Скачать или смотреть Girl Scouts Stress ‘Girl Power’ in Recruitment

(26 Jul 2018) As American women seek a larger role in politics, fairer wages and an end to sexual harassment, the Girl Scouts are promoting their core mission: girl empowerment.
But the marketing campaign is about more than boasting. It's also an effort to confront several high-stakes challenges, including reversing a long slide in membership, making the case for all-girl scouting after the rival Boy Scouts included girls and updating the organization's curriculum for a new generation that expects more than cookies and camping.
Megan Ferland, CEO of the Seattle-based Girl Scouts of Western Washington, says one major challenge is to puncture some of the myths and stereotypes that affect public perceptions, including that the organization is mostly just cookie sales.
She cited activities such as robotics and rock climbing, a strong emphasis on community service and the iconic cookie sales, which she depicted in a recent newspaper essay as "the largest girl-run business in the world."
The Boy Scouts decided last year to admit girls into all programs. But the Girl Scouts' parent organization, Girl Scouts of the USA, will not follow suit by admitting boys.
"I wished them well and went back focusing on making sure that every girl who wants an opportunity to be a Girl Scout has access to our programming because the impact of Girl Scout programming is proven," Ferland said.
The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, as well as other youth organizations and sports leagues, have experienced membership declines in recent years, for reasons ranging from busy family schedules to the lure of online games and social media. The Girl Scouts say they now have about 1.76 million girls and 780,000 adult members _ down from about 2.9 million girls and 900,000 adult volunteers in 2003.
Mai-Linh Tran's mother signed her up for the Girl Scouts in the first grade. At first she was excited to hang out with her friends after school, but soon learned that she liked the activities and grew into a leader. This year, the graduating senior won one of the the Girl Scouting's highest honors _  the elite Gold Award for her work in robotics.
Tran's experience reflects the Girl Scouts' push to engage girls in science, technology, engineering and math. There are a host of new STEM-related badges, and there's a newly opened year-round camp in Dallas _ the STEM Center of Excellence _ that will offer K-12 STEM programs on a 92-acre campus.
"I think that Girl Scouts really gives a unique experience for all girls because it's an all-girls environment and I think that's what really important because it gives girls a chance to work with other girls and  to work with female leaders to find their own sort of empowerment," Tran said.

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