Girl Scout Mission Moments: G.I.R.L. Goals

Girl Scout Troop 50010 of Scranton went on the trip of a lifetime over the summer to Costa Rica! These savvy girls saved their Girl Scout Cookie troop proceeds for the last 4 years and paid for the trip fully from their Cookie Program earnings. While there, they met with other groups from Costa Rica as well as Girl Scouts from Denver, Colorado; San Jose, California; and Leesburg, Virginia for a Girl Scout meeting on the beach in Jaco, Costa Rica. The girls also planted a tree as part of a revitalization project.

Three years ago, the Troop 50159 aspired to travel to Savannah, Ga, to visit the birthplace of Girl Scout Founder, Juliette Gordon Low, and the Girl Scouts First Headquarters. These hardworking girls spent three years selling Fall Products, Girl Scout Cookies, and other fundraisers to completely cover this inspirational 7-day trip to the place where Girl Scouts began. The girls saw the eternal flame at the First Headquarters, visited Juliette Gordon Low's grave, had tea at JGL’s place of birth, took a tour of Savannah by Trolley, and visited the Andrew Low house on a ghost tour, which is where Juliette was living when she passed away. They stayed on Tybee Island and even explored Sea Ecology with Dr. Joe and kayaked in the ocean. 

Izzy has been on a mission since she was 5 years old to reach the stars. She has been a Girl Scout since Daisies and not long after joining, she was ready to tackle any science badge she could. From her first interests in astronomy, to now aspiring to be an astronaut on the first mission to Mars, she has always found encouragement in Girl Scouts. Her first introduction to STEM was through GSHPA, and it was the only place locally where she could find a program so science-oriented. Since then, Izzy has attended the NASA Space Camp & Academy in Huntsville, Alabama and is now completing a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program, looking toward her Gold Award, and will attend the Elite Space Academy this winter. She believes Girl Scouts helped her find her passion and turn her dream into tangible steps. In the hopes that more children will be inspired by her out-of-this-world aspirations, Izzy is conducting a Service Project inviting kids from 5th-8th grade to a Global Rocket Launch event provided by NASA for the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo missions. Catch her at GSHPA’s STEAM Expo on October 12^th where she'll be sharing with other girls what she has learned at the NASA Space Academy and about her journey to becoming an Astronaut.