March 17, 2023 - Excursion: Tomahawk Ranch - World of Girls + Wonders of Water - Part 2
World of Girls 1-4 + Wonders of Water 3,4 + Cabin Camper 1-5 + Hiker 5 + Outdoor Skills 1,8,10
Meeting Activities:
World of Girls - Started leadership journey where girls travel around the world through stories, learning about different countries and cultures while also exploring different modes of storytelling.
Wonders of Water - Built on Denver aquarium excursion where girls learned to Love Water and to start to take action to Save Water.
Cabin Camper - Weekend excursion to Tomahawk Ranch
Outdoor Skills + Hiker - Went on a hike with a survivalist to learn orienteering, trail marking, knot tying, and emergency shelter building.
Continuing from the previous post, Part 1…
Activities:
Saturday, March 18
WoG and WoW
After lunch we continued with the WoG and WoW curriculum, seeking to make connections to each girl’s unique story and testing our water knowledge.
Girls folded a piece of paper into four quadrants and were tasked with thinking about four of their “worlds” and the women and girls they connect with in them. Examples included sports teams, their Brownie troop, school classmates, girls on the bus, and women in their families. Girls went around the circle and shared one of their pictures, why they chose it, and how they felt when with this group.
We got moving by playing the Overlapping Girls game. We placed three jump ropes in circles on the ground and girls jumped in circles based on things they shared in common such as hair color, eye color, playing soccer, going to religion classes, learning Mandarin or Spanish, or playing an instrument. They all shared the Brownie circle of being a Girl Scout!
We sat back down to talk water some more. I asked who had done a water-saving experiment, which was their homework from the aquarium. Most had turned off the water while brushing their teeth. A few had tried putting a stopper in the tub to see if a shower used less water than a bath.
We went through the water sense quiz from their homework pack and then the girls wrote water-saving tips on water drops and pasted them to our WoW poster. They took action to save water by drawing save-water signs for the bathrooms and kitchen.
Snack Story - France
With water boiled for our snack of tea, fruit kebabs, and French palmiers cookies girls did a quick water-cycle experiment, watching how the boiling water rose as vapor and then condensed on the cold sides of the mason jar and ran back down as precipitation.
Barn Tour
We ventured back outside to meet all the animals on the ranch, including cows, horses, sheep, llamas, goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits, and peacocks. The girls LOVED the barn tour. Didn’t want to leave.
Everyone was a bit pooped by this point, so I let them run around with a little free time before dinner. Some decided to sing songs.
Just before heading out, we did a water walk around the room. Girls wrote their names on one cup and carried the other over obstacles to collect water (without spilling it, mostly). They were instructed to put their named cup of water in the bathroom to become their only source of water for washing their face and brushing their teeth for the rest of the weekend. There was many a groan at this daunting prospect.
Dinner at Mess Hall
The burger bar with tater tots and salad was a bit hit, as were the freshly baked cookies and popsicles for dessert.
Games Around the Globe
Hoping to tire the girls out so they would sleep better, we played some games from around the world from the WoG and WoW curriculum. Cencio Mollo, the “wet handkerchief” game from Italy; Banyoka, the “snake” game from Zambia and Zaire (which was a riot!); and a story-telling relay race where girls had to assemble cards to spell out the Girls Scout law.
Stargazing
Tomahawk staff enthralled the girls on a clear but very cold night with stories about the constellations and a telescopic view of Pleides. We learned how the Egyptians watched for the bright star Sirius to the left of Orion in the Canis Major constellation, which marked when the Nile would flood and bring nutrients and prosperity to the delta region. Girls were thrilled to learn that JK Rowling named many of her characters after stars and constellations, i.e. Sirius Black, the star in the big black dog.
To the left of Pleides, staff pointed out the bright red star in the constellation Taurus called Adelbaran, “the follower” in Arabic, which was important to most of the world’s cultures, Roman, Greek, Chinese, and Hindu, for example. It is one of the brightest stars in the winter sky and forms the eye of the bull which Orion to its left is hunting. It was so clear we could see not only Orion’s belt but also his bow.
Girls were taught to identify Polaris, the North Star, in the constellation Ursa Minor, which is in a line from the lip of the Big Dipper, an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major.
We added star stories to our WoG poster along with the other formats we had discussed and practiced: books, videos, music, art, and food stories.
Sunday, March 19
Breakfast Story - Norway
Girls started to catch on to the food journey idea. They woke up and asked where they were traveling for breakfast. To Scandinavia!
We put out a spread for girls to assemble their own Smorebrod, Danish open-faced sandwiches prepared on fermented rye bread with a thick slathering of good European butter with fixings like canned fish, smoked salmon, ham, eggs, cheese, onions, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, capers, cornichons, chives, and dill.
Surprisingly, the girls dug into this relatively exotic meal for Americans. Adult volunteers also gave it a big thumbs up, deciding it would be the perfect holiday brunch spread. Tasty, healthy, elegant, and personalized.
Clean up!
There is no housekeeping staff at Tomahawk so girls were assigned tasks to clean up the cabin, including wiping down mattresses, scrubbing toilets and bathroom counters, and vacuuming. We were able to get it all done with enough time to sit down for reflection and Take Action project planning.
Reflection
Girls were asked to provide feedback on what they liked best about the weekend and things they wished were different. The novelty of being away from home and being able to sleep with friends got a lot of votes as did having quality time to get to know everyone better.
Girls liked the food stories, games, WoG book, learning about ancestors, the barn tour, survival hike, stargazing, making the leprechaun trap, and eating in the mess hall. They wanted a little more free time, the ability to switch up buddies, more hiking, and evening fires with marshmallows. Adult volunteers suggested we have a kaper chart for tasks and baskets to corral stuff that ended up strewn across the cabin.
Take Action Project
We reflected back on all we had done and learned and discussed ways the girls could take action using the ideas of telling stories and sharing their love of water.
This YouTube generation settled on the concept of recording a video that tells the story of why we should all love and save water. This public service announcement could be played for other Girl Scouts, students at DLS, and family and friends.
Girls brainstormed that their video could use different story formats within it like a theater production with script and costumes, making maps and water-saving signs, and even writing a song/jingle.
Phew! Very ambitious! Thankfully, we don’t have anything else planned for April and May but to execute this project.
Take Action Philanthropy
With their new appreciation for the power of stories, the girls voted to support the DLS Library Fund with a $500 donation from their cookie proceeds.
Additionally, having sold over 8,000 boxes of cookies, their 10% commitment to their chosen philanthropy, The Empowerment Program, means the troop will be writing an >$800 check!
Thank Yous:
Thank you to parents for sending your kids up with all the requested gear and for completing the required forms on time.
Big thanks to our sleep-deprived but keen adult support volunteers: Mona, Meghan, Lynne, and Meredith.
Special shout out to Meredith for planning the weekend’s activities, managing all of the logistics, and doing all the food shopping — and writing this recap ;-)
Family Follow Up:
More photos are HERE
Talk to your girl about her experience, what she liked best, and why.
Explore the WoG book, read the other stories, and do some of the exercises to make connections to forms of storytelling and resources your girl can leverage to make the world a better place.
If you have or know of someone who has video production and editing experience, let Meredith know!
Announcements:
Early Renewal Discount Day is Thu, Apr 6! Register for next year and pay only $12.50 (which the troop will reimburse returning families from cookie sales).
The next meetings will be focused on producing the PSA video (Sat 4/8, Sun 4/23, Sun 5/7), and celebrating the year and their Take Action Project with families (Sun 5/21).
Optional meeting on Sun 4/30 to decorate the DLS Whiteman campus for Teacher Appreciation Week. Details to come.
Thanks!
Meredith (Mila’s Mom)