Amy Zell was a Girl Scout and led her stepdaughter’s troop for several years. Now that her granddaughter wants to be a Girl Scout, and there were no existing Girl Scout troops for the girl’s level, first-grade, she created Troop 80270, which has started meeting every other week at Brookfield United Methodist Church.

Zell said she loves what the experience as a Girl Scout did for her and her family. It can mean “everything” to a girl,” Zell said.

Zoey Stroup, left, and Mia Rainey listen to Girl Scout Daisy Troop 80270 leader Amy Zell talk about what she has planned for the troop at the troop's first meeting.
Zoey Stroup, left, and Mia Rainey listen to Girl Scout Daisy Troop 80270 leader Amy Zell talk about what she has planned for the troop at the troop’s first meeting.

“Your best friends are usually Girl Scouts,” Zell said. “It’s a great way to build friendships. It teaches them responsibility. It teaches them how to become part of their community and care about their community. They learn in school how to be responsible with littering and stuff like that but, in Girl Scouts, they learn why. They learn why you want to take care of the planet and why you want to take care of each other.”

Nicole Stroup, another former Scout, has similarly glowing things to say about the organization.

“It teaches girls to be strong, independent, and it teaches them to help the community,” Stroup said.

Stroup and her daughter, Zoey, attended the first meeting of Daisy Troop 80270, along with Zell’s granddaughters, Ava and Mia Rainey.

The girls started learning the Girl Scout promise. They tried on a blue Daisy smock, on which they will affix pins and badges, and talked about other things they will be doing.

Scout leader Amy Zell teaches, from right, Ava Rainey, Mia Rainey and Zoey Stroup the Girl Scout pledge. Visitor Zachary Stroup is in the background.
Scout leader Amy Zell teaches, from right, Ava Rainey, Mia Rainey and Zoey Stroup the Girl Scout pledge. Visitor Zachary Stroup is in the background.

“We have been starting to slowly talk about how she’ll sell cookies and she’ll do other activities in the community where she’ll earn the badges and everything like that,” Stroup said of Zoey. “She seems to still be excited about it.”

Camping is an important draw for scouting and Mia is already talking about it but, Zell said, “We are not going camping in first grade.”

But, they will participate in World Thinking Day and Black History Month.

“The biggest thing is that they learn the Girl Scout Law, and they learn how to be kind to other people and they learn how to do things in their community,” Zell said. “They’re going to have some input into what those things are.”

The troop is open to girls in grades one and two. For information, contact Zell at 330-506-1232 or amytzell@yahoo.com

See a video shot at the meeting at NEWS On the Green’s Facebook page.