Quarantine Sparks National Outreach from Campus Girl Scouts Group

Posted by Lauren Martin on

This article was written by Kelly Newbrough and Ebe Randeree.

Coronavirus isn’t holding back the Campus Girl Scouts (CGS) from maintaining their outreach this semester. CGS is an organization with Florida State’s College of Communication and Information that is focused on encouraging and promoting the values of Girl Scouts while serving the college campus and surrounding community with STEM-focused activities.  Typically, the group hosts 4-6 on-campus events, coding classes, and STEM training for troops in the Panhandle.  With Covid limiting opportunities for F2F events, the group expanded online through Zoom and the response was amazing.

On September 26th, 2020 Campus Girl Scouts held their College Knowledge Badge opportunity virtually for girl scouts. The two-part event ran for about two hours and was facilitated by FSU students.  The first hour focused on giving girl scouts great resources to prepare for college including comparing colleges, prepping for entrance exams, choosing a major, searching for a STEM career, time management, and finding scholarships. The second hour was a college Q&A with seven FSU students as panelists:

  • Devon Newton senior BIOLOGY
  • Julia McLane senior INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
  • Kelly Newbrough senior INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & TECHNOLOGY
  • Rebecca Doss freshman ACCOUNTING
  • Alyssa Goosby sophomore INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
  • Cameron Chisolm senior INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION & TECHNOLOGY
  • Sydney Seip senior SOCIOLOGY and FAMILY & CHILD SCIENCES

The President of CGS, Devon Newton, facilitated the event; she said “Although the pandemic has presented everyone with unprecedented challenges, the online format everyone has had to adjust to has proven to be an asset for clubs looking to broaden their outreach and I was thrilled to host Campus Girl Scouts’ first virtual, national, and international event geared towards educating Girl Scouts about the college application process. CGS has dedicated members that work to instill young women with courage, confidence, and character.”  The event attracted 126 participants, spanning 19 states and 3 countries (Germany, France, and Canada).

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Kelly Newbrough, one of the panelists, is very active in multiple clubs within FSU’s College of Communication & Information. She had been part of an effort this past summer to prepare for virtual events and had worked with numerous student leaders to create a strategy for student organizations to function under Covid. She said, “Our preparations over the summer has helped groups like CGS plan for continuing their outreach and promote FSU in the community.”

In a post-event survey, the group received the following feedback (n=13):

  • Content Shared                      (7 Extremely Satisfied, 6 Moderately Satisfied)
  • Responses on the Panel        (9 Extremely Satisfied, 4 Moderately Satisfied)
  • Overall Event                         (7 Extremely Satisfied, 6 Moderately Satisfied)

For more information on Campus Girl scouts – see https://www.facebook.com/CGSatFSU