World Thinking Day

On February 20th, many of our CTK Girl Scouts from the Brownies, Junior and Cadette troops attended World Thinking Day at Fairlawn Plaza.  World Thinking Day (WTD) is a day in Girl Scouts where you have the ability to "host" countries from all over the world and teach other Girl Scouts about it.  

This year Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador troops from across the Topeka area were the "hosts".  Each troop picked a different country to research.  They found what foods are popular, the type of clothing worn, and most importantly, what Girl Scouts from different countries do!  The girls put up posters, decorated their tables and handed out SWAPS (Special Which-a-ma-call-its Affectionately Pinned Somewhere) to all the girls who were "traveling" through learning.  

As the younger girls walked around the Plaza learning about all of the different countries, they got their "passports" punched.  At the end of the event all of the girls had a different country in mind for when they are old enough to help host a country at a future World Thinking Day!  Then, to end the day, each girl from the CTK troops received a Henna tattoo to show their sisterhood with each other.
  

Flag workshop

On February 13th, veterans from the American Legion came to talk to all of the Christ the King Girl Scouts about the history and meaning of our American flag.  The event was held at the Christ the King School cafeteria.

For example:  Did you know that Betsy Ross is the one who talked the committee into only having 5-points on the Star?  Do you remember how many stars were on the first American Flag?  13.  Do you remember what they stood for?  One star stood for each of the original states.  It has been told that each State was to also have their own stripe too.  Could you imagine having 50 Stars AND 50 Stripes?!?

The Legionaries walked the girls through the proper way of posting the Colors; meaning how the flags should be placed when next to each other.  They explained that the American flag is always to the right of the speaker.  The presenters explained then demonstrated to the girls how to fold the flag properly.  Each fold represents something different.  A detailed explanation can be found on American Legion page.

All of the Girl Scouts received a piece from a retired flag (a star from the field) from the American Legion veterans.

The CTK Girl Scouts would like to extend a special "Thank You" to our presenters from the Legion - for all the service and dedication you have provided for our country.

Brownies at Potwin

           
The past couple of Saturdays in February, the 2nd and 3rd grade Brownie Girl Scouts have been enjoying some creative time at Potwin Pottery.  There they learned about making different kinds of pottery, painted them and learned about the firing process in the kiln.  . 

The next time they were at Potwin to paint the girls had a hard time finding their pots, the pots were no longer their original size!  The shrunk to about half the size. All of the girls were surprised at the changes in size; when they made their original pinch pots they were told to make it large and as thick as an Oreo cookie The girls learned that during the heating/drying process their pottery will lose its orginial size, due to all the moisture being removed,.  

On painting day, the girls were told that due to all of the moisture being taken out, they needed to layer their paint colors.  If they didn't put enough paint on their pieces, when it was placed in the kiln again, their colors would be very light.  This is one time that the leaders let the girls "glob" their paints on their pieces.  The girls were able to view the kiln in Potwins backroom and learned that the whole process takes a full week.

With all of this hard work, not only did the girls walk away with a great looking pot made by themselves, they also earned their Pottery Badge!  This is just one of 26 proficiency badges that Brownies can earn during their journey as a Girl Scout.