Girls Scouts take action at Wilcox

LIHU‘E —What can a cookie do?

In the hands of Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i’s After School Hours Program at Elsie Wilcox Elementary School, it helped to bring significant improvements to the school’s landscape and gardens.

Using the revenue accrued from this year’s cookie sales, the ASHP girls at Wilcox Elementary planted flower pots in front of the school library and added much-needed supplies to the school’s garden.

With the help of their Scout Leader Miss Chelsea and the Garden Program Coordinator Natalie Hiwahiwa, the girls have been putting down weed-cloth rectangles in front of the library home for decorative flower pots.

They moved a wheelbarrow of coconuts, which was donated by the Kupuna Program, out to the Hawaiian Garden and also used the wheelbarrows to transport compost and soil to the newly-installed library plants.

These girls are not just improving the school’s aesthetic appeal — they are also discovering and practicing core Girl Scout values as they go along.

For example, the girls practice being “a sister to every Girl Scout” before they start their hands-on service work by singing songs together.

They practice “making the world a better place” and “using resources wisely” by expanding and improving the Hawaiian Garden.

They also practice being “considerate and caring” as they collectively figure out who is going to do which job to accomplish their goals.

As Girl Scout ‘ohana, they practice working it out as a group.

Beyond making improvements to the school’s landscape, these girls also practiced being “friendly and helpful” by supplying the school’s health room with a tote full of slippers and gave back to the teachers by supplying them with whiteboard markers and Sharpies.

 For more information on this or other Girl Scout projects contact Shereen Hoopii, membership and program service coordinator for Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i.

She can be reached at 245-4984.