During the first weekend in May, the Girl Scout Diamond Crest Service Unit 390 hosted its annual “Rally Day” event to build skills and friendships for scouts.
The event has been held annually for over 40 years and is open to troops from kindergarten through 12th grade. Volunteers organize activity stations for younger girls, often focusing on nature-based skills and activities that encourage creativity and collaboration. The stations are run by older scouts who volunteer to set up activities and instruct younger girls in order to pass along the knowledge they’ve gained over years of Girl Scouting.
“The older girls get this incredible opportunity to practice their leadership skills and mentor these younger girls, and show up as role models for these kindergarteners through fifth graders who always really look up to the older girls,” said Angela Brady, a member of the organization committee for this year’s Rally Day.
The event is held at Huddart Park in Woodside, Calif., and the scouts use the outdoor space to set up stations in the morning, as well as for an overnight camping experience for older scouts from third grade through high school.
Groups who camp are responsible for bringing all their own equipment, food, and cooking supplies, with troop leaders often encouraging their scouts to get involved in trip planning and logistics. Girls of all ages are able to participate and learn throughout the event, and even scouts who have been attending for years can gain new experiences.
“It’s helped me become better at teaching different skills and topics varying from art to first aid, so it’s interesting to see how to teach those differently with different age groups,” said Katy Ho, a Girl Scout who has been attending Rally Day for years. “Also public speaking and leading songs, because there’s not a lot of instances where I’d do that outside of Rally Day.”
During the camping portion of the event, scouts are also invited to join a campfire led by older girls where the group sings traditional songs, and younger troops can perform songs or skits of their own creation. The many moving parts involved in Rally Day can make coordination difficult, and in recent years, it has become a true team effort for the organization committee.
“Putting on this big of an event takes figuring out everything that needs to happen, breaking out the different roles, and finding people to fill those roles and responsibilities so it’s not all on one person,” Brady said.
According to Brady, community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about the event, to the point that scheduling can become difficult when it’s time for troops to register; over the years, the organization committee has had to contend with space and resource issues.
“It’s something that my troop has been lucky enough to attend, and my group very much looks forward to this… It’s definitely something that I’m happy was able to come back after COVID, and I’m happy to see that the numbers are thriving,” Brady said.
Post-pandemic, girls have been able to return to Huddart Park to make new friends, connect with other groups, and learn Girl Scout skills. According to the organizers, one of the most powerful things to see is how eager the older girls are to take the experience that they had as younger scouts and pass it forward.
“My favorite thing would definitely be teaching the little kids and helping them learn new skills, as well as the campfire,” Law said.
