When her kindergarten daughter wanted to get into Girl Scouting but there weren’t any more open troops at her elementary school, Jennifer Bott did what any self-respecting Girl Scout would do … she started one.  

“I wanted to allow my daughter to experience the same fun and sisterhood that comes from being a Girl Scout as I had,” said the co-leader of Troop 78358 in Berkley.

The response to the multi-level troop was immediate and encouraging. “The troop is currently 19 girls strong,” Jennifer says.

Many of those Girl Scouts have earned their Daisy Petals, so Jennifer and “the best co-leader” are working with the girls on developing their leadership skills.

“We’re aiming to have fun by doing some community service projects, interacting with other troops and letting the girls decide together on which badges to work towards,” she says.

Not that the troop hasn’t already had some great times!

“We did our first troop camping trip this year at Proud Lake Recreation Area and it was a full weekend of fun,” she says. “They’ve already asked to start planning the next camping trip!”

(Did you know there’s troop camping at Camp Hawthorn Hollow and Camp Playfair? You can find out more at www.gssem.org/troopcamp)

Jennifer credits her troop’s success on not being afraid to ask for help.

“You will be surprised at the number of parents who are more than willing to help out with the different tasks,” she says.

All you have to do is ask … and have FUN!

-Jennifer Botts