Daisies bloom weekly in KMC

***image1***Daisies bloom weekly at Vogelweh.
The girls from Daisy Troop 920 set each week to exceed Girl Scout expectations during their meetings at the hut on Vogelweh.

Opening with the Girl Scout pledge and the pledge of allegiance, head troop leader, Sgt. Gladys Crum, paralegal NCO, Headquarters, Headquarters Company with the 21st Theater Support Command, works feverishly with her co-leader to implement planned activities. Once completed, these activities allow the girls the chance to earn a set of pedal patches needed to bridge over as brownie troops.

Sergeant Crum became involved with the Girl Scouts after a four-month deployment to Bosnia-Herzogovina.

At that time, her eldest daughter Demarco, 14, was involved as junior scout. 
Upon her return, Sergeant Crum realized that her daughter’s troop was seriously off course.

“Her troop went through numerous leaders,” she said. “The girls would show up for a meeting, and there would be no adults present … I was irate.”

And being a firm believer in the concept that “if you gripe, you better have a solution,” Sergeant Crum bridged her daughter into cadets and became the troop leader three months later.

“I knew that I wanted to give back to the community after the support my family received while I was deployed, and I really believe in the importance of the Girl Scout program,” said Sergeant Crum. “I took the broken troop because that is where I perceived the need was the greatest.”

She has been a troop leader ever since contributing more than two years to Girl Scout service. Her daughter Darien, 5, is now a participant in her Daisy troop.

Sporting blue and white Daisy smocks, the pint-sized scouts can be seen skipping around in a daisy-shaped circle to welcome each other to the meeting. The girls then participate in an array of activities such as craft making, sing alongs, movie nights and various outings.

All in all, the overall goal according to Sergeant Crum is to mentor the girls and instill in them a sense of ingenuity and dedication to mankind. And to most parents, she’s well on her way to accomplishing this.

“My daughter Rachael, 5, looks forward to the meetings each week and loves participating in the activities,” said Betty Draper. “She does a great job with the girls … she knows how to connect with them on their level.”

The way Sergeant Crum interacts with the girls is also another aspect of the meetings that the parents appreciate. She actually gets down and does what the girls are doing, said Tricia McCleary, mother of Jessica, 5, who was also a Daisy scout. This makes the interaction between the girls and leader more meaningful.

Leading by example, Sergeant Crum teaches the girls, “It is OK to try (something) and not be successful, but it is not OK to not try.”

While transitioning the girls from Daisy scouts into Brownie scouts, Sergeant Crum hopes to teach the girls more about the world and about themselves.

“I want the scouts to learn how to think for themselves and to learn problem-solving skills,” she said.

Sergeant Crum believes that once a child learns how to solve a problem or overcome an obstacle, they have achieved a new level of self-confidence. “I want each girl to leave the scouts with a strong and independent mind,” she said.

With continued work and dedication, Sergeant Crum is determined to make that happen for each and every scout she encounters.