Farewell

So, as we say farewell, we hope that our now completed Silver Award will have a lasting impact on you, our global community. We will continue to go on with Girl Scouts, and who knows, we might even earn the Gold Award. We will definitely let you know when we earn our Gold Awards. The only downside to the Gold Award is that we can't work as a group. So we will earn three individual Gold Awards. So, with this lasting memory of a project, we say goodbye (for now).Thank you so much for following our journey through the Silver Award.
~Jillian, Margaret, and Alison

Newsflash! Peace Tree Day

Today is international Peace Tree Day! Peace Tree Day, celebrated on June 1, is a day where on bare branches, children put diverse symbols of peace on and the tree is then admired by many. To learn more, go to http://www.peacetreeday.com/ and to learn how to create your own peace tree, click here.
~Alison

www.peacetreeday.com

Celebrate!

Hooray! This meeting we found out that we got our silver award! Next week we will officially recieve it and bridge to Seniors. All of that hard work finally paid off!
~Troop 60435

Podcasts

We are filming!

This meeting, we worked on podcasts. Filming, that is. Last meeting, our homework was to write scripts for some podacsts. They are really cool! To see them click on the Podcasts tab or on this link: http://justkiddingjusthurts.blogspot.com/p/our-podcasts.html That is all for now!

~Troop 60435

Activity: Peace Ribbon

In this activity, you will need a ribbon and a thin fabric marker or sharpie. On the ribbon with the marker, write a peaceful message and sign your name. Then get all of your friends to sign. You can hang it up on a bulletin board or if it is short enough, wear it as a bracelet. Here are our peace ribbons:

This one we all signed. This was done in sharpie.

With a fabric marker, I wrote the Girl Scout Promise.

~Alison

Paperwork

Today's meeting was completely devoted to finishing up official Silver Award paperwork.  We all finished writing around eight responses discussing what we did for our project, and how we felt we made a difference.  We answered questions such as "How did you reach outside the Girl Scout community?"  To that particular question, we answered... you guys!  All you readers out there, you are the ones who we reached out to outside the Girl Scout community!  We also presented our pro-peace workshop to kids at a local library, further getting our project out to those not in the Girl Scout community.  We are having our leaders sign off on our forms today, and then we are sending them in.  It's all really coming together; once we get our forms in, the next step is: Silver Award!  We're almost there, guys, and we're really excited!




~Troop 60435

Activity: Tibetan Prayer Flags

In the Himilayas, along the peaks of some of the tallest mountains of the world, there is something like a clothesline, and you hang something called a prayer flag on it. And prayer flags are not only in Tibet or the Himilayas. I have seen them at my local art center, and Margaret has some hanging in her room! So lets make our own prayer flags! Many of the Himilayan flags have peace on them and, well, as you guessed, let's write peace on them!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/07/oxygen-mount-everest-intensive-care

What You'll Need:

• Colorful piece of fabric (preferably something thin; see picture above)
• Fabric Markers (or Sharpies)
• Scissors
• String

Instructions:

1. First, cut your colorful fabric so that there are two slits on either end of the flag
2. Now, with your markers, decorate the prayer flag with peaceful designs (like the peace cirlcle or the word peace) NOTE: You can be even more creative and sew or just remain simple!
3. Now string your prayer flag onto the string and hang!

The Evolution of my flag:

     Step 1: I used fleece, which I do NOT recommend- use very thin fabric!
     Step 2: Sorry about the cut off- my scanner is only so thick.

     Step 3: Here it is all strung up! I looped the string around the slits.

We would also love to see your finished Tibetan Prayer flag!


~Alison

Second Presentation

We presented to a group of Daisy Girl Scouts today, and it went very well! Just like at the library, all of the children seemed to really enjoy our presentation. We actually had to stop one activity because the kids were having too much fun and made too much noise! We also sang a lot of Girl Scout songs, seeing as the girls were Daisies, the first level of Girl Scouts. We heard a lot of great vocal chords out there. We reall enjoyed presenting, and hope the kids had as much fun as we did!


~Troop 60435

Presentation Success, and Wrapping up!

So we apologize sincerely about not posting last week; we were on April vacation!  However, we would like to share that our first presentation of our pro-peace workshop was a monumental success!  All of the kids we presented to were engaged in the activities, and seemed to enjoy the games we played.  Hopefully, they were able to take away lessons about how to use and promote peace and kindness in their everyday lives.  With one presentation down, we have one to go!  Next week, we'll present to a younger Girl Scout troop.  At this week's meeting, we started on our Silver Award Final Report forms, writing essay responses about what we did to complete the Silver Award, and what we learned.  We'll keep you posted on next week's presentation results!  Stay tuned!





~Troop 60435

1000 Paper Cranes

Last week I promised you the story of the 1000 paper cranes. Here it is:

In Japan, is is said that when someone makes 1000 paper cranes, they are granted one wish such as a long life or a recovery. The crane was a sacred animal such as the dragon in ancient Japanese culture and was honored by the Japanese. A thousand paper cranes also are given as a wedding or baby gift to symbolize a thousand years of love or life (of the soul). There is also a book called Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, about a girl suffering from radiation poisoning that starts to make 1000 paper cranes and, well, I can't give away the ending. This true story by Elenor Coerr is very memorable and touching. To see on Amazon, click here.

If you have your own version of the 1000 paper cranes story, please comment.
~Alison