Today, March 12th, is National Girl Scout Day in the United States. This is a day that recognizes and celebrates the Girls Scouts of America. This date celebrates the creation of the first Girl Scout troop* on March 12, 1912.
Girl Scout (or Girl Guides) troops can now be found in almost every county around the world, but the very first group was formed in the United States (in the state of Georgia) 100 years ago by a woman names Juliette Grodon Low. The Girls Scouts became a national organization in 1950, and today, there are millions of Girl Scouts all over the world. If you never were a Girl Scout (or a Boy Scout) you may not know what they do. Here is brief summary: The Girl Scouts organization aims to empower girls, to help teach values such as honesty, fairness, courage, compassion, character, sisterhood, confidence, and citizenship through activities such as camping, community service, learning about first aid, and acquiring other practical skills. Girl Scouts’ earn badges for their achievements and advance in rank as they earn badges and awards. The Girl Scout organization is similar, but separate from the Boy Scout organization, which functions in a similar manner. The motto** for both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts is “Be prepared.”
In the United States, Girl Scout are very famous for selling cookies. Every year in the spring Girl Scout troops sell special cookies as a fundraiser to help their troop pay for different activities. These cookies are delicious (in my opinion) and most people don’t mind paying $4 (or more) for a box of just 12 cookies because the cookies are so good and because people know the money is going to help the girls who are selling them. Here is commercial for Girl Scout Cookies. In this commercial you can see the different kinds of cookies that are sold and Girl Scouts in their uniforms. Also, this commercial shows that the selling Girl Scout cookies really is big business, hundreds of thousands of boxes are sold nation wide each year!
If you want to learn more about the Girl Scouts of the USA, you can find out a lot more information at the organizations website: http://www.girlscouts.org/
* troop = a group of people usually with an identifiable leader
** motto = a short sentence or phrase that briefly states the beliefs or ideals guiding an institution
Hi there! I am one of Transparent Language's ESL bloggers. I am a 32-year-old native English speaker who was born and raised in the United States. I am living in Washington, DC now, but I have lived all over the US and also spent many years living and working abroad.
I started teaching English as a second language in 2005 after completing a Master's in Applied Linguists and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults' (CELTA). Since that time I have taught ESL in the United States at the community college and university level. I have also gone on to pursue my doctorate in psychology and now I also teach courses in psychology.
I like to stay connected to ESL learners around the world through Transparent Languages ESL Blog. Please ask questions and leave comments on the blog and I will be sure to answer them.
