Community Troop Spotlight: Brighton Elementary
More than seventy kindergarten through fifth graders at Brighton Elementary in Portsmouth, Virginia, Girl Scout Troop 5109, are benefitting from a partnership with Girl Scouts of Colonial Coast (GSCCC) and their community troop program. Lisa Koon, a Portsmouth City Schools educator and GSCCC volunteer, along with GSCCC’s community troop manager, Tameika Serrano, are helping girls who may not otherwise have access to Girl Scouts have opportunities to grow within the Girl Scout Leadership Experience by forming the community troop. Community Troops like Brighton’s are led by Girl Scout program-trained school educators who guide girls through Girl Scout activities while earning badges along the way. The community troop program operates in various schools, churches and community centers throughout the council’s geographic area and provides most or full financial support to the troops involved.
Girls take part in engaging, challenging, and fun activities like earning badges, traveling, selling cookies, exploring science, getting outdoors, and doing community service projects—all part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. They also participate in activities that interest them while building important skills. Lisa Koon, who herself is a GSCCC volunteer and troop leader of her daughters’ troop said, “This program makes it simple for families to get connected with the benefits of Girl Scouting. For some girls, they may not have had the opportunity to participate in Girl Scouts if we didn’t have this program.”
GSCCC believes that all girls deserve the opportunity to develop into tomorrow’s leaders, and when girls participate in Girl Scouts, they benefit in five important ways:
- They develop a strong sense of self;
- They display positive values;
- They seek challenges and learn from setbacks;
- They form and maintain healthy relationships; and
- They learn to identify and solve problems in their community.
The Community Troop Program serves girls in grades K-12. Approximately 900 girls participate annually and all girls in the program come from communities within our Council.
