Girl Scout troop takes ‘different’ approach to community service project (with videos)
From left, Samantha Kirtland and Gwynn Staley of Girl Scout Troop 10387 in Barlow work on a laptop for its anti-bullying project called “Difference Maker Sisters.” (Photo Provided)
Gwynn Staley, right, and Addison Jones of Girl Scout Troop 10387 in Barlow work on the video series, “Difference Maker Sisters.” The troop is interviewing children with diseases, disorders and disabilities for an anti-bullying and public awareness campaign to be presented for a Bronze Award. (Photo Provided)
From left, Samantha Kirtland interviews her sister, Claire, who has binocular vision disorder, for the Girl Scout Troop anti-bullying campaign, “Difference Maker Sisters.” (Photo Provided)
From left, Girl Scout Troop 10387 Juniors Tilly Felt, Talya Wallbrown, Harper Cameron, Addison Jones, Samantha Kirtland and Gwyn Staley. The troop is working on a Bronze Award project, “Difference Maker Sisters,” an anti-bullying video series found on YouTube and Instagram. (Photo Provided)
From left, Samantha Kirtland and Gwynn Staley of Girl Scout Troop 10387 in Barlow work on a laptop for its anti-bullying project called “Difference Maker Sisters.” (Photo Provided)
Gwynn Staley, right, and Addison Jones of Girl Scout Troop 10387 in Barlow work on the video series, “Difference Maker Sisters.” The troop is interviewing children with diseases, disorders and disabilities for an anti-bullying and public awareness campaign to be presented for a Bronze Award. (Photo Provided)
From left, Samantha Kirtland interviews her sister, Claire, who has binocular vision disorder, for the Girl Scout Troop anti-bullying campaign, “Difference Maker Sisters.” (Photo Provided)
From left, Girl Scout Troop 10387 Juniors Tilly Felt, Talya Wallbrown, Harper Cameron, Addison Jones, Samantha Kirtland and Gwyn Staley. The troop is working on a Bronze Award project, “Difference Maker Sisters,” an anti-bullying video series found on YouTube and Instagram. (Photo Provided)
Trending
BARLOW -- A Girl Scout troop in Barlow is developing a series of interviews of kids with diseases, disabilities and disorders for a community service project award.
Black Diamond Troop 10387's anti-bullying awareness video series, titled "Difference Maker Sisters," is working toward the requirements for a Bronze Award. The Girl Scouts are interviewing their peers to get their perspective of their conditions and to raise awareness of their experiences, Troop 10387 Troop Leaders Jill Kirtland said.
Among the requirements of the Bronze Award is 20 hours of work for each girl, she said.
The purpose is to help other children understand their conditions so they can be more inclusive, according to Kirtland.
Most discussion is usually by adults about the condition, she said.
"You don't really hear from the kids who have these things from their perspective," Kirtland said.
Members of the Girl Scout Troop 10387 Juniors are Harper Cameron of Warren Middle School, Tilly Felt of Marietta Elementary School, Addison Jones of Warren Middle School, Samantha Kirtland of Warren Middle School, Gwyn Staley of Warren Middle School and Talya Wallbrown of Mineral Wells Elementary School.
The Girl Scouts are excited to be part of the project.
"Yes I was," Felt, who enjoys the production of the videos, said.
"I do both interviewing and editing," she said.
An interview with a child with spina bifida impacted Wallbrown.
"Damian's story was the most impactful," she said. "He has spina bifida."
The project has changed Staley's perspective of kids with conditions.
"I've become more understanding," she said.
Among the conditions of the children being interviewed by the troop, part of the Black Diamond chapter, are ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, type 1 diabetes, spina bifida, binocular vision disorder, celiac disease and epidermolysis bullosa.
The project started in September. About a half dozen interviews have been conducted and the videos are on the Youtube channel Difference Maker Sisters and the Instagram channel, @gsdifferencemakersisters.
Kids also have come forward when they learned of the project to be interviewed, Kirtland said.
The project will be finished by the end of May. The Bronze Award is the highest Girl Scout Juniors can earn.
The Junior Scouts also are speaking with clubs and organizations in the community.
Besides raising public awareness and fostering anti-bullying, members of the troop are learning new skills including research, marketing and branding, interviewing, data analytics, video editing, audio editing and public speaking.
Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com