Girl Scouts celebrate 'World Thinking Day'

BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD — The theme for the Girl Scouts' World Thinking Day 2017 was ”Let’s grow!” and was held at the West Milford Presbyterian Church Hall.
Participants brought a can of food to add to the church's food pantry.
West Milford Girl Scout Service Unit Co-Leaders Jennifer Beekman and Rocio Marerro arranged the event with participating Girl Scout Troops. They announced on the group’s Facebook page, “Today is World Thinking Day, and we’re inspiring girls to explore, stretch, and take on new challenges while celebrating what it means to be part of the global sisterhood that is Girl Scouts and Girl Guides.”
Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from 146 countries worldwide celebrate World Thinking Day each year.
Younger Girl Scouts arrived eager and ready to “travel” from country to country to learn a little about each country and about the Girl Scouts/Girl Guides there. Each girl was given a passport in which they received a special stamp from each country they visited.
Older Girl Scouts prepared for weeks in advance to create their individual country setups, where they taught the younger Girl Scouts some key facts about their designated country and about Girl Scouts in that country. They served food items that originate from that country, and also led their young visitors in a craft related to the country. Countries represented were: the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Argentina, Italy, and even a Girl Scout Camp that was hosted by a representative of the Northern NJ Girl Scout Council.
Later in the day, the older girls were given the opportunity to visit each other's countries.
Many of the parents and troop leaders commented that the participants had a wonderful, positive, educational experience.
One parent commented “Troop 96812 had a great time! Thanks for hosting such a fun and informative event!”