Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas                                    

The Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas unveiled its first solar education program in conjunction with a new 7.5 kW solar-powered pavilion at Camp Bayview, the result of a $35,000 donation from the Sun Club.  As the first Girl Scout troop in South Texas to  introduce hands-on activities for learning about how solar energy works, the Girls Scouts of Greater South Texas are at the forefront of educating young girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and giving them the tools to build brighter futures for themselves.

Through the program, scouts from ages 5-17 can earn a “Solar Champion” patch. To personalize it, the Sun Club worked with Girl Scout staff to design the Solar Energy Patch Program, which is part  of the Girl Scouts’ STEM initiative as well as Green Mountain Energy’s first such collaboration with Scouting. Upon completing the program, which ranges—based on age-level— from observing experiments on how plants use solar energy to building a solar-powered oven, girls are awarded the  “Solar Champion” patch to wear on their uniforms.

"We are so excited to be working with the Sun Club to not only save the council money that can be put into use for more programming, but to be able to offer education on Solar Energy to our Girl Scouts,” said Danielle Altenburg, director of fund development for the Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas. “Girl Scouts is about teaching the girls relevant topics that apply to today, and solar energy is a hot topic that we can teach the girls in a fun and exciting way.”