In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March has been designated as Reading Month. To celebrate and encourage reading, we are asking local officials, residents and WKTV staff and volunteers to tell us about a book that they enjoy. Happy Reading!
Today’s books selection comes from Monica who is part of Girl Scout Troop 8312. This troop, based in the City of Wyoming, has six active girls, ages 10 – 12. The troop has done archery, canoeing, camping, Dutch oven cooking and are working towards the Silver Leadership Torch, which is given to a Girl Scout Cadette who acts as a leader in her community, and the Silver Award, the second highest award in Girl Scouting, this is given to a Girl Scout Cadette who makes the world a better place. To learn more about Girl Scouts, visit www.gsmists.org.
Book: Waggit Again Author: Peter Howe Genre: Fiction
I am from Girl Scout Troop 8312 and I would consider reading the book “Waggit Again” By Peter Howe. It is a bout this white dog who is trying to find his family and does not give up. It’s really cute and on the way he makes some new friends.
The Space X CRS-3 Dragon cargo craft will launch on Saturday and arrive at the International Space Station on Sunday. (NASA)
By Kelly Taylor WKTV Program Manager
The Space X CRS-3 Dragon cargo craft will be carrying some very special supplies to the International Space Station this Saturday — experiments, essays and art from Girl Scouts.
The inaugural “Making Space for Girls Challenge” was a science competition presented by SpaceKids Global, a Florida-based, non-profit established to use space exploration to engage children in STEAM learning.
The call was put out through all of the Girl Scouts 111 councils with girls from 95 councils participating in three designated categories — science experiment, essays, and art. The competition has nearly 700 entries from across the country, as well as entries from Japan and Germany.
Some of the experiments include sending ants to space to see if they will still tunnel and build hills, while another looks at living micro-organisms processing carbon dioxide and waste on the International Space Station.
The Girl Scouts’ projects are part of several other new science experiments that will utilize a new research facility on board to study plants, ants, and brim shrimp in microgravity.
Live coverage of the launch will start at 3:15 a.m. with the launch scheduled for 3:37 p.m. on Saturday. The coverage continues on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. for the rendezvous and docking of the cargo craft to the ISS. the docking is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m.
NASA TV can be seen on WKTV 26 Government Channel on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99. For more information on NASA or the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov.
The weather was unseasonably warm for Wyoming’s first WinterFest, making organizers a little nervous as to whether residents would visit the seven sites hosting activities.
Those worries were put to rest as by 9:30 a.m. the Wyoming Junior High School already was hopping with students and adults getting in some hoops in the gym, visiting booths in the halls, and snagging some breakfast and partaking in the cake walk game in the cafeteria. By 10:30 a.m., greeters estimated that they had gone through about half of its 300 bracelets that each of the seven locations received to help count participants.
Students participate at one of the WinterFest booths. (WKTV)
“We are celebrating the success of the first One Wyoming WinterFest,” said Rachel Verwys, one of the event organizers. “Through the seven locations, we believe we connected with about 1,400 people through Wyoming for a fun-filled event that connected residents to one another and to community resources.”
Put together by the One Wyoming Community Collaborative, which is made up of a collaboration of school, businesses, government, churches, nonprofits and residents to improve the quality of life in the community, the Wyoming WinterFest was considered the next step in working to bring residents, community leaders and business owners together to start the dialog of what they can do to improve their neighborhood, according to Jon Shaker, the marketing director for the salvation army Kroc center, one of the sponsors for the event.
“This is really nice for the community,” said Marilee Taken, from Beverly Reformed Church, located just down the street from Wyoming Junior High School. The church was handing out mugs, shirts, and popcorn. “It is such a wonderful idea to bring the community together for something fun and a great opportunity to meet your neighbors.”
Having grown up in the area of the Wyoming Junior High School, Elevation Church Pastor Chris Hall said he was thrilled at the opportunity to bring community members together to enjoy some fun activities – Hall’s church was providing the basketball games – and fellowship.
The vendor hall at the Wyoming Junior High School. (WKTV)
Even before the actual event, the planning process brought together more than 40 partners, businesses, nonprofits, churches, the city residents and schools, Verwys said. The idea was to have various locations opened within the city to bring the residents and organizations from that neighborhood together to start their own dialog on what they could improve their neighborhood, Shaner said. Along with the Wyoming Junior High School, The DOCK/The PIER, Vanguard Charter Academy, Calvary Church, Godfrey-Lee Early Childhood Center, Community Church (Godwin Heights), and Grace Bible College all participated in the Wyoming Winterfest, which was Feb. 18. Locations were open at various times with each location offering food and an arrange of activities.
Many had planned winter activities. Hall said at the Wyoming Junior High School, there had been plans to have snow sculpting, but it was changed to fun with bubbles. “We just go with the flow,” Hall said.
As to whether the warmer weather helped the event, Verwys said she was not certain, but it certainly did not impede residents from attending.
“Another goal we accomplished was the connectivity to local community resources like health care organizations such as Metro Health Hospital, the library, KSSN, and the Girl Scouts,” she said. “The service volunteers provided at each location was amazing, WinterFest provided an avenue for about 350 people to serve generating well over 1,000 hours of service.”
With the Wyoming WinterFest deemed a success, One Wyoming is back at work planning future community-wide collaborations. Verwys said up next is a community-wide Earth Day event set for April 22.
Girls Scouts from the Byron Center area ride on the float in the Byron Center Christmas parade.
Girl Scouts all over the world are marking the organization’s 104th anniversary with Girl Scout week, running through March 12.
To help celebrate this special occasion, WKTV will be rebroadcasting its Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore Media Experience program March 9 at 4 p.m.
The program, a collaboration between the local council, Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore, and WKTV, was designed to give area Girl Scouts a taste of what it was like to produce a television show. The girls operated cameras, used the video switcher, monitored audio, and loaded graphics to produce the interviews featuring many of the crew members.
Girl Scouts, interviewed by local media experts, discussed their Girl Scout experiences from earning awards to their favorite memories about Girl Scouting.
March 12 marks the official birthday of Girl Scouts. This is the date that commemorates the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization’s first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia. Today, the organization boosts of 2.7 million Girl Scouts – 1.9 million girl members and 800,000 adult members – in about 92 countries, according to Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., which was officially chartered by the U.S. Congress on March 16, 1950.
And this being Women’s History Month, it should be noted that it is estimated that more than 59 million women in America today have participated in Girl Scouts during their childhood.
To learn more about Girl Scouts, including how to get involved, visit the Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore website. For more on WKTV programs, visit wktv.org.
