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Cookies serve as valuable learning tool for Valley Girl Scouts
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Girl Scouts posing with cookies front l-r Rachael Herns, 10, and Wendy Ford, 11. Back l-r Shelby McIntroy, 12, Breanna Armeni, 13 and Crystal Munoz, 13 They are members of troops 155 and 81 of Campbell.
By Jon Moffett
Cookie sales teach business savvy to young women.
YOUNGSTOWN — Selling cookies isn’t just about tradition.
For Girl Scouts, the annual event is a learning experience.
“The cookie program is the largest financial literacy program in northeast Ohio, and maybe in the country for girls,” said Marianne Love, director of business services for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio.
“The main thing is that financial literacy is so important, and it is so much more important than just selling the cookies; it teaches leadership and business skills,” she said.
Love, who was a Girl Scout, said the cookie program gives girls the opportunity to learn about money and teaches important skills dealing with finance.
“You could have a 6-year-old learning how to make change,” she said.
Sheilah Gates and Emelinda Soto are co-leaders of Troops 81 and 155 in Campbell. Gates said the cookie sale teaches important skills like financing, budgeting, responsibility, leadership and communication. She said teaching the girls, who range in age from 5 to 18, about money is very important.
“Every year we teach them finances and financial responsibility,” she said. “We do a skit among our troop and say if you have a job and this is what you earn, what is important to you? They learn quite a bit. They learn the value of money and how to budget it.”
Breanna Armeni, 13, of Troop 81 said she’d learned about leadership and teamwork through the program.
The cookie sale, which began Dec. 20, gives girls the chance to enhance their business skills by going door-to-door to sell the traditional treats. Customers will recognize favorites like Thin Mints and Samoas, and can also experience the newcomer, Dulce de Leche.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.