Girl Scouts: What You Need to Know

Girl Scouts may be something familiar to many expats. But as a third culture kid born in Beijing, I’ve never known much about the Girl Scouts, all I knew was that they sold delicious Girl Scout cookies. I only recently found out that they have a location in Beijing, curious, we decided to find out a bit more from Amy Kennedy on what they do and how girls can get involved.

What are Girl Scouts?

Girl Scouting builds girls who have courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girls can earn badges by doing activities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), the Outdoors, Entrepreneurship, and Life Skills. Two adult leaders lead a small troop of up to twelve girls. Girls choose from a wide variety of badges in STEM, Outdoors, Entrepreneurship, and Life Skills. Troops are girl-led so every troop works on slightly different activities based on the girls’ interests. Girls can design “Take Action” projects that help improve some aspect of their community.

When did the Girl Scout program start for Beijing?

It started back in 1925 in Shanghai, Girl Scouting overseas has been supporting over 12,500 girls in over 90 places in the world and has now been operating in Beijing for over 20 years.

I heard Girl Scouts originates from the US, so from your experience, what’s the biggest difference with Girl Scouts here in Beijing compared to the US?

Here in Beijing, the girl scouts are a part of the USA Girl Scouts Overseas council. We have meetings and events just like Girl Scouts in the US, but one big difference is – we don’t sell cookies due to import regulations. On the plus side, we go hiking on the Great Wall of China, which most Girl Scouts in the US don’t have the opportunity to do.

Are there different groups of Girl Scouts? If so, how are they organized?

Girls can join when they start kindergarten, and we go all the way through grade 12. Girls are grouped in troops made up of two grades. Daisy Girl Scouts are in K-grade 1, Brownies are in grade 2-3, etc.

What is the ultimate goal for Girl Scouts?

We have Highest Awards for girls in grades 6-12. Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Many high school level girls strive to earn the Gold Award which is an eighty-hour community service project. It is comparable to the Boy Scout Eagle Scout Award and an honor within Girl Scouting. Last year, two high school seniors at International School of Beijing (ISB) earned the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Is there a schedule for Girl Scouts? How does that work?

We start up troop meetings in the fall and meet, usually twice a month, through the school year. In years past we have had annual events – Fall Hike, Winter Dance, STEM Day, Campout, and Bridging Ceremony. This year may look a little different in regard to our annual events due to COVID-19. We run through the school year and as most of our membership are expats and leave Beijing for the summers, we do not offer any summer programming. Girls develop friendships over time since many troops stay together for a number of years.

I heard that you only accept expats. Would you ever consider opening a program to Chinese passport holders?

Currently, girl scouts only accept expat girls. They also run Girl Scouts as an after-school program at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) and ISB, so any girl enrolled at either school can join, and girls who’d like to join must also be comfortable English speakers as well.

How can people join Girl Scouts?

The most challenging part is finding adult volunteers who are ready to jump in and lead girls or join our Leadership Council. Beijing is a busy place for expats. We provide excellent online learning and support, we have a strong program and most of our volunteers are parents of young girls – so therefore, already experts on what girls enjoy doing!

Parents and interested adult volunteers can email beijinggirlscouts@usagso.org to find out more. One caveat – the only way to make sure your daughter has a place in a troop, is to volunteer to lead a troop yourself! Leading a troop is a great way to form bonds with other parents and have fun doing meaningful activities with your daughters. The more interested and excited a parent is, the more the girls will get out of it.

Volunteering with Girl Scouts, either as a leader or a member of the leadership council is a very rewarding experience. You get to meet other adults you might not normally get to meet, make lifelong friends, and often times, learn some new skills along the way. And teaching leadership skills to young girls is an amazing opportunity!