Effingham County Girl Scouts Explore Mammoth Cave & More on Kentucky Trip

Effingham County Troops #2032, #2013, and #2300 traveled to Kentucky, where they toured Mammoth Cave and Crystal Onxy Cave, earned the Cave Explorer patch and two Junior Ranger badges offered by the parks.  They also visited Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home.

Siemer Milling Endowment Donates $8,000 to Girl Scouts

(L-R: Miranda Zerbest, Tricia Briggerman, Lindsey Hunger, Diane Siemer & Henry Siemer of Siemer Milling, Dawn Quicksall, Tammy Hess, Villie Appoo, Cyndi Anderson, Micah Bolandis)

Article & Photo Courtesy of 97.9 XFM Radio

The Siemer Milling Endowment has awarded $8,000 to Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois for support of the Effingham County Girl Scout Leadership Experience and improvements to Camp Wassatoga. Effingham County Chapter of Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois serves 1,000 Girl Scouts, ages 5-17, and adult volunteers.

With this grant, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois will improve the quality of programs and experiences offered at Camp Wassatoga, located in Effingham County, through equipment and facility upgrades such as a more accessible dock, additional canoes, and new safety equipment such as an AED. These improvements will allow Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois to expand the programming and leadership experiences offered to the girls and adult volunteers it serves.

The Siemer Milling Company Endowment was established in 2006 for the purpose of providing a permanent source of funding to programs in Effingham County that support the development of young leaders. In 2016, the Siemer Milling Company Endowment awarded $30,000 and to date has awarded $93,800 to nonprofit organizations in Effingham.

Sophia Ballard from Effingham Earns the Girl Scout Gold Award

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to announce that Sophia J. Ballard from Effingham has received the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can receive. 

For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called Business Tree Bookshelf, Sophia wanted to impact young teens who had an interest in business. Due to budget cuts, the area’s junior high school business club was discontinued. Sophia participated in this club during junior high, and she wanted other students to still be able to have the benefit of learning about business as she had. She built a bookshelf that was designed to catch the attention of students and house informational books related to business.  She also donated some youth-oriented books on business topics.  Sophia partnered with the library, which will maintain the tree bookshelf in the future.

Through her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Sophia gained valuable leadership skills that she’ll be able to use throughout her life. “I learned that it takes a lot of hard work and patience to see a project through, beginning to end, and that it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of family and friends,” said Sophia.

Sophia is the daughter of Ken and Deena Ballard. She is currently a junior at Effingham High School and has been a Girl Scout for 12 years.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, 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.

Whitetails Unlimited Donate Archery & Fishing Equipment to GSSI

GSSI is grateful to the Effingham Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited for their donation of archery and fishing equipment to our Girl Scout council.  The outdoor resources were donated on June 15 at Camp Wassatoga in Effingham.  

GSSI Hosts Southwestern Illinois Jr FIRST LEGO League Expo

 

 

 

GSSI held it’s second annual Southwestern Illinois JrFLL Expo on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Thirteens teams from throughout southern Illinois participated in the Expo. All ten of the GSSI teams that participated displayed exceptional work. These teams of kindergarten – 3rd grade girls spent several weeks studying natural disasters and simple machines. They then displayed their work at the Expo through creating a "Show Me" science-fair type poster and a LEGO model with a simple machine and a motorized part.

Congratulations to the following teams and coaches:

The Lego Girls of Washington Park coached by Aleta Placide

The Pink Tigers of Effingham coached by Derek Hudson and Mindy Jenkins

The Flood Girls of Mascoutah coached by Dawn Waller and Jessica Silvia

The Tornado Girls of Mascoutah coached by Dawn Waller and Jessica Silvia

The Blizzard Busters of Maryville/Collinsville coached by Lisa Ferguson

Team LEGO of Charleston coached by Diane Ratliff

8548 Earthquakes of Anna coached by Betsy Back

The Blue Robot Cat Machines of Highland coached by Yumi Hohm

The Knights of the Round Lego of O’Fallon coached by Winnie Kenney

The Creative Kitties of O’Fallon coached by Megan Terrell

 

See Event Photos

For more information about encouraging a love of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math through GSSI robotics teams contact Mary Buchanan at mbuchanan@gsofsi.org.

Four GSSI Robotics Teams to Compete in FIRST Lego League State Tournament

Four Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois' Robotics Teams will be competing in the FIRST Lego League State Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 18 at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

The Lego Divas from Effingham qualified for state during the Dec. 7 FLL Regional at Carriel Jr. High in O'Fallon.   At the tournament, they also won the Project Award for their research project, the "Heat Buddy," a battery operated heated blanket designed to aid stranded motorists.   Read more...

See photos from the Dec. 7 FLL Regional

On Dec. 14, eleven GSSI Robotics Teams had been scheduled to compete in the McKendree University Regional.  However, a winter storm and icy road conditions caused the event to be cancelled.*  As no makeup date could be arranged in time to meet deadlines for the FLL State Tournament, teams were selected to advance to state competition by a lottery system.  GSSI teams made up nearly half of the total number of teams that were registered for the double tournament and three teams drawn ended up being from GSSI: TBot 907 from Roxana, Lightning Storm from Belleville and G4S4 from Ozark.

“We’re very excited to send four Girl Scout Robotics teams to the FLL State Tournament,” said GSSI Stem Program Manager Mary Buchanan. “Teams work very hard for months to design and program robots, as well as complete their research project and perfect their presentation skills.  Competing among the best teams in the Illinois is a wonderful experience for the girls.”   

*An exhibition tournament was held Jan. 11 at Carriel Jr. High in O'Fallon for the teams originally scheduled to compete in the McKendree Regional.  Four GSSI Robotics Teams received awards!  Read more...

Four GSSI Robotics Teams Headed to State Competition

The Lego Divas from Effingham 

Four GSSI Robotics Teams are headed to the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) state tournament on Jan. 18 at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

FLL is a robotics program for 9 to 14 year olds which is designed to get children excited about science and technology, as well as teach them valuable life skills.   Teams use a LEGO MINDSTORMS set to build and program an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing surface.  The theme for this year’s tournament was “Nature’s Fury” and concerned natural disasters and how science can help aid prevention and recovery efforts.  Along with programming robots, teams were also evaluated on an elaborate research project, as well as how well they demonstrate FLL Core Values, which include teamwork, collective learning, active participation and gracious professionalism.  After practicing and preparing for months, teams meet at regional qualifying tournaments to be graded on the three elements, with the top teams advancing to state competition.

On Dec. 7, the Lego Divas from Effingham advanced to the state tournament after competing at the O'Fallon regional qualifier at Carriel Jr. High.  They also took home the Project Award for their outstanding research project, the "Heat Buddy" a battery operated heated blanket designed to help stranded motorists.  

At the O'Fallon tournament, The Twisters from Troy/Marine completed the tournament with the fourth highest table score, while the Robotic Gems from Washington Park and The Unknowns from Belleville also had good showings during the competition.

On Dec. 14, eleven GSSI Robotics Teams had been scheduled to compete in the McKendree University Regional Qualifier.  However, a winter storm and icy road conditions caused the event to be cancelled.   As no makeup date could be arranged, eight teams were selected to advance to the state tournament through a lottery system.  GSSI teams made up nearly half of the total numbers of teams that were registered for the double tournament and three teams drawn ended up being from GSSI.   

The qualifying teams are:  TBot907 from Roxana, Lightning Storm from Belleville and G4S4 from Ozark. 

Other GSSI teams who were scheduled for the McKendree regional are: The Tornado Twisters from Albers, Tornado Tech Girls from Pinckneyville, Robo Fury from Godfrey, GIR! Girls Investigating Robots from Staunton, Catastrophic Cadettes from Staunton, The Fireworks from Glen Carbon, The Purple Robot Penguins from O’Fallon and The Shiloh Robo Bears from Shiloh.

"We are so proud of all of our GSSI Robotics Teams and excited that we have four teams competing in the FIRST LEGO League state tournament, " said GSSI's STEM Program Manager Mary Buchanan.  "Coaches and girls put countless hours of work into programming their robot, completing their research and practicing their presentation to get ready for FLL tournaments.  The girls are learning a lot -- not just about programming and research, but also about persistence, working together and dedication to achieving a goal." 

About GSSI's Robotic Program: 

In 2009, GSSI began its robotics journey with one robotic team.  This year, GSSI is sponsoring 25 Girl Scout robotics teams in three different leagues.  Robotics teams are a key component to GSSI’s initiative to get more girls in southern Illinois interested and involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).  Other STEM programming ranges from doing basic chemistry experiments with younger girls to teaching financial literacy during the Girl Scout Cookie Program to introducing older girls to career mentors in engineering and medicine.

“Engaging girls in STEM in exciting, relevant ways is vital,” said GSSI STEM Program Manager Mary Buchanan. “Research shows that many students, especially girls, drift away from STEM around middle school.  GSSI provides diverse opportunities to build and reinforce interest in these important fields.  As shown by our growth in the number of robotics teams, many girls are searching for ways to stay involved in STEM and we strive to provide them with unique and constructive experiences.”

Girl Scouts has a long history of encouraging girls to participate in STEM.  The first STEM badges – the electrician badge and the flyer badge – were introduced in 1913!

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois serves 14,000 girls and 4,800 adult volunteers in more than 40 counties in southern Illinois. Girl Scouting has inspired more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912. Girl Scouting is focused on providing a premier Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls in the 21st century, while ensuring the traditions and values that have been core to Girl Scouting since its beginning remain strong and relevant. 

GSSI Robotics Teams Compete in FIRST LEGO LEAGUE Regional Tournament

Members of the Lego Divas during FLL table competition. 

Four GSSI Robotics Teams competed in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) qualifier at Carriel Jr. High on Saturday, Dec. 7:  

The Lego Divas from Effingham,  coached by Dawn Quicksall and Matthew Blacker

The Robotic Gems from Washington Park, coached by Karmilia Prude

The Twisters from Troy/Marine, coached by Amy Beard and Sara Tipton

The Unknowns from Belleville, coached by Julie Herr

FLL is a robotics program for 9 to 14 year olds which is designed to get children excited about science and technology, as well as teach them valuable life skills.   Teams use a LEGO MINDSTORMS Lego set to build and program an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing surface.  The theme for this year’s tournament was “Nature’s Fury” and concerned natural disasters and how science can help aid prevention and recovery efforts.  Along with programming robots, teams were also evaluated on an elaborate research project, as well as how well they demonstrate FLL Core Values, which include teamwork, collective learning, active participation and gracious professionalism.  After practicing and preparing for months, teams meet at regional qualifying tournaments to be graded on the three elements, with the top teams advancing to state competition. 

The Lego Divas qualified for state competition during the FIRST Lego League (FLL) regional qualifier at Carriel Jr. High in O’Fallon on Saturday, Dec. 7.    They also took home the Project Award for their outstanding research project, the "Heat Buddy" a battery operated heated blanket designed to help stranded motorists.  

The Twisters from Troy/Marine completed the tournament with the fourth highest table score, while the Robotic Gems from Washington Park and The Unknowns from Belleville also had good showings during the competition. 

"We are so proud of all of our GSSI Robotics Teams and excited to see the Lego Divas advance to the next level of competition, " said GSSI's STEM Program Manager Mary Buchanan.  "Coaches and girls put countless hours of work into programming their robot, completing their research and practicing their presentation to get ready for FLL tournaments.  The girls are learning a lot -- not just about programming and research, but also about persistence, working together and dedication to achieving a goal." 

Eleven GSSI Robotics Teams will compete in the McKendree University Regional Qualifier on Saturday, Dec. 14.  The are:  G4SF from Ozark, The Tornado Twisters from Albers, Tornado Tech Girls from Pinckneyville, TBot 907 from Roxana, Robo Fury from Godfrey, GIR! Girls Investigating Robots from Staunton, Catastrophic Cadettes from Staunton, The Fireworks from Glen Carbon, The Purple Robot Penguins from O’Fallon, The Shiloh Robo Bears from Shiloh, Lightning Storm from Belleville.  Qualifying teams from both regionals will compete at the FLL State Tournament - Illinois Central on Jan. 18 at University of Illinois in Urbana. 

About GSSI's Robotic Program: 

In 2009, GSSI began its robotics journey with one robotic team.  This year, GSSI is sponsoring 25 Girl Scout robotics teams in three different leagues.  Robotics teams are a key component to GSSI’s initiative to get more girls in southern Illinois interested and involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).  Other STEM programming ranges from doing basic chemistry experiments with younger girls to teaching financial literacy during the Girl Scout Cookie Program to introducing older girls to career mentors in engineering and medicine.

“Engaging girls in STEM in exciting, relevant ways is vital,” said GSSI STEM Program Manager Mary Buchanan. “Research shows that many students, especially girls, drift away from STEM around middle school.  GSSI provides diverse opportunities to build and reinforce interest in these important fields.  As shown by our growth in the number of robotics teams, many girls are searching for ways to stay involved in STEM. and we strive to provide them with unique and constructive experiences.”

Girl Scouts has a long history of encouraging girls to participate in STEM.  The first STEM badges – the electrician badge and the flyer badge – were introduced in 1913!

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois serves 14,000 girls and 4,800 adult volunteers in more than 40 counties in southern Illinois. Girl Scouting has inspired more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912. Girl Scouting is focused on providing a premier Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls in the 21st century, while ensuring the traditions and values that have been core to Girl Scouting since its beginning remain strong and relevant.