Dara Weaver-Holmes: Girl Scout National Young Woman of Distinction

Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world through their Girl Scout Gold Award projects. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. As the Girl Scout Gold Award celebrates 100 years of girls changing the world, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) will highlight some of our shining stars who exemplify the greatness of this award.

Dara Weaver-Holmes

Dara Weaver-Holmes of Carbondale, IL was always active in Girl Scouts. As a teen, she didn’t just stick with Girl Scouting – she excelled – earning the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award her senior year. For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Dara organized a highly successful career fair and virtual career website. “I kept hearing how young Americans were not trained to enter the work world,” she said. “I have never liked to be at the bottom. It’s just not me. I got tired of hearing how we were not preparing American youth and decided to startt preparing us,” added Dara.

Dara’s initiative and successful Gold Award project paid off. Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois chose to nominate her for the highly honored award of National Young Woman of Distinction. Each year, ten exceptionally inspiring Girl Scout Gold Award recipients from throughout the country are chosen by Girl Scouts of the USA as National Young Women of Distinction. Dara was selected by GSUSA as a 2012 Young Woman of Distinction which also came with a $3,000 scholarship, an all-expense paid trip to GSUSA’s national convention and exclusive leadership opportunities with the organization.

Dara contributes a lot of who she is today to Girl Scouting and earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. “Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award gave me the opportunity to give speeches around the country, allowed for networking opportunities and provided a strong sense of family. Several of us Gold Award recipients remain in touch today,” she said. And, she encourages other Girl Scouts to set goals and achieve the Gold Award. “Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. I heard that a lot throughout my life, but Girl Scouts pushed me forward and allowed me to fulfill my dreams,” Dara added.

Dara’s success continues today. She currently attends Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. In 2012, Dara co-founded their local chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists with Jasmine Jackson. Dara was President of the chapter until the fall of 2015. This spring, she will graduate from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in American Sign Language. Upon graduation, Dara will be applying to attend law school.

The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes a Girl Scout's commitment to excellence as she develops skills and values to meet present and future challenges in her life. To earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador must design and carry out a project that fulfills a need within a girl’s community, creates change, and is sustainable. The project must be completed with a suggested minimum of 80 hours of work. Only about 5 percent of eligible girls earn the prestigious Gold Award.

How Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Helps the Global Economy

How Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Helps the Global Economy

An Op Ed article by Emily Stanley BS MS 
Program Manager, New Initiatives Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois

GSSI's Imagine Your STEM Future Program in East St. Louis

When I was 12, all I wanted to do was be old enough to volunteer at the Belleville Area Humane Society.  I think about half the girls in my junior high were the same – we all wanted to help people and make cute puppies and kittens better.  Today's 12 year old has the same goals for her future – to help.

I see it all the time in my job – girls who want to make a difference in the world and affect real change.  I am fortunate to have a career where I get to be around these girls who are tomorrow's leaders and encourage them.  The girls I work with are part of the Girl Scout movement, specifically the STEM initiative.  Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois has approximately 13,000 girl members who are out to change the world for the better.  My job is to help them have positive experiences that help shape their future goals and contribute to the future of the United States in the Global Economy. 

Here's why it's important to reach all youth, but particularly young women interested in STEM careers.  The US News/Raytheon STEM index in 2014 showed that STEM employment has increased more than 30 percent from 2013 to 2014.  This isn't just the PhDs and researchers.  These are jobs that require analytical reasoning and problem solving.  A USA Today special report also noted that more than 2.5 million well-paying skilled labor jobs will be created over the next several years.  In the St. Louis area, a 12.4% increase in STEM jobs is projected compared to a 9.2% increase in non-STEM jobs, according to the St Louis STEM Workforce 2014 report published by St. Louis Community College.

GSSI Girl Scouts participating in FIRST LEGO League Robotics

With this growth, we will need a skilled and motivated workforce.  That's where Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois helps.  In 2009, we started to look for funding specifically for our Robotics and STEM programs.  We received a grant from Motorola Foundation and fielded one First Lego League robotics team from a small town in rural Illinois.  These girls learned basic computer programming and engineering, but what they learned more importantly was perseverance, team work and problem solving.  From that one robotics team in 2009, we have grown the program to include 10 First Lego League robotics teams, 12 First Lego League Junior teams and one First Tech Challenge team. Working on small, all girl teams, girls take on more active leadership positions.  They try programming and engineering.  They step outside their comfort zones when speaking publicly.

Over 100 Girl Scouts in southern Illinois also participated in a Made by Me camp this past summer, where, in addition to the normal fun outdoor activities like archery, hiking and campfires, girls voted on which Maker projects to try at camp.  The Maker Movement refers to the current wave of tech inspired DIY projects.  Our girls chose a wired light picture, a custom routed phone charging station, solar powered derby cars and battery powered flashlights created from Altoid mint tins.  Girl Scouts participation and sponsorship of Maker events is particularly important – the MakeHers study by Intel found that participation in Maker and STEM activities can help girls develop skills and improve their earning potential.  The study states, "As a result, the STEM talent pool expands, fueling competition and innovation and ultimately strengthening the global economy."

GSSI Family STEM Night 

What ultimately brings success to any program is volunteers.  In 2016, you will see girls learning origami and then wiring their creations with light and movement.  You will see girls learn leadership skills while working on their best slime recipe.  This summer, we will bring another great week of STEM camp – this time the Science of Superheros – and we need volunteer help!  Come for a half day, a couple hours or all week and share your skills to encourage a young woman in STEM!  Bring your girl and watch her grow in this exciting environment and beautiful outdoor setting.

STEM FOR THE SUMMER: GSSI STEM Day Camp (Jr.-Amb)   GSSI Mini STEM Day Camp

We have had a lot of success in the past 6 years and we still have much to do.  In order to continue to meet the demands of girls in our area for high quality and exciting STEM programs, we will need mentors, volunteers and donations.  So when you see that young entrepreneur asking you to buy Girl Scout Cookies, know that you are not just supporting her and her troop but also contributing to the future global competitiveness of the United States!

See what happened when GSSI FIRST TECH Challenge team Oops Robotics! paired Girl Scout Cookies with their design & programming power! 

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Providing STEM Programming in East St. Louis and Collinsville

This fall, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois has been providing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programming at East St. Louis Senior High School and Collinsville High School as part of the "Imagine Your STEM Future" program.

 

Imagine Your STEM Future is designed to increase girls' interest in STEM careers and inspire them to become leaders through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. This programming was funded by a grant from AT&T and Girl Scouts of the USA.   At least 200 girls will have been served by the time GSSI completes the series.

 

For more information about GSSI's STEM programs, please contact STEM Program Managers: Emily Stanley at 800.345.6858, ext. 1111 or e-mail estanley@gsofsi.org or Mary Buchanan at 800.345.6858, ext. 1115 or e-mail mbuchanan@gsofsi.org.

See more photos...

Girl Scout Alumna Profile: City of Edwardsville Police Officer Joy Davis

Officer Davis during GSSI's
"Cadette STEM Series" program

City of Edwardsville Police Officer Joy Davis didn’t know it at the time, but a little Girl Scout misadventure would help her to discover her calling.  “One hike, one of my friends and I decided we didn’t want to go to school the next day and came up with a brilliant (or so we thought at the time) idea of rubbing poison ivy all over us.  The poison ivy led me into my career,” she explained. 

 First, however, the poison ivy lead to a miserable rash and a “face so swollen I looked like Mickey Mouse,” as Davis put it.  She ended up being sidelined from school for a whole week – and also regretting her decision.   One morning while she was watching her classmates board the bus, a police officer stopped to ask her why she wasn’t joining them.   “Not that it wasn’t obvious,” Davis added.

 “I informed him of my ‘brilliant’ plan to get out of school and how I wished I could take back time and change things.  This officer sat with me a while and talked about choices.  He even took the time the next day to stop back with donuts and OJ and continue the talk.”

 She was impressed that the police officer would stop to talk to a young girl about making good decisions and also inspired.  “After that event, I knew that I wanted to be a police officer … not JUST to apprehend criminals, but to talk to kids about the choices that they can and will make in life.”

Today, Officer Davis is a 20-year law enforcement veteran who works with kids as a School Resource Officer and D.A.R.E. spokesperson.  Along with her experience with that compassionate officer, she credits her experiences in Girl Scouts for helping her realize how much she enjoys helping people.   She remembers realizing her leadership skills when she was asked to provide a week of programming for sons who came to day camp with their volunteer mothers.  “I jumped at the idea and quickly put the skills my leader had taught me to work,” she said.  “We went fishing, hiking, exploring and even cooked a whole meal in the ground.  The boys had a great time and I had a great experience.”

She also recalls enjoying service projects – including earning the Girl Scout Silver Award.   For their project, girls from her troop made improvements at Camp Pokanoka in Ottawa, IL, where they spent as much time as possible.   The camp had a popular clay pit site that was difficult to access, so the girls built a trail to make it easier for future campers.

 After she went to college, Davis returned to camp as a resident camp counselor and even stepped up to maintain the camp when the ranger got sick.  “What an opportunity!  I once again jumped into action and did what needed to be done,” she recalled. 

This can-do attitude helped Davis achieve her dreams of becoming a police officer.  “There weren’t as many women getting into law enforcement as there are today,” she said.  “In fact, I was only the second female officer to be hired by Edwardsville.”   She explained that female aptitude for multitasking and interpreting detail have been beneficial.    “This makes us good analysts and good at looking at a variety of aspects of a crime scene and remembering them.”   She also cites that being difficult to anger and having good verbal skills has helped her on several occasions throughout her career, so that she was often more easily able to deescalate a situation before it became violent.   “As a female in law enforcement, I do believe that we have differences that are unique,” she said.

Twenty years of experience haven’t dulled Davis’s ambitions any – she is currently going back to school to study computer forensics.  “When I got into law enforcement, I had an associate’s degree and decided it was time to finish,” she explained.  “I chose computer forensics because I see this as the future of crime: a nameless, faceless way of creating havoc for people.”  She added that technology-related crimes are on the rise and are not only being committed using computers, but also devices such as cellular phones and game consoles.   “What you see is only the beginning,” she said.  “This will definitely assist me in my career today and help pave the way for work after I retire.”

Her experiences in Girl Scouts helped Davis realize how crucial strong adult role models are to young people and she remembers her troop leader fondly.  “Anita Niffenegger was her name and she was so outgoing,” she recalls.  The troop camped year round, canoed fervently, cross-country skied and took a yearly 21-mile hike.  “We did everything outdoors,” she said.  “If we wanted to climb Mt. Everest, she would make it happen.”    The hands-on, empowering experiences that Niffenegger arranged were instrumental in building the girls’ confidence, self-reliance and leadership skills.  “The guidance of our leader helped us remain in Girl Scouts long enough that we were able to ‘blaze a trail for the future generations’ in more ways than one,” Davis explained.  

 Now, as a School Resource Officer and through the D.A.R.E. program, Davis has direct impact on hundreds of young people each year.  She advises them to embrace their curiosity to make a future for themselves.  “Go to college and after college, never stop learning,” she advises.  “Be open-minded and embrace new ways of doing things!”

She also stresses that kids need to learn to be themselves and to be accountable for themselves.  “Be genuine,” she tells them.  “Take responsibility for your actions.”  She believes that helping others is vital. “Most importantly, be a giver and not a taker. Volunteer within your community because it is YOUR community.”

Davis thinks that organizations such as Girl Scouts help young people gain new experiences and grow as people.  “They help to develop a sense of self, respect for others and gives youth an opportunity to leave their mark on the world and make it a better place,” she said.  “The lessons they can learn are lessons they will carry with them their entire lives.  It’s about courage, confidence and character; it’s blazing a trail for future generations to see.  It’s lending a helping hand when no one else will and seeing what needs to be done and getting it done.  That’s what Girl Scouts taught me!”