January 28th was a big day for the elementary Girl Scouts. Brownies and junior members celebrated their year-long accomplishments through a much-anticipated ceremony. The awardees were presented with not only the prized badges representing all the activities they participated in, but also the sashes they could decorate with their emblems of achievements. Alongside a few guests, the girls’ celebration was explosive.

“We’ve been working very hard all year to earn these badges, and we finally got the opportunity to celebrate them as our uniform sash came in to commemorate our achievements,” said Ms. Suozzo, advisor of the brownies at DIS.

“As a former girl scout, it’s really empowering to see these young children accomplishing their goals. It also makes me think back to my childhood, and excites me that these girls are experiencing what [have] been important events in my own life too,” she added.

Tracy, a satisfied scout, said, “receiving our badges was kind of hard because we had to do a lot of things, but I think it’s still good volunteering for a better cause. It feels good.”

Esther, also a member, commented, “I’m very proud of myself that I did a lot of activities to earn these badges, and I’m super excited to get them.”

During the in-house ceremony, Mrs. Cameron, the advisor of the elementary scouts, noted, “We wish we could’ve done [the ceremony] with the families to celebrate the girls’ success… knowing that we can’t do that, we invited former girl scouts to the ceremony to come and celebrate the girls, since they understand the hardships in earning the badges and recognize the achievements of our girls.”

On future plans and the general aim of the club, Ms. Suozzo said, “a lot of what we do is ‘girl-driven’, as in they pave their own way for what they want to do—and I think it’s important for us to keep that up, and make the girls feel empowered to make those decisions.”

Mrs. Cameron agreed, adding, “We’re excited to help these girls develop leadership skills on our own campus. We want the girls to continue picking their own badges out of self interest. Our goal is to give these girls the autonomy to make their own decisions and support them.”

The girls themselves yearn for the coming days of the club, too. “I want to take care of animals next year because I love pets,” said Tracy. 

Esther said, “I don’t have anything in particular that I want to do, but I’m just excited to be a part of the scouts next year. We can all be together, sharing good experiences as a group, and it helps me develop teamwork.”

These young girls were able to witness their year-long activities come into physical fruition in the form of badges and sashes. They made new friends, developed leadership, and honed their teamwork on their way here. Yet, the advisors – also former scouts – and the scouts themselves, know: this is just the first step.