As cookie-selling season approaches, more girls are welcome to join the Girl Scouts
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POCATELLO — As the holiday season is winding down, Girl Scouts are preparing for another: cookie season.
Just like every year, the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage will soon begin the largest entrepreneurial program for girls in the country. Scouts will begin going door to door to sell cookies on Jan. 12 and will be stationed in front of grocery stores on Feb. 23.
“These girls are essentially running their own business (and ensuring) that it’s successful,” said Jason Burnette, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage, which is one of the 110 councils of the national organization.
Burnette said the cookie-selling season offers the girls more than just the opportunity to sell cookies.
“We are so much more than cookies,” he said.
The girls learn important entrepreneurship skills during the season.
The Scouts have to set their selling goals and decide how many cookies they can realistically sell during the season. The girls then have to use their people skills to keep moving boxes of cookies until they reach their goals.
They are also responsible for keeping track of and managing the money they earn during the season.
The girls earn rewards at the end of the season to celebrate what they accomplished. The money earned from selling cookies goes back into the Silver Sage Council; it pays for programs including STEM days, mental health and wellness programs and Girl Scout camp.
Girl Scout troops have been meeting since the fall and preparing the Scouts with leadership training, giving them the confidence they need to manage their goals and sell cookies. Not only that, but the girls build a sisterhood.
“They discover fun, they discover friendship, they discover the power of girls together,” Burnette said.
There’s still time for girls to get involved in the Girl Scouts before the year is over. The best way to do that is to go to the website and get connected to the troop in their area.