New Girl Scout Leaders Find Rewards

April 14, 2005

By Torri Francesca Eubanks

On National Girl Scout Leaders Day this April 22, Girl Scouts across the country will pay tribute to the organization's nearly one million volunteers. Countless women and men have contributed to the 93-year Girl Scout tradition of volunteerism by taking the time to impact girls' lives. Summer Ferguson and Olga Soto-Olmedo are two new volunteers helping girls develop their potential while evolving the meaning of the word 'leader'.

Back to Middle School

Summer Ferguson's first experience with Girl Scouts was during college via a mentoring project called It's Great to be a Girl—as part of her college's Women's Studies class in Plymouth, Michigan. For three hours a week, Summer experienced being a mentor for the first time. She met with a group of middle school girls to host discussions on self-esteem, good decision-making, positive body image, and drug and alcohol abuse. Through this first mentorship experience, Summer discovered that she received benefits from spending time with these girls.

Summer Ferguson's experience is part of Girl Scouting's growing trend in new volunteers between the ages 18-29. Now 27 and a recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University, she is still an active Girl Scout volunteer and meets regularly with girls from East Middle School. Summer, who didn't perceive herself as cool during her teen years, admits that at first she was nervous to go back to middle school. But she and the girls developed a great relationship as the girls saw her as a cool young adult.

Summer believes that girls today face much more pressure than when she was a teenager even ten years ago. "With the cultural fixation on teen stars, there is a lot of pressure on girls to be beautiful," says Ferguson. "This has huge negative effects on their body image and self-esteem."

The girls at East Middle School appreciate Summer's closeness in age and her ability to relate to their current life experiences. For Summer, the experience has been nothing but rewarding. In fact, she wished she'd had a similar relationship during her pre-teen years. "I would have loved to have someone to talk to besides my peers and parents," she says. "It would have helped to clear up the bad stuff when I was 12 and 13 years old. Also it would've been nice to have a place to hang out with just girls."

Taking Action in Her Own Community

As a young mom in Waltham, Massachusetts, Olga Soto-Olmedo became a Girl Scout troop leader to do something positive for her daughters and the other young girls in her community. As a child, Olga had great experiences as a Girl Scout growing up in Puerto Rico. She believes that the experience gave her the opportunity to develop into the strong, community-minded woman that she is today.

For more than a year now, Olga has been leading girls ages 6-12 in the Prospect Hill Housing Development in Waltham. She and her Girl Scout troop enjoy a variety of activities, ranging from fun events and shopping trips throughout Boston to working with the elderly and participating in the Girl Scout Cookie® Program. In fact, she says her troop really enjoys the Girl Scout Cookie activities and plans to put their profits towards a fun-filled trip to Niagara Falls.

Olga, who is fluent in both English and Spanish, conducts many of the activities in Spanish. She believes it's important to celebrate her troop's diverse backgrounds because it makes the girls feel empowered. In one activity, she had each girl sew a flag that represented their heritage onto a pair of jeans. With flags from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico, it was a great opportunity for the girls to share their diverse cultural heritage with each other.

She believes Girl Scouting provides young Latinas in her community with a great opportunity to celebrate their culture while achieving goals and developing skills they might not necessarily be exposed to. For Olga, she's rewarded by being a leader in her community and wishes that other Latinas would participate in Girl Scouts. "Latina women do not get involved. Many feel that Girl Scouting is not something for them because they are a minority," says Soto-Olmedo. "But I want to show them that Girl Scouting is for them and that women and young girls can do anything they set their minds to.

Summer and Olga are just two examples of outstanding leaders in the organization. Girl Scouts of the USA needs more volunteers of all backgrounds to serve its 2.8 million girl members. Girl Scouting invites all interested women and men to volunteer a day, a weekend, or more—and help girls find fun, friendship, and confidence. If you are interested in volunteering or helping out in your area, call your local Girl Scout council or (800) GSUSA 4 U.