Girl Scouts: Fun Times! And homework!

Hi everyone!

What a fun meeting!  These girls are pretty amazing.  We got a lot done, so here's what everyone needs to know:

1)  We started out with some Girl Scout Law charades.  The girls had some fun (and a LOT of laughs) acting out everything from "Make the world a better place" to "Be responsible for what I say and do."

2)  We moved on into our first badge work for the year--"The Science of Happiness."  Each girl made a pocket journal to carry with her until the next meeting where she'll take notes of when she's happy and what makes her happy.  Since they should be trying to be as accurate as possible, all the girls also signed up to contact at least one teacher to ask permission for scouts to log moments of happiness even in their class.  I've included the list of who was supposed to contact whom.  Each girl needs to include three things in either a personal contact or an email to that teacher:  1)  Our girl scout troop is collecting data for a science project about the science of happiness, 2) That data is a collection of times when they notice they are happy, and 3) Would it be OK if (at appropriate times) girl scouts logged moments of happiness in their journal?

Here's who signed up to contact whom:

Carrie -- Mr. Ligocki

Teagan -- Teagan's teachers

Liliana -- Ms. Hauke

Nyelah -- Mr. Schneider

Lauren -- Mr. Folker, Mrs. Weier

Evie -- Mrs. Gang

Samantha -- Mrs. Mutranowski

Kendra -- Ms. Walsh

Ellen -- Mr. Johnson

Eva -- Mrs. D'Acquisto

Quinn -- Mrs. Martens

Katie -- Mr. Van Roo

Kahlen -- Mrs. Dominguez

3)  More Science of Happiness!  The girls then brainstormed and then narrowed down a list of questions they will ask 5-10 people in the next month about happiness.  The girls also answered those 5 questions for themselves in their journal.  The questions are:

Where are you most often when you are happy?

Who makes you happy?

What do you do when you are happy?

What food makes you happy?

Is there a word that makes you happy?

4)  SNACK TIME!  We made fruit tacos.  We had various spreads (yogurt, cheesecake, cream cheese) and a lot of different fruits, and some extra-fluffy tortillas.  The girls seemed to realy enjoy it and got quite creative with their taco creations!

5)  Project time.  The girls wrapped up the meeting dividing into project/activity planning groups for activities through the year.  Based on the girls present we broke into groups to plan and organize:  1)  A food tasting event, 2) A cooking activity, and 3) A baby sitting event.  A couple of the groups got a good start, and I think they really have some good ideas.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how these activities/events come together through the year!

That's about it for today!  Keep scouting, and for the next month keep those girls journaling their happy times!

Aleks