Girl Scouts invite homeschooled youth to ‘outdoor classroom’

NEW ORLEANS — The Girl Scout Camp Whispering Pines located in Independence is being made available as an “outdoor classroom” this fall to families who homeschool their children.
The outdoor classrooms are part of Girl Scouts Louisiana East’s new initiative aimed at introducing girls who are homeschooled to Girl Scouting through environmental science and other activities.
However, recognizing that families who homeschool also have sons, the outdoor classrooms on Oct. 18, Nov. 3, Nov. 15, and Dec. 1, will be open to both girls and boys, in grades 1-8. The fee to participate is $5 per child, per class which run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Our camps are the perfect setting for learning about our native plants and wildlife,” said Rebecca Wagner, director of Homeschool Recruitment and Reten-tion. “Most of our activities for traditional Girl Scout troops run on the weekend during the school year, so our camps are unused during the week.”
According to Wagner, the outdoor classroom experience is an assortment of science lessons and camp activities. The morning session will be an environmental science rotation where students will play games and solve problems through hands-on activities, and during the afternoon session students can participate in one traditional camp activity, such as canoeing, kayaking, climbing the camp’s rock wall, paddle boarding, archery, hiking, high ropes or swimming. Participants are asked to bring a lunch, water bottle and to wear close-toed shoes.
It’s not a requirement to join a Girl Scout troop to participate in the outdoor classrooms. Partici-pating girls can join as individually registered Girl Scouts so they can enjoy future homeschool community events without the commitment of troop participation. The fee to join Girl Scouts is $15 annually.
“Since troops are traditionally started through schools, we want to reach girls who do not attend a traditional school and offer them an opportunity to join Girl Scouts,” said Wagner. The Girl Scout council hopes to build its homeschool community where girls can meet and connect with girls from other parishes in southeast Louisiana. Wagner believes the outdoor classrooms may be especially helpful to families affected by the August flooding, who decided to homeschool this fall, following so many school closures.
Online registration links for both the Girl Scouts and its outdoor classrooms are available at www.gsle.org/homeschool. For more information, please contact Wagner at 985-502-5765 or rwagner@gsle.org.
Girl Scouts Louisiana East serves girls, kindergarten to 12th grade, in the parishes of St. Mary, Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana.