Solar Eclipse workshop

The CTK Girl Scouts got to learn about the 2017 Solar Eclipse right before it occurred! They learned about sun clocks, magnets and compasses, how important it is to protect ourselves from UV light, and many other experiments.  We ended making a pin hole box with cereal boxes so they could safely view the eclipse.  Now to wait until the next one.

Cookie Construction

For nearly 6 months, Cadettes, Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts got together with some Architecture mentor to come up with a concept and design for this years Cookie Construction competition.  This years theme is, “We are Girl Scouts, We are Innovators”.

What is Cookie Construction?  Glad you asked!  Girls meet with 3 mentors who help walk them through the steps of constructing a design that they come up with.  Each structure is made purely out of cookie boxes that come from the box manufacture.  Girls are allowed to use tape, but it can not be visible.  Each team is judged on how well they stick to the theme.

Girls from Topeka, Lawrence and Leavenworth Girl Scouts made up the TL²  team.  We have one Girl Scout, Samantha Augustine, from Christ the King helping out!
Our project represents a house where Girl Scouts can design and invent freely. We decided to build a house because a lot of space and millions of innovations are found in homes. We decided to include some notable inventions, such as the light-bulb, the spectacles and the microscope. We poured all of our creativity into our thinking caps and developed some inventions that could be made in the future – for instance, a cookie spitter and badge designer. Our building structure consists of three floors with a loft on the third floor. We wanted to section off part of the house and commit it to just making innovations, so that is where we came up with the idea for an innovation lab as the loft. We are using ladders to get from level to level in our house, which are supported by the exterior walls and structural columns. The roof will be a rooftop garden which will have solar panels to provide power for Innovation Manor. This build means a lot to us as Girl Scouts so we have created a mural in the back of the house representing Girl Scout History and Juliette Gordon Low, the founder.

                           

Cookie Season!

It's COOKIE SEASON!!

Girl Scouts from Christ the King were taking cookie orders starting back on January 1st and out delivering and having cookie booths during February.  

A huge Thank You goes out to President Schambari and Athletic Director, Bobby Taul at Hayden for letting all of the Christ the King Girl Scouts sale cookies at their last two home basketball games! The girls did a great job and all of the basketball spectators had yummy cookies while watching games being played.  

All of the CTK Girl Scouts also sold cookies at Kelly Express on 10th and Wanamaker over the February weekends.  The girls also did their final booth sale after Masses here at church Feb. 25th and 26th.  Thank you to all of the parishioners who bought cookies from our troops!

Cookie season officially ends March 10th, so if you still need cookies we have plenty of Girl Scouts who can help you!   

Mall Scavenger Hunt

This morning the Girl Scout Service Unit of Topeka put on a Scavenger Hunt at the Mall.  All girls earned one of their legacy money badges, which is different for each level, and a Mall Madness Scavenger Hunt fun patch.  There were approximately 135 girls registered, so early morning mall walkers saw a lot of different colored Girl Scout vests throughout.  The girls had to figure out clues to find the store that had their questions that needed to be answered.  The two troops that finished the fastest in time, won 1st and 2nd place.

We, the CTK Girl Scouts, had 2 winning troops!  The 3rd grade Brownies won 1st place and the 6th/7th grade Cadettes won 2nd place in their prospective troop levels.  Congratulations CTK Girl Scouts for you wins!

Cadette Badge Workshop

Last night some area Cadette troops got together for a fun evening.  We started off at the KBI building for a tour of the facility, a little crime sleuthing and a mock interrogation.  Next we had Professor Turk, from WU, come talk about the Science of Happiness.  Katy Hatch, a 2nd grade teacher from CTK, taught the girls about Comic Artist.  They studied comics from the Sunday paper, came up with their own script and drawings to create their own comic strip.  Today they played games, made paper airplanes and competed to see who could finish a puzzle the fastest.  That's how 30 girls (6 troops), 6 leaders and 4 badges get DONE!  We all had a great time collaborating and working together.   

Girl Scout Christmas Party

Girl Scouts singing Christmas carols at the Manor

The last day of school before Christmas break is always a fun one for the Girl Scouts at Christ the King school.  The girls have 1/2 day of school and then spend some time with each other having a Christmas party!  This year the Girl Scouts decorated Christmas cards for people at the Topeka VA hospital and then went across the street to sing Christmas carols at the Manor.  The Girl Scouts have a great time singing and sharing joy, they already looking forward to doing it again this year! 

My Promise My Faith

On Saturday, Dec. 3rd, we worked on My Faith, My Promise badge. A sister from Leavenworth talked about the Three C's. They are considerate , caring , and courageous. You can't be one of the three C's without the other.  We made symbols of our faith out of clay . We also decorated lunch bags for Coritas Corner in Topeka. I believe we decorated close to a thousand.

It was a great experience and I enjoyed my day.

--Abby

Sister Vicki, from Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, came to talk to the Girl Scouts of Christ the King.  She focused her talk about one of the lines from the Girl Scout Law, Considerate and Caring.  She explained that each and every girl brings something different to the group.  She used different colors of clay to demonstrate this.  By taking three different colors and folding them over each other, you get a marble effect.  This showed that sometimes when girls work together their different strengths are molded into what they are working on.  Each girl brings something to the project and by working together they can create a beautiful piece of work.  

Another activity that the girls did was decorate brown paper bags that will be used at Coritas Corner.  This is a place that it here in Topeka next to Let's Help and Catholic Charity.  The workers and volunteers put together a sack lunch for others in need.  The girls decorated bags that are used with Christmas praise, happy thoughts, and so many other positive pictures.  As the girls get older, they hope that they can help make sack lunches that will be passed out!  

 Considerate, caring and courageous....just three little words that have a huge impact on what Girl Scouts focus on!

Harvesters

On Oct. 31, 1860 Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon was born.  She founded Girl Scouts 1912 here in the US.  One of the beliefs that Juliette instilled on girls from the beginning, is the commitment to help others.  Today, Oct. 29th, Christ the King Girl Scouts and fellow troop 4306, spent some time at Harvesters.  There the younger Girl Scouts colored and decorated bags that will be used at Harvesters when they take meals to people who are in need.  The older Girl Scouts spent a couple of hours sorting out and repackaging 4,141 lbs. bread that is being sent out around the area to help other food panties.   Girl Scouts collected food items to bring to Harvesters, CTK girls brought in 156 lbs and Troop 4306 brought in 213 lbs.

Rome Sweet Home

Our CTK Girl Scouts helped again this year at Rome Sweet Home.  The younger girls had a great time helping people carry their trays to tables, picking up trash and wiping down tables.  The older girls helped clear the gym of tables and chairs for Mr. Russell.  The Daisy girls had such a great time helping people, that they didn't want to go back outside to play!  The older Girl Scouts got a lot of compliments for their teamwork clearing out the gym. Community service is one of the Girl Scout foundations that we strive do to our best at.  We are looking forward to helping again next year!

Aviation day

On October 1, 2016 we attended Girls in Aviation Day/Fly Kansas at Forbes Field. 

We started the day at the Museum of the Kansas National Guard.  There we listened to two female helicopter pilots, two female KC-135 tanker pilots and a female crew chief for the KC-135.  We also did a STEM project about the forces of flight.  We also got to walk through the museum and look at the equipment on display outside.  Just before lunch we moved over to the Combat Air Museum.  We listened to the Governor and state transportation officials about Kansas’ part in aviation history.  They spoke about the contributions that women have made in Kansas aviation.   There were many planes and helicopters to look at.  There was even a hot air balloon.  There were two female Air Force pilots that flew in from Oklahoma to talk to us.  One flew the biggest airplane the USAF has, the C5.  Both pilots had flown supply missions into combat zones.  One had landed on every continent, even Antarctica.   Both of them now train others to be pilots in the USAF.  Overall, we had a great day learning about women in aviation and started dreaming about what we could possibly do! 

Cadette Book Artist

Our two Cadettes got to partake in a Book Artist workshop done at the Topeka library with other troops from the area.  The girls worked with Betsy Roe and Brea Black from the library and learned about how books are assembled, binding of different books and created their own book covers using a marbling affect on card stock paper.

One book style that the girls learned is called accordion fold.  This is where you fold paper like an accordion and slip the ends together to expand the book.  You are able to write, draw on any of the "pages" front and back to tell your story.  These are usually a small booklet, for small pictures or short phrases.

The girls learned how to do two different bindings for booklets.One is the Pamphlet stitched which works well for books with just a few pages.  This is an alternative to stapling in the middle when pages are folded in half.

The other style is simple Japanese stab binding.  This is where you can stack different types of paper; ie textured, colored, different weights of paper; that are stacked on top of each other cut the same size.

The girls learned a lot about what goes into binding different books.  It will be interesting to see if they use one of these bindings for a project in school.

Bonfire

This Saturday our Daisy leaders and their Girl Scouts put together a great Bonfire here at Christ the King School.  The girls were split up into 3 groups and did some crafts, team building exercises and finally made some yummy S'mores!  

The craft that the girls made were indoor camp fires. They took tissue paper and glued them to the outside of a plastic cup.  For the wood of the "fire" they used brown construction paper cut into strips.  Placing a battery operated tealight inside the cup created their "fire".  Of course you can't have a fire and not be able to roast marshmallows, so using a craft stick and cotton ball, they created their final element to their campfire!  

One of the team building exercises the Girl Scouts did was linking hands with others randomly around a circle.  They then had to work together to unwind from their pretzel.  Having girls climbing over each other, twisting backwards, dunking under another set of linked arms, was truly a feat for all of them.  The giggles that came from them, well you can imagine how funny that was!

Finally able to enjoy some real S'mores!  You can't have a campfire and not have S'mores.  Girls enjoyed the gooey roasted marshmallows, melted chocolate and crunchy graham crackers while relaxing on the school grounds and warm sun.  Thankfully God gave us such nice weather.   

New Scout year!

GIRL SCOUTS!!!  We are getting ready to kick off the new Scout year.  Girl Scouts will have an information table set up at Christ the King registration night, August 10th, and also at Scout Night, August 25th. Stop by and see what exciting activities you and your daughter can participate in!  

Are you looking for school volunteer options?!?  As a volunteer with any of our troops, you are able to count the time you spend towards your school volunteer hours.  Have fun with your daughter and her friends while taking care of a school commitment, too.  There's lot of options that you can help with, from being a Troop Leader, to taking care of the paperwork, to being in charge of the calling tree for your troop.  Please let me (Jennifer) or any Troop Leader know and we will help you find the right volunteer position you feel comfortable with!

Pinewood Derby

Pinewood Derby is usually a Cub Scout event, but not for some of our CTK Girl Scouts!  They participated in a Pinewood Derby for Girl Scouts on April 16th and had a blast!

The Girl Scouts had to purchase a blank pinewood derby car and create their own unique car of their own. From design, to cutting, to painting and making sure that it was the legal weight, these girls made each one their own. 

The event was held a Grace Episcopal Cathedral, here in Topeka and had troops from all across town participate. All troops from Daisy up to Ambassador(12tj graders) were invited and about 55 cars turned up!  

Each level Girl Scouts raced among their peers. We had Girl Scouts from Daisy, Brownie, Junior and Cadette registered. This was the first time our girls participated in a Pinewood Derby race. We had some winners and some who learned the valuable lesson of not everyone will win. They all had a great time and are already looking forward to next years Pinewood Derby!  

Daisy Fun Day

On Saturday, April 9th, a handful of our 1st grade Daisy Girl Scouts attended Daisy Fun Day hosted by our area Service Unit. This event was open to all Daisy Girl Scouts in the Topeka and surrounding area.

During the event there are activities that teach different badges that the girls earn. These activities are done by Program Aides who are 6th grade Cadettes and up. One Program Aide is one of our 6th grade Cadette Girl Scouts. 

The Daisy's earned their Girl Scout Way badge, which teaches the girls the history of Girl Scouts and the founder, Juliette Lowe. Another badge they earned was Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout. Here they learned about working as a team with others and about the Girl Scout Promise and Law. The third badge earned was one that taught STEM, Science Technology Engineering and Math, where they got to see how a few experiments worked. Finally, the forth badge was Games. Here they played a variety of games focused on some of the Girl Scout Promise and Law. 

Daisy Fun day is held once a year and badges earned are different each year. What will Daisy's earn next year??? They will have to come back next year and see!

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.

Christmas Party

CTK Girl Scout sing Christmas carols to ManorCare residents

On Dec. 18th, our CTK Girl Scouts got together for some Christmas fun.  After school we met together to have lunch, exchange SWAPS, and learn about Christmas traditions in other countries.  We walked across the street to sing Christmas carols to the residents at ManorCare.  The residents were so happy so see such a large group of Girl Scouts and sang along to a lot of the songs.  The girls had such a great time spreading Christmas cheer. 

Ice Skating

Our Christ the King Girl Scouts took in a fun filled afternoon, Jan. 2nd, ice skating at the Expo Center.  They strapped on their skates with other area Girl Scouts.  Some girls stayed afterwards to watch our local Topeka Roadrunners!  The event was put on by our local Girl Scout council.  We had Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes skating around!  

My Promise My Faith

Fr. Mitchel speaking to the Girl Scout

"The Catholic faith is discreetly tied in with the Girl Scout Law and Promise, and at the workshop I attended, we examined our faith and those connections.  Specifically the line "courageous and strong" located in the Girl Scout Law.  We discovered that many of the Saints we look up to are courageous and strong, by not shying away from their faith, even in times of persecution.  As Christians today, we need to follow their example and stand up for our faith even if we are looked down upon by other."
written by: Evelyn (8th grade Cadet)

Father Mitchel talked with the girls about what the world thinks makes people happy versus what God says will make us happy. The world thinks that you need to be pretty, have lots of money, be in control of your life, and be important. God cares more about how beautiful our soul is instead of our physical beauty. God tells us that we will be happy when we give to others in need. Instead of being in control of our lives, God wants us to hand over control to Him. And finally, instead of being important, God tells us that 'the greatest will become the least.' Father Mitchel told us about heroic female saints who found true happiness by doing what God wanted, including Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and St. Therese.