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Day 357 - "I promise to share and be a friend", or A Sparks Primer, or Monday Night Fun Posts Explained
2011.03.30
My youngest daughter is in Sparks, and after several of you have questioned what it is, it finally occurred to me to do a post to explain it.
I apologize in advance for the lengthy text. Basically, it's very likely you have a similar program in your own country, there are member organizations in 144 countries around the world.
I apologize in advance for the lengthy text. Basically, it's very likely you have a similar program in your own country, there are member organizations in 144 countries around the world.
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The following is from the Sparks Activity Book:
"Girl Guides of Canada, of which Sparks is the youngest branch, is founded on a century-old commitment to providing girls and young women opportunities to have fun adventures, learn new things, give service to their communities and develop leadership skills. In Guiding your Spark will be encouraged and empowered to
-try new activities in a supportive, non-competitive environment
-discover and explore her potential at her own pace
-respect herself and others
-offer service to her community
-learn to be a leader and to assume a leadership position
-be the best she can be
The Spark program involves girls in many exciting experiences. They will explore their own abilities, tackle innovative and challenging new tasks, meet new people, make new friends, and strengthen existing friendships. They will enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, play games, do arts and crafts activities, and learn to appreciate, respect and protect the environment. But first and foremost, they will have FUN!"
SO BUY GIRL GUIDE COOKIES! It's their only fundraiser, and it supports a great program for girls.
Additional information from Wikipedia
"Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is a parallel movement to Scouting. It evolved from the Scouting movement in the early years of the 20th century. Girls were attracted to Scouting from its inception in 1907. In different places around the world, the movement developed in diverse ways. In some places, girls attempted to join Scouting organisations and it was decided that single-gender organisations were a better solution. In other places, girls groups were started, some of them later to open up to boys or merge with boys' organisations. In other instances, mixed groups were formed, sometimes to later split. In the same way, the name Girl Guide or Girl Scout has been used by groups at different times and in different places, with some groups changing from one to another. In the past, boys had to join the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts but in recent years Guides has been open for both boys and girls to join in some countries.
In 1909, Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, decided that girls should not be in the same organisation as the boys, and the Girl Guides were founded in the UK in 1910. Many, though by no means all, Girl Guide and Girl Scout groups across the globe trace their roots to this point. Agnes Baden-Powell was in charge of Girl Guiding in UK in its early years[4]. Other influential people were Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska in Poland and Antoinette Butte in France.
The name Guide was taken from a famous frontier regiment in the British Indian army, the Corps of Guides, which was noted for its skills in tracking and survival.
Two central themes have been present from the earliest days of the movement: domestic skills and "a kind of practical feminism which embodies physical fitness, survival skills, camping, citizenship training, and career preparation". These two themes have been emphasised differently at different times and by different groups, but have remained central to Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.
There has been much discussion about how similar Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting should be to boys' Scouting programs. While many girls saw what the boys were doing and wanted to do it too, girls' organizations have sought to avoid simply copying or mimicking the boys.
Even when most Scout organisations became coeducational, Guiding remained separate in many countries to provide a female-centred programme. Internationally it is governed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts with member organisations in 144 countries.
The Mystic Theme post for today is here.
"Girl Guides of Canada, of which Sparks is the youngest branch, is founded on a century-old commitment to providing girls and young women opportunities to have fun adventures, learn new things, give service to their communities and develop leadership skills. In Guiding your Spark will be encouraged and empowered to
-try new activities in a supportive, non-competitive environment
-discover and explore her potential at her own pace
-respect herself and others
-offer service to her community
-learn to be a leader and to assume a leadership position
-be the best she can be
The Spark program involves girls in many exciting experiences. They will explore their own abilities, tackle innovative and challenging new tasks, meet new people, make new friends, and strengthen existing friendships. They will enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, play games, do arts and crafts activities, and learn to appreciate, respect and protect the environment. But first and foremost, they will have FUN!"
SO BUY GIRL GUIDE COOKIES! It's their only fundraiser, and it supports a great program for girls.
Additional information from Wikipedia
"Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is a parallel movement to Scouting. It evolved from the Scouting movement in the early years of the 20th century. Girls were attracted to Scouting from its inception in 1907. In different places around the world, the movement developed in diverse ways. In some places, girls attempted to join Scouting organisations and it was decided that single-gender organisations were a better solution. In other places, girls groups were started, some of them later to open up to boys or merge with boys' organisations. In other instances, mixed groups were formed, sometimes to later split. In the same way, the name Girl Guide or Girl Scout has been used by groups at different times and in different places, with some groups changing from one to another. In the past, boys had to join the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts but in recent years Guides has been open for both boys and girls to join in some countries.
In 1909, Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, decided that girls should not be in the same organisation as the boys, and the Girl Guides were founded in the UK in 1910. Many, though by no means all, Girl Guide and Girl Scout groups across the globe trace their roots to this point. Agnes Baden-Powell was in charge of Girl Guiding in UK in its early years[4]. Other influential people were Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska in Poland and Antoinette Butte in France.
The name Guide was taken from a famous frontier regiment in the British Indian army, the Corps of Guides, which was noted for its skills in tracking and survival.
Two central themes have been present from the earliest days of the movement: domestic skills and "a kind of practical feminism which embodies physical fitness, survival skills, camping, citizenship training, and career preparation". These two themes have been emphasised differently at different times and by different groups, but have remained central to Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.
There has been much discussion about how similar Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting should be to boys' Scouting programs. While many girls saw what the boys were doing and wanted to do it too, girls' organizations have sought to avoid simply copying or mimicking the boys.
Even when most Scout organisations became coeducational, Guiding remained separate in many countries to provide a female-centred programme. Internationally it is governed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts with member organisations in 144 countries.
The Mystic Theme post for today is here.
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Comments
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Sounds like a great program Marjoire! I don't think we have them here but I recently bought candy from both the boy scouts and the girl scouts. Nice post!
liveandletlive · 2011-03-30: 09:32
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Nice post wish i can buy girls guide cookies for my daughter
mallusatish · 2011-03-30: 09:44
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Interesting set.
renatomartins · 2011-03-30: 09:49
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Ha! I didn't realize Sparks was a part of Girl Guides or, Scouts...I thought maybe it was a dance class! Here, the youngest scouts are called "Daisies". You've done a fine job educating us.
Keryl · 2011-03-30: 10:28
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what a great initiative! Never heard that org in ours but I am sure in other ways and means. This is really nice.
lyricalthoughts · 2011-03-30: 10:31
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Looooooove Girl (Scout) Guide Cookies! omg
????? · 2011-03-30: 11:12
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Great shots to illustrate what Sparks is all about. NIce narrative as well! Thanks for both Marjorie!
danrav · 2011-03-30: 12:39
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Never heard of Sparks, sounds pretty cool for the young girls.
joycephotography · 2011-03-30: 12:43
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Great post, never apologies for the text, its great, thanks for sharing
mattmckenna · 2011-03-30: 12:59
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Very interesting set! I am afraid in my country similar organizations were used by the communists to take control and indoctrinate even small children... a very sad part of our history I must say...
Eiram · 2011-03-30: 17:22
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Memories. My 25 year old daughter was in Sparks and my wife was an adult leader. The uniform has changed but the overall idea hasn't. It is great to see that these types of programs have endured.
stabeez · 2011-03-30: 19:07
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Very nice.
LisaMarieGeorge · 2011-03-30: 19:57
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That more than my daughters can say about sparks and they did the program, awesome post
ilikethat · 2011-03-30: 21:36
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Nothing better for a girl to belong to..it's like our Girl Scouts..Does them a world of good..Do you have one for boys, we also have Boy Scouts..Great post!
NellyBly · 2011-03-30: 21:37
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excellent photo
anggrekfoto · 2011-03-30: 22:09
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Loved the post and I love the cookies too!
poshrat · 2011-03-30: 22:34
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w0o0o0o0w great thing I liked it so much and I wish we had them here too, in fact we had something like this but not exactly like this but loved this and many thanks for information
Pedar · 2011-03-31: 06:27
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charming, Marjorie...;-)
azougue · 2011-03-31: 07:20
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Really interesting. I wonder if the cookies are similiar to the Girl Scouts here?
juliearnold93 · 2011-03-31: 13:22
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I never heard of these things over here! O_O Maybe its a Canadian thing lol :)
onlyricky · 2011-03-31: 14:36
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Thanks Sweet memories :) Nice colourful pictures !
helys · 2011-03-31: 14:57
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We have "Scouts" and "Giro"for the children and in every town has "playground organizations" for children on weekends and holidays. Lovely post!!
Ryana · 2011-04-01: 13:37
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Great set. Sounds like the Brownies we have here.
girafferacing · 2011-04-05: 13:41
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