Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia is happy to announce a new collaboration with Bainbridge College. The partnership, which will connect student teachers enrolled in the Early Education Program at the college with a local Girl Scout troop, will kick off on July 14, with a Science for Kids Event.

Science for Kids will be held from 10 a.m. through noon at the Bainbridge campus. Girls in kindergarten through eighth grades are invited to attend. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. the day of the event. The event cost is $2 for registered Girl Scouts and $14 for girls who are not yet Girl Scouts. This $14 fee includes the cost of the event plus annual Girl Scout registration. It will entitle participants to attend troop meetings and other Girl Scout events throughout the year.

The collaboration began when Decatur County Girl Scout Service Unit 422 Recruiter and Journeys Coordinator, Johnette Weiss, contacted Professor Valley Rogers, Education Program Director/Assistant Professor of Education at Bainbridge College. The vision was to incorporate a local Girl Scout troop with student teachers enrolled in the Early Education Program at the college. Mary Beveridge, Membership Coordinator for Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, Weiss and Rogers worked together merging the two programs into one.

Working with Girl Scouts will give student teachers the hands-on experience of developing and presenting lesson plans and conducting activities with the girls during meeting times. Another benefit will be working with children in a teacher/student relationship to develop skills at various levels that will be beneficial during their teaching careers.

“I am confident that this type of exercise will enhance the student teachers understanding, development, and knowledge base through application,”  Rogers said.

This year marks Girl Scouts 100th birthday. Founder Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for the first Girl Scouts meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually.

For more information, contact Mary Beveridge at (229) 227-6599 or mbeveridge@gshg.org. To learn more about Girl Scouting, visit www.gshg.org.