At the Churchill Road Elementary School cafeteria on Friday evening, Feb. 22, McLean Senior Girl Scout Troop 6974 led 21 Brownie Scouts from four different McLean troops in a training program the Seniors developed called “Speak for Success.” The McLean Girl Scout Seniors are: Christine Li and Nadia Mushtaq, both ninth graders at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Priya Miller, a ninth grader at Langley High School. As the culminating event of their Girl Scout journey on the path to their Gold Award, the Senior Scouts wanted to give back to the McLean community and offer training to Brownie Scouts.
"We brainstormed as a troop and decided to develop content on a subject we've practiced. We also decided to limit our training to Brownies, so we could develop age-appropriate curriculum and have fun with a great age group." The Seniors started with the pledge of allegiance and the Girl Scout Promise, broke the ice with some opening questions, and did group work so each younger scout had a chance to practice her public speaking skills. The
Brownies thought they could use the training for school book reports, science fairs and asking questions in class. They gained courage, confidence, and character in a valuable life skill demonstrating the essentials of Girl Scouting. The Seniors agree that scouting has only gotten better over the years they have participated, and encouraged the younger girls to remain in Girl Scouts, continue to challenge themselves and to develop new skills and friendships. The Brownies had lots of ideas and knew just when to say "Yes!" to the speech as they cheered on fellow scouts. Each participant was presented a Certificate of Completion and a handout of skills they learned, and enjoyed refreshments and bonding with their new big sister scouts.