The Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida are a youth organization with the mission to build courage, confidence and character in young girls who make the world a better place. For many girls in our area, the Girl Scouts offer limitless opportunities and adventures.
The group was first established in March of 1912, by Juliette Gordon Low, creating a worldwide movement equipping girls with new skills, embracing nature and being their unique selves.
“The Girl Scout program has helped me see the differences in the community and feel more compassion for people worldwide. I’m always looking to help people anytime and anywhere,” Anna Pegler, junior, said.
The Girl Scouts offer many different prospective roles and responsibilities within their troops. Starting from the lowest grade level, the “Daisy Girl Scouts” in grades kindergarten through first grade, “Brownie Girl Scouts” grades second and third, “Junior Girl Scouts” grades four through five, “Cadet Girl Scouts” grades six through eight, “Senior Girl Scouts” and “Ambassador Girl Scouts” grades eleven through twelve.
“We don’t have one leader, we all share responsibility fairly in the troops,” Charlotte Daversa, Cadet Girl Scout, said.
Being a Girl Scout entails being involved in numerous activities such as earning badges and awards, taking trips, selling cookies and exploring nature and science.
Every year around 3,300 Girl Scouts earn the most prestigious award, the Gold Award. This is given to seniors and ambassadors of the program who demonstrate long-lasting solutions to problems in their neighborhoods and beyond.
“I have earned many badges I really cannot count. One of my biggest awards was my Girl Scout SIlver Award, a scout has to do a project to impact their community by themselves,” Pegler said. “I built and organized a little library in my neighborhood.”
Starting in 1917, just five years following the formation of the Girl Scouts, The Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, started baking cookies to sell in their high school cafeteria. This was a service project in efforts to raise funds for troop activities.
Since the first sales the Girl Scout cookies have quickly become a staple of American culture to many. Cookies are available for sale in January through April. Girl Scouts are known for being outside of supermarkets and stores advertising their fundraiser.
The selling of these cookies is meant to teach Girl Scouts to develop ambition for sales and business. Cookie sales also fund the cost of trips and uniforms for the scouts.
“Cookie sales are the biggest form of funding for our troop, we do it every year. Usually we do booths in front of stores,” Pegler said.
With the introduction of the 2025 Girl Scout cookie season, two flavors are experiencing their last year on the market, including the Girl Scout S’mores, a flavor introduced to the public in 2017 to celebrate 100 years since the first cookie sales. This cookie includes graham cracker on the outside, with marshmallow and chocolate on the inside, resembling a traditional S’mores treat.
The Scouts announced another flavors discontinuation, Toast-Yay!. This is a french toast inspired cookie with the bottom dipped in icing, introduced in 2021.
Newer flavors like the Toast-Yay! are subject to be filtered through sooner than more culturally significant flavors such as the Thin Mints or Samoas.
“We routinely reevaluate our cookie lineup to make room for new innovations. Discontinuing Toast-Yay and Girl Scout S’mores may lead to something new and delicious,” The Girl Scouts of USA announced in a press release on Jan. 7.
Girl Scouts participate and coordinate many different events throughout the year, promoting social and environmental wellness. Many of the Girl Scouts join to make friends, many stay in their troops surrounded by those very friends.
“I joined the Girl Scouts to have fun and make new friends,” Daversa said. “Every year is better than the last.”
