At their 50th high school class reunion in 2016, Troops 203 and 204 from Greensboro, North Carolina met and shared the stories of their lives since their Girl Scouting days. There were plenty of success stories, as well as ones of hardship and suffering. They reflected that their resilience came largely from what they learned in Girl Scouts. At this reunion and in thanksgiving for Girl Scouts and their two cherished leaders, Jane Stam and Alice Pearce, a plan was hatched to give back to Girl Scouting at the troop level.
These generous women made a donation to Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont (GSCP2P) that allowed the council to purchase all the materials to create Ozobot program kits for troop checkout at all four service centers. An Ozobot is a small and smart line-following robot that uses precise movement and sensors to follow and react to colors on a page or screen. This simple form of communication and programming allows children and adults of all ages to create and send Ozobots through an endless array of mazes, maps and racetracks. There are Ozobot program opportunities for troops at every program level from Daisy to Ambassador.
The Ozobots are a gift to GSCP2P in honor of Alice Pearce and in memory of Jane Stam. These women served as Girl Scout troop leaders of Troop 204 (Alice) and Troop 203 (Jane) in the Greensboro area from 1956 to 1966.
Jane Stam’s love of all creatures led to many exciting troop adventures “in the wild.” Her love of serving her community, her church and her family kept her very active. Her “girls” can’t describe Jane without saying how much her Christian faith guided her life, including her leadership of Troop 203. Her sincere kindness and adamant insistence that they include all troop members are qualities they all remember.
Alice Pearce graduated from Women’s College (now UNC-Greensboro) in 1942 with a degree in Home Economics plus teacher training and institutional management. Her interests in smocking, knitting, music, cooking, swimming, swim instruction and other outside activities were well suited to help young girls- her own and school classmates- to explore and build their skills and abilities to make the most of what Girl Scouting offered at every level. Now, at the age of 97, she maintains an active interest in the Greensboro Opera scene, the Symphony Guild, Wesley Long Auxiliary and Starmount Presbyterian Church. Alice opened a window to the world for her girls through Girl Scouting, educating them on the importance of serving others as well as encouraging them to grow in their own strength and confidence to weather the storms of life.
Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont would like to sincerely thank the members of Troop 203 and 204 for their donation of these Ozobot program kits. Any GSCP2P troop leader can reserve a tub by completing this online reservation form here: https://gscp2ptb.wufoo.com/forms/md3ouan1k3fu76/
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