Girl Scouts: More Than Just a Sweet Treat

Girl Scouts may be known for their cookies, but that doesn’t scratch the surface of what the program entails.

Girl Scouts is a recreational activity that any girl K-12 can participate in. Girls engage in their communities, learn new skills, and are able to interact with a variety of people that they may not have been able to meet.

Girl Scouts has six different age groups that children will be sorted into. The levels ranging from youngest to oldest are Daisy; ages 5-7, Brownie; ages 7-9, Junior; ages 9-11, Cadette; ages 11-14, Senior; ages 14-16, and Ambassador; ages 16-18.

There are three big activities that take place in Girl Scouts: badge adventures, cookie season, and Girl Scout camp. Badge adventures are a fun-filled activity where girls will work with their level to earn patches to put on their sash or vest. These can be anything from taking a walk through the woods to donating handmade blankets to their local shelters.

Girls of the upper levels can also participate in the Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards. These awards are of higher status than regular badges and can hold value for college applications.  Some examples are making a Buddy Bench, donating to shelters, or building a book box.

Cookie season is something that people all over the world look forward to. Girl Scouts of all levels go around their communities in small groups or settle down at a cookie booth to sell Girl Scout cookies. Cookie season teaches girls financial responsibility, and they have fun while doing it. Girls learn all sorts of advertising methods, even including silly ones like inflatable costumes.

“My favorite memory was from one of my last years in Girl Scouts; it was the middle of winter, and we got to wear an inflatable tube costume and sell cookies in Krogers. People loved it, and it was so fun making people smile and selling them cookies,” former Girl Scout Nova Lear said.

Girl Scout camp is a fan favorite of most girls. Camp has many different activities to offer, like swimming, kayaking, canoeing, archery, craft, and fire building. Girls live out in the wilderness for either just the morning for day camps or all week for overnight camps. Girls cook their own food over a fire they made, go fishing with an older mentor, learn wilderness survival and safety, and play fun games like GaGa Ball or Down by the Banks. Girls also learn fun songs; some of my personal favorites are Ratlin Bog, Boom Chick a Boom, Little Red Wagon, and The Martian Song.

“Camp allows us to connect with nature and each other; we form bonds we would have never had,” a senior counselor in training (CIT) said.

Camp is fun, but that isn’t the only reason someone should join Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts has plenty of learning opportunities that range from finances to simple arts and crafts. During cookie season and the lesser-known fall product season, girls learn how to handle and count money and products. Communication is also a widely taught skill, whether that be talking to other girls in their troop or talking to adults to sell products. The reasons an individual should join are best said by the Girl Scouts themselves.

“Girl Scouts teaches financial literacy, communication, community service, and how to have fun. Girls should join for all the fun adventures we take.” - Current Soni Springs camp director Summer said.

To join Girl Scouts, go to Girlscouts.org, or ask the local school for their troop. There is a $65 joining fee, but financial aid is available for those who may need it. A Girl Scout registration lasts from October 1 to September 30 of the next year. Girls must renew their membership yearly, or a troop leader can renew their membership for them.

AP Statistics (AP Stats) is a new optional math course for the 2026-2027 school year at La Porte High School.

AP Stats is a year-long class with an AP exam at the end of the school year in May. Students will learn about different types of statistics, real-world problems and their applications, and are taught as if they are in a real college course. AP Stats is taught at a college level, so students should expect a more in-depth understanding of the topic and a stricter expectation for work. To get into AP Stats, students must have completed Algebra 2 with a “C” or higher.

The main difference between AP Stats and base-level stats is the length of the course. Base-level stats is only a semester-long course versus AP Stats being a full year. The content of the two courses is similar as both are taught from the same book; however, AP Stats goes far more in depth and teaches more real-world applications, while general stats gives more of an overview of statistics as a whole.

Ms. Schott is the AP Stats, AP Calculus, and base-level stats teacher. She is the only statistics teacher in the school and fought hard to bring us an AP Stats course. The class was fought for, as many students run out of math classes to take for their diplomas. AP Stats gives them a new option. Getting college credits early is never a bad option for students either.

“One of the biggest reasons is that more and more jobs/majors are now requiring statistics, even more so than in years past,” Schott said.

The class is important for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, it's fun. Students often get to run their own experiments and gather their own data, learning more about statistics in a hands-on way. Schott's passion for teaching also bleeds into the inviting atmosphere of her statistics class. AP Stats teaches real-world skills, gives college experience, and brings a new field to our school.

“We use all things/scenarios/studies that are found in the real world to discuss, or we use data coming from the class itself. They really are fun classes to teach, especially with different 'labs' I find out there to use in class,” Schott said.

The AP Capstone award includes AP Seminar, AP Research, and four other AP Exams. AP Stats is not required for the AP Capstone award; however, it can contribute AP credits to the award. AP Stats contributes two math credits to all diplomas and are eligible for a college statistics or math credit at the end of the year.