Girls work on community service project to earn a petal
The members of the local Girl Scout Daisy Troop 23119 earned
another petal for the flower on their vests Monday with a community
service project.
”
It’s a way for them to become good leaders,
”
said Jackie Taylor, a co-leader of the troop and mom to Katie,
6, and Kelly, 4.
The girls gathered together with other members of their troop,
all ages 4 to 7, to repaint a faded map of the United States on the
Sacred Heart School playground Monday afternoon.
Girls work on community service project to earn a petal
The members of the local Girl Scout Daisy Troop 23119 earned another petal for the flower on their vests Monday with a community service project.
“It’s a way for them to become good leaders,” said Jackie Taylor, a co-leader of the troop and mom to Katie, 6, and Kelly, 4.
The girls gathered together with other members of their troop, all ages 4 to 7, to repaint a faded map of the United States on the Sacred Heart School playground Monday afternoon.
“One of the announcements at the school was that they needed it [painted],” Jackie said. “Eight of the nine girls come to this school.”
At 4 p.m., a few parents began the project by outlining each state with white paint so that the girls could easily paint within the white borders. The paint colors ranged from aquamarine to sage green to hot pink.
“It’s mistake paint,” said Eric Taylor, Jackie’s husband. “The troop paid for all the materials. It came out of their dues, so we tried to keep it low so they can do other things.”
Ace Hardware in Hollister donated two cans of paint and they purchased “mistake paint” from Lowe’s, paint that is mixed wrong and refused by a customer.
“They go to school here so they will all be very proud they did this,” Eric said.
Co-leaders Taylor and Susan Rivera selected the painting project because it was something with which the girls could be actively involved.
“It was something the girls could actually do,” Eric Taylor said. “They can’t repair chairs or fences. But they could actually do this.”
The girls proved him right as the parent volunteers each paired off with one or two girls and a can of paint. Aside from a few parents reminding the girls to stay off the wet paint, the girls seemed comfortable spreading colored paint on the outlined states.
The project also made it easier to teach the girls about the concept of community service.
“They have to physically do something,” Taylor said. “They can understand the map is there for all the kids to learn, but it’s in such bad repair so they can take their own time to fix it so everyone can enjoy it.”
“It benefits other kids in the area,” Jackie Taylor said. “Not just them.”
As a Daisy, the girls need to earn nine petals to graduate to the Brownies. The projects they have completed so far have earned them petals for being honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, and courageous and strong. The painting project earns them one more petal, but they are still working on petals that signify being responsible, respectful, respecting authority and using resources wisely.
“They learn all these before they move on,” Eric Taylor said. “Once they are a Brownie, they can get involved in larger events, like the sleepovers and stuff like that.”
