I was a very happy Girl Scout when I was a kid. I wasn’t so into the Girl Scout meetings with the sewing and singing, but I loved Girl Scout camp. That’s where I met lots of interesting girls, rode horses, hiked mountains, learned to cook potatoes in a pit of coals, and discovered the joy of lanyards. So I was pretty excited when geek extraordinaire Jennifer Crakow emailed me about how the Girl Scouts have started after-school programs to inspire young women to become interested in technology. In these programs, called the EDGE, girls as young as five learn to use computers for art and science projects.
The Daily Texan reports:
Savita Raj, a technology specialist for the Girl Scouts and unofficial director of The EDGE, calls this program the first of its kind.
“We’re focused on empowering girls to become more comfortable to be able to take those kinds of electives in school, to make the choices to go that career route,” she says. “It’s all about getting girls comfortable with technology.”
According to Raj, most young girls between the ages of 8 and 17 tend to shy away from technology-oriented studies, particularly in classes with both boys and girls. She hopes that the EDGE program, which is meant to be an after-school, girls-only gathering, will help eliminate the discomfort or intimidation that may prevent girls from becoming adept at technology.
Nineteen counties and roughly 14,000 girls participate in The EDGE program, and the numbers continue to grow, Raj said. This program is an indication of a new route the Girl Scouts organization is taking, one that is less traditional and more progressive, using today’s fascination with technology to teach girls more about that field.
“The Girl Scouts is a wonderful tradition, but it needs to reinvent itself in so many centuries,” Raj said, laughing. “There’s a huge array in what Girl Scouts can do, you know. It’s not just cookies and camping . . .
In addition to The EDGE program, the Girl Scouts also hold such events as a Lego robotics camp and an architecture camp for young participants.
Not Your Mother’s Girl Scouts [via The Daily Texan]
I remember when I was working as a software consultant and on the road a lot back in 1998, I missed the usual Girl Scout cookie sales at tables set up at busy intersections. So I searched around to see if anyone was selling the cookies online, and sure enough, there was a Girl Scout troop down the peninsula that had designed a website complete with forms to take orders! So of course I had to reward them by ordering my fix of Thin Mints and Trefoils.
I would have so taken that option rather than going door-to-door to take orders. But Girl Scout cookies were pretty easy to move, much better than the raffle tickets that I had to sell for my Catholic high school. No wonder I have an aversion to sales….