful Steps for Parents program – a free, online tool for parents to teach their kids how to be money smart, accessible 24/7. Additional vendors include Brookfield Zoo, Brunswick Zone, Discovery Center Museum, Kane County Cougars, KeyLime Cove, Magic Waters, Midwest Museum of Natural History, Raging Waves and more!

Kid-friendly, interactive booths will also feature Girl Scout history, community groups, and exhibitors. The Girl Scout Shop will be open and have a wide variety of items for sale including an event T-shirt and patch.

Tickets are $10 per person; $12 per person day of event. Children 2 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the NIU Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000 or at Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois Shops. Tickets purchased at the Girl Scout Shops can either be purchased in person or by phone. Tickets purchased by phone will be available for pick up at the will call window on the day of the event. All ticket sales are final. Event sponsors include BMO Harris Bank, KishHealth Systems, Shaw Media and WTVO.

For information, visit our Centennial Celebration page at http://www.girlscoutsni.org/centennial.html.

Superstars Needed!

Can you act, sing and/or dance? Want to star in a music video that says “NO” to bullies and “YES” to friendship and acceptance? Here’s your chance!

GSNI is casting local girls, ages 11-16, for roles in our upcoming rock opera video! Interested girls should have backgrounds in music, theater or dance. In-person auditions will be held in May 2012 with a video shoot in June 2012.

Auditions are open to all girls, not just Girl Scouts. If selected for a role, girls will be expected to attend all rehearsals and video-recording sessions and register as a Girl Scout to perform. Girls appearing in the video will receive exciting Girl Scout program opportunities and have the opportunity to participate in a Girl Scout Journey Series!

Open auditions will be held:

• Saturday, May 5, 1-5 p.m., Elgin Service Center – Lower Level, 12N124 Coombs Rd., Elgin, IL 60124
• Saturday, May 12, 1-5 p.m., Rockford Service Center – Lower Level, 2820 McFarland Rd., Rockford, IL 61107

Please come prepared to read a script and sing a song of your choice without accompaniment. For more information or to schedule an alternate audition date, please e-mail pr@girlscoutsni.org.

This video is sponsored in part by our friends at Comtech Corporation.

It’s a Girl-Led Centennial Celebration!

Hey there, I’m Shannon, and I’m helping plan parts of the 100^th Celebration of Girl Scouting this year.

I’m a Girl Scout Ambassador and a girl member of the 100^th Celebration Planning Committee for GSNI, as well as the Girls’ World Forum Planning Team. These are both really big events our region is planning for the celebration, and it’s absolutely amazing to be a part of them.

I hope every Girl Scout and volunteer out there realizes how much history they are making over this year. There isn’t any other way I’d want Girl Scouts to make their biggest impression yet!

What most girls don’t realize is how much time and organization goes into these events before they can even happen. You have to start planning months in advance, and you eventually work your way down to every nitty-gritty detail. Even though it takes a very long time, it is such a great opportunity that I’m glad to have had.

I want to end by saying that Girl Scouts has made me who I am over the last ten years, and I’m glad I made the decision to stick with it even when my friends weren’t.

So, Happy 100th Celebration of Girl Scouting!

Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew & Teen Pop Group Savvy To Headline GSNI Celebration!

In honor of 100 years of Girl Scouting, GSNI is hosting a family-friendly, open to the public, Centennial Celebration on April 28, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center, 1525 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb. We hope you’ll join us!

The Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew will be providing interactive entertainment that includes music, dancing, prizes and more! BMO Harris Bank is generously supporting GSNI’s Centennial Celebration as sponsor of the Radio Disney AM 1300 Road Crew.

The event will also feature a live stage performance by pop music sensation Savvy, stars of the TV series “The Wannabes” on STARZ Kids & Family Channel! State Street Dance of Geneva, Illinois, will be choreographing a dance designed especially for the event, celebrating Girl Scouts’ 100^th Anniversary.

Thanks to a LEGO^® Education Showcase Grant, made available through Education Blueprints Association, you’ll be able use your imagination to create LEGO models depicting the theme of “Girl Scouts—The Next 100 Years.”

Admission includes parking, performances and all activities:

• Rock-climbing wall
• Play zone with DJ, inflatables and photo booth
• Hands-on activity zones including environmental, financial literacy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), healthy living and Girl Scouts through the years
• Girl Scout Forever Green Service Project—GSNI is teaming up with Goodwill Industries and The Fabric Center of Morris, Illinois, to increase the use of reusable bags. Participants can stop by the GSFG station to make a reusable bag from a T-shirt. In fact, they can make two—one to take and one to be distributed to Goodwill shoppers. Participants may bring their own T-shirts if they prefer!

Vendors include an American Girl^® booth with an American Girl-themed craft and doll raffle. BMO Harris Bank will also help kids learn about financial literacy through a life-size board game based on their Helpful Steps for Parents program – a free, online tool for parents to teach their kids how to be money smart, accessible 24/7. Additional vendors include Brookfield Zoo, Brunswick Zone, Discovery Center Museum, Kane County Cougars, KeyLime Cove, Magic Waters, Midwest Museum of Natural History, Raging Waves and more!

Kid-friendly, interactive booths will also feature Girl Scout history, community groups, and exhibitors. The Girl Scout Shop will be open and have a wide variety of items for sale including an event T-shirt and patch.

Tickets are $10 per person; $12 per person day of event. Children 2 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the NIU Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 800-745-3000 or at Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois Shops. Tickets purchased at the Girl Scout Shops can either be purchased in person or by phone. Tickets purchased by phone will be available for pick up at the will call window on the day of the event. All ticket sales are final. Event sponsors include BMO Harris Bank, KishHealth Systems, Shaw Media and WTVO. For information, visit our website at http://www.girlscoutsni.org/.

GSNI Joins 2012 Earth Hour Initiative on March 31!

GSNI will join Girl Scouts nationwide as they celebrate Earth Hour (http://www.earthhour.org/). “Our girls should be thrilled about participating in a meaningful global initiative that makes a positive impact on the environment,” said Vicki Wright, our CEO. “It’s also a significant lesson in teamwork and giving back to our community.” Members of GSNI can support Earth Hour by turning lights off from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Girl Scouts across the country are also taking activities beyond the hour by installing ENERGY STAR®-qualified or other energy-efficient light bulbs in homes, schools and businesses during the month of March.

The Earth Hour collaboration is only one part of Girl Scouts’ broader commitment to environmental sustainability. Girl Scouts Forever Green (GSFG) (http://www.girlscouts.org/gsforevergreen/), the Girl Scouts’ 100^th Anniversary Take Action Project, involves three key projects: 1) using reusable water bottles and bags to reduce plastic waste; 2) planting and maintaining rain gardens at schools, homes and other sites; and 3) participation in Earth Hour events and installing ENERGY STAR qualified or other energy-efficient light bulbs. Participants are also encouraged to take an online pledge (http://www.girlscouts.org/gsforevergreen/GSFG-Pledge.asp) stating their yearlong commitment to GSFG efforts.

Earth Hour is a global initiative that invites individuals, businesses, governments and communities to turn off their lights for one hour – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31 – to show support for environmentally sustainable action. This year, Earth Hour is asking participants to go “Beyond the Hour” by committing to an action, big or small, that they will sustain for the future of our planet. In the United States, Earth Hour is partnering with the Girl Scouts to bring the movement to life.

Initially a single-city initiative in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, Earth Hour has become a global movement in which hundreds of millions of people from every continent join together to acknowledge the importance of protecting and improving the planet. Since its inception, Earth Hour’s iconic “lights out” event has seen some of the world’s most recognized landmarks switch off their lights, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Buckingham Palace in London, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and the Forbidden City in China.

Be a Friend, Not a Bully!

Sometimes it can be very hard for girls to stand up for what they believe in or say what they really think when bullies are around. GSNI plans to empower girls with “Be a Friend, Not a Bully” on Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m.–1 p.m., at McHenry County College, 8900 US Hwy 14 in Crystal Lake. The workshop will be facilitated by volunteers from the McHenry County College chapter of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges.

This girls-only event will teach girls how to stand strong against bullies. Girls will receive tips on how to stand up for their beliefs and how to help themselves or others who are being bullied. Participants will see how American Girl Chrissa Maxwell deals with the “Mean Bees” at her new school during a screening of An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. Girls will also take the SHINE pledge and create cool accessories to show they won’t stand for bullying.

The program is open to all girls in grades 2–3. Program fee is $10 per girl; $3 per adult and includes a No Bullying patch, pizza and a drink. There is an additional one-time $12 fee for non-Girl Scouts. This fee registers participants as Girl Scouts, allowing them to participate in this program, as well as many others. Registration deadline is April 4. To register, contact Brooke Radford-Knight at 847-741-5521, Ext. 7147 or bknight@girlscoutsni.org.

GSNI To Extend Cookie Booth Program!

In appreciation of overwhelming community support during Girl Scouts’ 100^th year, GSNI has decided to extend our local Girl Scout Cookie Booth Program! The program was originally scheduled to end on March 18, but has been extended until April 8. The extension allows community members added opportunities to purchase cookies at area locations and helps our troops earn increased funding for exciting projects throughout the year!

 

Girl Scout Cookie Booths are the final phase of our Girl Scout Cookie Program and allow people to buy Girl Scout Cookies through direct sales to the public. All booth locations will accept cash and checks payable to Girl Scouts. All eight varieties of Girl Scout Cookies will be on sale for only $4 a box.

 

Locating the Closest Cookie Booth

Girl Scout Cookie fans can find nearby Girl Scout Cookie Booths by using a free Cookie Locator mobile app—now updated to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of Girl Scouting in 2012! The highly rated Cookie Locator App can be downloaded for free by simply calling **GSCookies (**472665437) from a mobile phone or by searching for “Cookie Locator” in the iPhone App Store or Android Marketplace. Customers can also visit http://www.girlscoutsni.org/ and use the cookie locator on the homepage.

 

About Cookie Program Proceeds

Proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie Program directly benefit girls in northern Illinois, supporting Girl Scout programs, camp scholarships, volunteer training, membership assistance and programs in underserved areas. Each troop receives a portion of the proceeds as discretionary funds for troop activities. In fact, the Girl Scout Cookie Program is one of the few youth-oriented programs in the country providing its participants the ability to decide how to direct the proceeds generated through their business activity.

 

About the Girl Scout Cookie Program

Through Girl Scouting, girls become leaders in their daily lives and prepare for their futures. To millions of girls, Girl Scout Cookies provide an opportunity to travel, explore science and math, and learn about a career. Because not only are these cookies great, but they are at the center of the largest business and economic literacy program for girls!

 

The Girl Scout Cookie Program provides an important ingredient for leadership by helping girls develop five key skills:

•  Goal Setting
• Decision Making
• Money Management
• People Skills
• Business Ethics

 

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls participate in carefully developed, age-appropriate cookie activities that help develop these skills that they can apply throughout their lives. Even the youngest Girl Scouts gain self-confidence and poise by learning how to greet customers and offer cookies for purchase. As girls grow, emphasis is placed on getting to know their product—ingredients, calories—to designing innovative and creative marketing strategies and tools. Girls learn to plan, set goals, build teams, speak up, make decisions, solve problems and manage resources. Over time, the skills girls gain set them on a path to be leaders, in their own lives and in their communities.

 

Girls also have the opportunity to give back to their community through the Girl Scout Cookie Program with the Gift of Caring. Girls can choose from offering customers the chance to purchase cookies for the military or for a community organization designated by the troop.

 

For more information on the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and the Girl Scout Cookie Program, visit http://www.girlscoutsni.org/.