USAGSO - West Pacific

USA Girl Scouts Overseas - West Pacific Fact Sheet

What is Girl Scouts?

Girl Scouts is the nation’s premier leadership experience for girls. It is a safe place for girls to learn more about themselves and the world around them, develop an understanding and empathy for others, and take action to make the world a better place.

Through participation in Girl Scouts, girls gain courage, confidence and character alongside a group of girls who will be their friends for life. In Girl Scouts, girls are guided by committed, caring adults who make learning fun.

What is West Pacific Girl Scouts?

In 1953, USAGSO-West Pacific was organized to serve U.S. military families in Mainland Japan, Okinawa and South Korea. USAGSO-WP members enjoy the same excitement, fun and adventures in Girl Scouting as their stateside Girl Scout sisters. USA Girl Scouts Overseas, (USAGSO), a part of the national Girl Scout organization, has been providing the Girl Scout program to American girls living outside the United States since 1925.

Today, USA Girl Scouts Overseas - West Pacific provides services to Girl Scouts on military installations in Mainland Japan, Okinawa, and Korea. We are currently serving 2,000 girls and 1,000 adult volunteers at the 14 military locations in the Pacific Theater.

How We Are Structured

Each installation has an Overseas Committee, comprised of adults who are directly responsible for Girl Scouting in their communities. An Overseas Committee Chair provides primary direction and oversight. The staff of USAGSO – West Pacific provides program and administrative support to assist each OC in carrying out the Girl Scout program.

Who can be a Girl Scout?

Girl Scout membership is granted to all girls ages 5 to 17 who make the Girl Scout Promise, accept the Girl Scout Law and pay annual membership dues. Financial assistance is available so every girl can participate in Girl Scouting, regardless of her family’s financial resources.

Girl Scouts isn’t just for little girls. Teen Girl Scouts have the opportunity to learn more about themselves, hone leadership skills and make a difference in the world. And they get to do this while traveling the world and participating in projects with meaningful and far-reaching impacts.

Girl Scout levels

Today’s Girl Scout experience

Girl Scouts focuses on girl-planned, hands-on learning made fun by experiencing the world all around us, together.
Girl Scouts learn about healthy living; science, technology, engineering and math; the arts; literacy and financial literacy; and community service.
Girl Scouts is active on the issues that affect girls, including environmental protection, anti-drug abuse education, literacy awareness and anti-violence initiatives.
Girl Scouts have the opportunity to progressively earn Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for leadership projects that improve their communities. Girls who earn these awards gain skills that can lead to college scholarships or spots at the country’s most prestigious colleges and universities.
Girl Scout Cookies® and camp remain cornerstones of the Girl Scout experience. The cookie activity is our country’s leading business and entrepreneurial training program for girls. At camp, girls develop independence, self-confidence and leadership skills while gaining an appreciation for nature and making lifelong memories.
Girl Scouts is cool. Girls can cut loose and relax together, creating their own spa experiences, designing their own fashions or developing hip Web sites.
Girl Scouts are more likely than other girls to think they have a high chance of becoming President (55 percent of Girl Scouts versus 35 percent of non-Girl Scouts, Girl Scout Research Institute).

Girl Scouts: changing the way leaders are made

What are girls saying about leadership?
Girl Scout Research Institute – Change It Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership, March 2008

More than half of American girls say they don’t aspire to be leaders because girls are turned off by the
conventional conception of leadership as command and control.
Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they would want to be leaders who stand up “for their beliefs and values,” and 59 percent said they would like to be a leader “who tries to change the world for the better.”
Girls were more likely than boys to be motivated to be leaders because they want to help other people (67 percent vs. 53 percent), share their knowledge and skills with others (53 percent vs. 47 percent) and change the world for the better (45 percent vs. 31 percent).

What are Girl Scouts doing to address these needs?

Girl Scouts is unveiling the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
It focuses on three keys to leadership – Discover, Connect and Take Action – with girls being encouraged to take on increasing responsibility for designing and implementing activities.
The new program focuses on national outcomes as girls see how their actions can impact the lives of others.
This new model builds upon the rich, 100-year history of Girl Scouts. In fact, 64 percent of the women listed in Who’s Who of American Women report that they are Girl Scout alumnae.

Volunteering for Girl Scouts

Did you know that nearly one quarter of girls have fewer than three adults they could go to if they needed help? By being a volunteer for Girl Scouts, adults can be one of those "go to adults" for a girl!
Girl Scout volunteers are moms, dads, grandparents, young professionals, alumnae, retirees and other women and men 18 years of age and older who are interested in becoming role models and mentors for girls.
Whether an adult can give an hour once a year or has several hours to give every week, there is a place for them to volunteer at Girl Scouts. Opportunities include leading a troop of girls, assisting with cookie sales, mentoring a struggling girl, teaching girls about careers, working at camp, helping at special events or at the council office, serving on a board or committee and more.
No experience is necessary – volunteers receive specialized training and ongoing support and education from Girl Scouts.
Girls cite their Girl Scout leader as one of the most important factors in having a great Girl Scout experience. Adult volunteers can make a difference in the life of a girl!

Fact Sheet on Girl Scouts of the USA

The New Leadership Landscape, What Girls Say About Election 2008