|
|
|
|
|
SCIP Day
compiled by Katie Strausser with the help of SCIP Day Chairs Theresa Lacombe, Lynna Quandt, and Karolina Werner
Pledge History Project
Hancock Pledge Class F 2003
Alpha Phi Omega was founded on the basis of the law and oath of the
Boy Scouts of America, but Kappa Chapter has not limited its scope of
service to the Boy Scouts. In 1997, Kappa added a major project for
the Girl Scouts similar to the Merit Badge University for the Boy
Scouts. Jen Gray chaired the first SCIP Day (Scout College and
Interest Project), then called "Girl Scout Day". SCIP Day began as a
program for Junior Girl Scouts, but has undergone some major changes
since then.
In 1998, Theresa Lacombe took over as chair, and with feedback from
the previous year put on SCIP Day for about 150 Cadette and Senior
Girl Scouts. The girls were offered about 15 interest patches which
were taught by teachers Theresa recruited and allowed to make their
own lesson plans. After SCIP Day 1998, Theresa felt that the patches
would be better taught if she wrote the lesson plans for the teachers
and thus began doing so almost immediately after in order to prepare
for the next year.
Theresa undertook chairing the project in 1999 as well, and in
October, she oversaw an event that included over 200 girls. SCIP Day
1999 brought changes in administration as Mike Creegan took over part
of the responsibilities of management. Theresa learned a very
valuable lesson that year: the room where the girls gather in the
morning should be easy to find, and thus Wean 100 is a poor choice.
Drop off and pickup became a bit of a nightmare as parents and scouts
tried to find the room. This very valuable lesson has been taken into
account since then as Doherty Hall is now used. Theresa also started
teachers' training sessions in 1999, however, this was not a very well
outlined training and was thus a list of do's and don'ts, later
refined for the next year.
November of 2000 brought about the 4th SCIP Day and Theresa's 3rd and
final SCIP to chair. By this time, she had it under control and using
all of the lessons she had learned in the last years, she, along with
help from Mike Creegan and Lynna Quandt, "her right-hand woman", ran
SCIP Day for over 300 girls, an amazing turn out! The classes ran
smoothly, which Theresa attributes at least in part to mandatory
teacher trainings and giving teachers only a small amount of leeway in
terms of the lesson plans. This was in order to make sure that the
girls truly earned their Interest Patches.
The honors arising from involvement in SCIP Day are numerous. After
four years of organizing and hosting SCIP Day, Kappa Chapter received
recognition for their dedication. In 2001, Theresa and Lynna accepted
the "Triangle Award" for service to the Girl Scouts of South Western
Pennsylvania. Theresa took great pride in this award and in
presenting it to Kappa's president at the time, Kevin Haughwaut.
Theresa, a member of the Girl Scouts since 1986 and a 1997 Gold
Awardee, was also honored for her commitment to SCIP Day and Girl
Scouting. Lynna, another Gold Awardee, presented her with her
lifetime membership pin for her work with SCIP Day. In either 1999 or
2000, Theresa was honored when her leader, Mrs. Linda Zimmer, and 3 or
4 of her troopmates from Connecticut Trails Troop 5220 came to help
out with SCIP Day and presented with her Event Coordinator pin.
Theresa's dedication to the Girl Scouts did not end as she left
Carnegie Mellon University and her role as an active brother in Alpha
Phi Omega's Kappa Chapter. After a job with Lockheed Martin in
Houston, TX fell through, Theresa accepted a job as Membership
Executive with the Girl Scouts of South Texas Council. She no longer
works for the Girl Scouts as in November of 2003, she accepted a job
with NASA, but her dedication to the Girl Scouts will last a lifetime.
Theresa's involvement with SCIP Day concluded as she passed on the
position of chair to Lynna Quandt in 2001 and sat back to relax and
teach a badge. Lynna, with the help of Karolina Werner who was in
charge of teachers, organized badge classes for about 340 Girl Scouts!
Leaders' round table was attempted but lacking the necessary staff was
not successful. The fee for attending SCIP was raised to $4 per scout
to help offset the cost of badges. Other changes included broadening
the number of interest patches offered including adding Just Jewelry,
Fashion Design, and Wildlife (which went to the zoo) as well as a
Cadette Only and a Senior Only badge. 2001 SCIP teachers included
sisters from Zeta, as this began the attempt to involve sororities in
helping teach at SCIP.
In 2001, Lynna realized that more people were needed to help organize
and run this event which had grown a lot in the past years. Thus, she
began SCIP Comm. which included Karolina who again recruited and
trained teachers and Marta who was in charge of supplies. With 420
girls registered for SCIP 2002, class sizes were increased from 15 to
20 girls and efforts were made to have two instructors in every class.
The format of SCIP Day was also modified to 2 sessions of 3 hours each
rather than the previous 3 sessions of 3, 2, and 2 hours. This
allowed the day to conclude around 5 pm rather than 6:30 and still
provided ample time for the girls to earn their patches. Like
Theresa, Lynna also learned a lesson about reserving rooms for SCIP
Day. Not only should they be easy to find, but extras should always
be reserved! After learning that four of the rooms reserved for SCIP
Day had been double booked, Lynna was relieved that she had reserved
extra rooms to fall back on.
2003 brought a change of management as Karolina Werner took over as
chair with the help of a committee made up of Marta DePaul
(registrar), Julia Myers (materials), Jenna Fu (manpower), Claire
Wagner (food), Elizabeth Buckser (teachers recruiting), Katie
Straussesr (teacher training), Erik Andreason (service VP), James
Raskob and Divya Jesuraj (leaders' classes). SCIP Day 2003 was a huge
success with over 400 girls registered. 21 Interest Patches were
offered as well as 3 Studio 2Bs. Teachers were recruited from various
organizations and groups including Carnegie Mellon's Society of Women
Engineers, Kappa brothers, and every single Carnegie Mellon Sorority.
Teachers also included a University of Pittsburgh professor and her
daughter and three girls from a local Girl Scout troop working on
their Gold Award. A new addition to SCIP Day was the leaders' classes
in which Divya taught Computer Skills and James taught Practical First
Aid. These classes were a success with teachers who learned valuable
skills while their girls earned their interest patches.
SCIP Day has been a project of Kappa Chapter since 1997, but it may
soon spread to a national Alpha Phi Omega project. While at the
Section 62 Conference, a scouting executive discussed the possibility
of this with Karolina and they hope to work together to put together a
handbook on how to run a SCIP Day for other chapters of Alpha Phi
Omega to use. Kappa has made its mark on the Scouting careers of
hundreds of Girl Scouts in the area and will eventually have a
national impact on the contribution of Alpha Phi Omega to the Girl
Scout Community!
|
