REGION: Girl Scout leaders work to promote new program

Pathways program allows girls to scout without full-time troop involvement

By CATHY REDFERN - Staff Writer | Sunday, September 7, 2008 3:18 AM PDT ∞

MENIFEE ---- With infectious enthusiasm, Girl Scout leaders throughout the region gathered in front of supermarkets Saturday morning to talk to girls and their parents.

And it wasn't about buying cookies. Rather, the volunteer leaders were out spreading the message that Scouting has changed.

Girls Scouts this year is debuting a "pathways program" that allows girls to choose other ways to participate in Scouting activities aside from the traditional weekly involvement in a troop. The pathways ---- camping, special events, online, traveling and special interests ---- are less time intensive for busy girls who might have more options and activities available to them than girls did 10 or 20 years ago, said Michelle Eklund, marketing director for the Girls Scouts of San Gorgonio Council.

Super Sign-Up Saturday was a new recruitment event suggested by longtime troop leader Adele Pacheco of Canyon Lake, Eklund said. Pacheco's July e-mail led to a small army of volunteers spreading out to 45 shopping centers throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties Saturday in preparation for the Oct. 1 start of the Scouting year.

"We want people to realize that you don't have to be in a troop to be a Girl Scout. You can choose what works for you," she said.

Pacheco was explaining that to potential recruits Saturday, at a brightly colored booth in front of Stater Brothers in Menifee.

"We're getting exposure; we're optimistic," she said. "It's going well."

The heat did not dampen Pacheco's spirits, and when a mother approached with a small girl, she let out a gleeful holler and proceeded to explain the options for the 5-year-old budding Daisy, a kindergartner named Haven.

Haven's mom, Dawn Rice, said she heard about the sign-up event from a neighbor, and that as a Girl Scouts alumnus, she has long planned to enroll her daughter in Scouts.

"I've been looking for activities for her to enjoy," she said, "so hopefully they'll find us a troop or other activities if she can't be in a troop right away."

The pathways program was created at the national level as a way to cope with an ongoing shortage of leaders and increasingly busy families, which has led to declining enrollment, Eklund said. So Girl Scouts has begun signing up more girls as individual members unassigned to particular troops and those girls are able to participate in activities of their choice, often with a mentoring troop or a "Super Troop" that might be larger and meet less often a traditional troop, she said.

The changes hit home for some Saturday, and one Murrieta mom said there certainly was no online Scouting when she was a girl.

"They've made a lot of changes," Suzan Sutherland said. "But it's a great experience; there's a lot of camaraderie and the troop leaders are so amazing and dedicated."

Her daughter, 12-year-old Jennifer, said she enjoyed the year she spent in Girl Scouts when the family lived in Massachusetts.

Jennifer brightened when she talked about her Scouting experience, saying the campfire songs are probably her best memory. But she recited several highlights ---- a father-daughter dance, canoe rides, a spider that visited a tent one night, the poodle skirts she and other girls decorated for a 1950s sock hop, and others.

"I just want to do Girl Scouts again; I liked it," she said.

Sentiments like those please Kristan Lloyd, a leader who also worked in Menifee on Saturday.

Lloyd, of Wildomar, said she has been able to keep a troop of 14-year-olds together, for her twin daughters, though it took combining two troops to get the eight girls.

"Girls have so many other choices that it can be a hard age to keep them in," she said.

Elizabeth Locke-Thomas of Murrieta leads a 21-girl troop for those in grades four through nine and their activities have included surf camps, sledding and skating expeditions, stocking a food pantry and cleaning up trash in a park for Earth Day.

She and a new leader, Amber Martinez, said they signed up 10 girls outside Stater Brothers on Los Alamos Road, handed out information to 20 or so others and welcomed at least one new leader.

Locke-Thomas said she appreciates the business and other life skills that Scouting teaches.

"It opens up a wonderful new world," she said. "And they can have some amazing experiences without having to wait for a new troop. It's a new Girl Scouts."

Contact staff writer Cathy Redfern at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or e-mail credfern@californian.com.