Backpacking at KachinaBy Mackenzie H.

The backpackers have been sleeping in different tents this week. They love singing songs with their counselor, Comet. They do roll call while pretending to be Disney princesses.They do not complain that much about carrying things. Comet tries to keep her campers active.One of the reasons they like to go back-packing is because they like to be outdoors and sleep in the tents. They say they love being so close to nature when they sleep. Platform tents are among their favorite kind of tents.

One of the girls said she likes backpacking because of the hiking. The other four girls like it after they take off their bags, “Wow, I just carried that!” they say. Comet said her favortie thing about backpacking is the personal challange. The backpackers painted a bench like a rainbow.

In this issue...

Backpack Campers. Photo by Mackenzie H.

Media Girl MinuteMeet the

Media Girls

Kaitlyn A.Brownie

Alyssa B.Cadette

Ravyn D.Cadette

Willa F.Brownie

Mackenzie H.Cadette

Dianne L.Cadette

Sidnie M.Cadette

Kristen W.Junior

Charlotte W.Brownie

Media Girls’ Adventures at Camp Kachina

Vol. 1

Special Guest SpeakersBy Alyssa B.

On the morning of July 1, 2015 when all the Media Girls were together a guest speaker came, and her name was Penny Petrich (Shutterbug). Penny is a photographer. She was there to teach us how to take pictures. Penny taught the Media Girls that one ob-ject can have so many features, and when you find something you really enjoy looking at, you should take a picture of it. The main thing she taught us was when people take a picture of the same thing every picture won’t look the same, because everyone has a different mind.

On the same day another guest speaker came in the late afternoon after dinner. Her name was Devin Corbitt (Butterfly). Devin is a newspaper editor for Belton. She came to talk to the media girls about things she does that will help us with our journalism. Devin taught us that she got her job by be-ing an intern. Beyond being an intern, Devin was nice and great at what she wanted to do and someone took notice and and gave her a job. Devin said being gen-erous to people can you get where you what to be. She also said an interesting sto-ry to publish is a story with at least 300 words, a great introduction, a paragraph quote, and a wonderful con-clusion that leaves people thinking “I want to go there or know that person.” The most valuable information she said was, “An interview is not a question answer ses-sion. It’s a conversation.”

The next day in the late afternoon a new guest speaker came to visit us, and her name was Emily Collins. Emily is a general news re-porter and weekend anchor. Emily said she got her job by being an intern for many peo-ple. She said it is great to start interning fresh-men year of college. Emily taught us that when being a news reporter, you have to have a strong voice, be well dressed, ask open-ended questions, and be a people person. Emily also taught us new vocabulary. For ex-ample, a package is a reporter’s whole story. “When you are a journalist your life revolves around your job. You always want to have sto-ry ideas,” said Emily. “Also, news reporters are

constantly running after the clock.”

All of these guest speakers had potential, an open mind, and are inspired by what they do. Furthermore, they were all in Girl Scouts. These women, who started out as Girl Scouts and do amazing things, came to Camp Kachi-na to share their knowledge with the new generation of Girl Scouts in the Media Girls.

Emily Colllins. Photo by Alyssa B.

Devin Corbitt. Photo by Ravyn D.

My adventure started with interviewing Oakie, a Camp Ranger for Kachina. I asked him if he knew the story of The Princess Hole, but he didn’t remember it; he was told several different versions. He led Glamper (my camp counselor) and me to The Princess Hole. It was an astonishing view, a large cave in the ground with plants growing in and out of the hole everywhere. It was beautiful! He told us someone once got the measurement from it and it was at least 20 feet.

Then Oakie took us to the woods on the limestone cliffs of Lake Belton to explore dif-ferent wonderful sites. First there was Mid-way Cave, a deep hole that is connected to a smaller hole. It’s about 50 feet down. Then we went down onto a path that led to places like you’ve never seen. Oakie talked about how much he liked showing off the camp. He said, “This is what I do. I show people this stuff and get a kick out of it.”

Further on the trail there’s a caveman’s home. It has a trace of a fire pit, a bed of the earth, and seashells where they probably ate food.

There’s also a mini cavern on the trail, it has real stalagmites and stalactites . This trail is a great sightseeing trail that is also amazing ex-ercise. Oakie said, “So much to see, so little time to enjoy it”.

SThe trail might take your breath away, give you spurs on your shoes, and little flying bugs gnawing on your skin, but once you experi-ence the trill and excitement of Oakie’s trail, you’ll be begging for more.

The Princess Hole and Camp Kachina’s Wild Life WorldBy Sidnie M.

Oakie and the Princess Hole. Photo by Sidnie M.

The treehouse was built before 1971 with cedar wood. The original look didn’t have gates. It was once a cabin people slept in, but we don’t sleep in it now because a piece of wood might fall and hurt someone. It used to have brown paint, but there is no more now. It was built at Camp Kachina as cool cabins for sleeping and camping. Now, we use it to talk, play games, or maybe just sit. Once, some-one hid beads in the tree house. It smells like cedar and has benches. The tree house is so, so fun for lots of people.

The Kachina TreehouseBy Willa F.

Photo by Willa F.

The Media Girls participated in many fun activities at Camp Kachina, one of which was archery. During archery, the instructor taught us how to hold a bow, how to notch the ar-row, and how to stand. We went in groups of three. Everyone was doing so good, almost all

the arrows made it in the targets. Then things got a little silly. When the third group stepped up to the bows, one of the girls named Mack-enzie shot her arrows and they both made it in, but right then the target fell off the stand! The only things holding up the target were the two arrows. “I felt embaressed that my arrows are what made the target fall and that every-one was staring and laughing about it,” said Mackenzie . So when we finally got the target back up, the fourth group went and one of the counselors named Glamper broke the strings of the bow and had to get a new bow to re-place it, and it was harder to use. So with the two accidents included, I think it’s safe to say everyone had a fantastic time and they can’t wait to try it again sometime.

At Camp Kachina there is a golden plunger that’s awarded to the cleanest camp area and a silver dust pan that’s awarded to the clean-est cabin. On Wednesday, they were in the middle of a picnic table for some mysterious reason. According to camp counselor Stitch, they were there so the decorating fairies could decorate them. When people put the objects out for the fairies, they have to put them in a special spot so the fairies can find them. The fairies only come out when nobody is around so they do not get distracted when they are decorating. When the fairies are done, the golden plunger and silver dust pan need to be dried, so the fairies leave. When the objects are

dry, they get picked up by a counselor. When all of the Girl Scouts are in one place, one of the counselors says who won each award. They decide who wins each award when they inspect everybody’s cabin to see if it is clean. When they are done, they tell all of the Girl Scouts who the winners are. The winners get to have the golden plunger and silver dust pan for the night, but they don’t get to keep it.

Archery at Camp KachinaBy Ravyn D.

Things in the Middle of NowhereBy Charlotte W.

Photo by Ravyn D.

Photo by Charlotte W.

On Wednesday night, the Media Girls had a cookout. They found sticks for the fire and camp counselor Raini started the fire. It took a while, but then the fire was big. The fire was in the fire circle outside the Wikiup cabin. The smoke moved around a lot and smelled like burning wood. The Media Girls ate chick-en, lettuce, cheese, fritos, tomatoes, and s’mores. They put the food in the frito chip bag and made a walking taco. The girls used sticks to cook the marshmallows over the fire. They said the s’mores were good. Media Girl Ravyn’s favorite part was the walking taco. She said, “I like the idea and how we ate out of a bag. I also like what was in it.”

Camp Fire CookoutBy Kaitlyn A.

Photo by Kaitlyn A.

Camping at Kachina is fun from what I ex-perienced. There was lots of laughing and giggling. I talked to girls and counselors. La-naia, a camper, said her favorite activity was archery. Seeing it on movies and TV shows and then trying it in real life was pretty cool to her. Phoenix is a counselor and she said her favorite thing about being a counselor was helping girls grow and learn. Biscuit, another counselor said teaching girls about the me-dia is her favorite part of Media Girls camp. There was more than one camp going on at once. Annabelle went to Harriet Potter Camp. She said, “Camp is awesome and there’s fun things and it’s not like other camps.” She also said she really liked being outside a lot.

Camping at KachinaBy Dianne L.

Photo by Dianne L.

On a busy summer day, magical girls and Media Girls alike gathered to play a unique and interesting game called “Quidditch”. At Camp Kachina, the game is set up with three hoops on stands made out of pipes and a variety of balls. There are also noodle toys to resemble brooms. As the Harriet Potter girls and journalists ran to start the game, their coach reviewed the gameplay and rules with the campers. As they started to play, you began to wonder- what do kids and adults really think about this activity from such a book? From what I’ve heard about kid’s answers, in particular Girl Scouts, they really like the game. Some Girl Scout camp-ers all gave ratings on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst and 10 the best. All answers were 9’s and 10’s, except for one 8.5. Girl Scouts Alyssa, Ashley, Ella, Caroline, Espy, Fiona, Annie, and Sylvia, all gave these ratings. “I liked the experience of camping and playing Quidditch”, a Harriet Potter girl named Emil-ia added. So far, it seems that this game may become fairly popular based on what these people think about it.

Magic at KachinaBy Kristen W.

Photo by Kristen W.

What you will need:

• 2-stands (about 6ft.) with vertical hoops at the top • 1-5.5 foot stand• 3 balls (one larger than the other two)• 1 small noodle toy for each player • The larger ball will be the “main ball”, the hoops will be the goals,

the noodles will be kept in between legs and serve as a broom

How to Play:

The object of the game is to score points by throwing the ball into one of the hoops. The hoops are defended by “keepers”. The two smaller balls are called “knock-ers” and are thrown underneath a player’s waist to knock them over to prevent them from taking the main ball, (the larger one). While playing, you must hold your “broomstick” with one hand at all times.

Quidditch Rules

We all know that as the times change, so does Girl Scouts. We’ve got backpacking and STEM and 3-D printers and Harp Ensembles. We’ve got Destinations and sailing teams and the rigorous Gold Award. These things are all fantastic ways to help our girls grow in their courage, confidence, and character. But yet, we still find that many people don’t know who we are and what we REALLY do. That’s where Media Girls come in.

Media Girls are trained reporters for Girl Scouts. They are girls who love to share in-formation, ask questions, and observe. They aren’t afraid to walk up to you, shake your hand, and ask you for information to share with the world.

Media Girls attend events, take photos, and write stories to tell those who weren’t able to make it to the event what happened. When a news station calls and asks for a spokesper-son to come on air and talk about Girl Scout Cookies, Media Girls are ready.

Media Girls bring a fresh perspective and sets of eyes to reporting and telling the world what is happening at GSCTX. Media Girls tell the Girl Scout story in a way that no adult can.

We hope you enjoyed the first edition of the Media Girl Minute.

Just a final note....

JOIN US!Want to be a Media Girl? We’d love to have you! You don’t have to have any experience- we’ll train you! For more info about Media Girls and to find out about the next training, email DanielleQ@gsctx.org

Media Girls with couselors. Photo by Penny P.