Saturday, May 19, 2012

American Heritage Girls

This blog post is in response to never end questions about what AHG is, why we left GSUSA, and what we think of AHG.

1) I am going to answer the Girl Scout question first.  Why did we leave?

  • We had many reasons for leaving.  GSUSA has become all about girl empowerment.  If you have ever met my daughters you will realize that they are empowered enough! They need to learn humility.  
  • We left because we moved away from our troop, and comfort zone. I figured if we had to meet all new people, we may as well try out a Catholic troop.
  • We left because of a connection between GSUSA, WAGGGS, and Planned Parenthood.  Once my girls knew that PP performed abortions, and that GSUSA has been associated with them, my girls were done with GS.
  • I could have mostly ignored ALL of those reasons.  The REAL reason we left GSUSA is because they insulted Catholics when they released the Junior Journey called aMUSE.  In that book they reference a play called "Simply Maria."  Yes, they only mention the name of the play and the author.  Yes, they use the author as a role model for girls.  Simply Maria sounds like a wonderful play.  I could see Diva asking to find it and read it. When she sees a play she wants to do, we try to read an excerpt to find out what it is about before pursuing it.  This is what I found as an excerpt from it.
    • PRIEST. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, under the Catholic church, in the holy house of God, to unite these two people in holy matrimony. Marriage is sacred. It is the unification of a man and a woman, their love and commitment, forever, and ever, and ever, no matter what! Well, then let's begin.María, do you accept José Juan Gonzalez García López as your lawfully wedded husband to love cherish, serve, cook for, clean for, sacrifice for, have his children, keep house, love him, even if he beats you, commits adultery, gets drunk, rapes you, lawfully, denies your identity, money, and in return ask for nothing? (MARIA thinks about it and then turns to her parents who mouth to her "I do.")
  • I do not want my CATHOLIC girl to read that.  She is gentle, sheltered, loving, and so much more.  I do not want her to read a play that makes fun of one of the most sacred aspects of my life.


2) What is AHG? To me, AHG is a Christian, our troop is Catholic, scouting program for girls.  We do all the things that you would expect a scout troop to do.  We perform service. Our troop, collectively, performed over 400 hours of service this year. (I will update with an exact total later, the paper is in the van, it is midnight, and I am in my PJs).  Our troop changes the missals at the sponsoring church as needed, we make and deliver cards and gifts to a local nursing home, we make layered cookies in a joy for the firefighters  The girls can earn patches!  Not for talking about our feelings like  you do in the Daisy Journeys.  Nope, my girls earned many patches, for Theater, Dance, Music Appreciation, Cooking, Outdoor Skills, World Heritage, Travel, Sewing, Computer Fun, and more.  We also take field trips.  We have seen the inner working of a bank and an airport.  We have toured Sinsinawa Mound and learned about Fr. Mazzuchelli.  All in all, AHG to me, is an organization that encourages service to others, learning new things, going new places, and making new friends.

3) Do we love it?  YES!  All 4 girls and myself love it.  We have so much fun.  I am the new Outdoor Coordinator.  I am planning 3 day camps.  Each camp is 2 days long.  The girls will learn about birds, insects, fire safety, how to build a fire, how to cook on the fire, how to use a pocket knife.  They will go on hikes, whittle a bar of soap, feed the troop, dissect owl pellets, make a nature journal, and start a bird life list. But most of all, they will have fun, make friends, and learn new things.


 NEW FRIENDS


BEST FRIENDS, SERVING TOGETHER
at the Right to Life Chili Luncheon



SINSINAWA MOUND
FIELD TRIP!



 learning so much about Fr. Mazzuchelli



7 comments:

Angie said...

At what age can you start with AHG?

Unknown said...

AHG is for K-12th grades. Out troop has 1 incoming kindergartener up through 6th grade, for next year.

ADMIN said...

We also left GS, it is just not what it used to be! I

neanerbean said...

If you go go to the NFCYM website and look at the communication between NFCYM and GSUSA you will see what has transpired between The Catholic Church and GSUSA. and they have, if I remember correctly the " Simply Maria" play from the Journey book. Jump the gun a little? And we need girl empowerment. GSUSA has always been about enlisting girls in all form including humility, why do you think GS does community service, to show the girl who are less fortune then yes. Yea, I am a cradle Catholic!

RAnn said...

Looks like you found a good fit for your girls.

Welcome to the Catholic blog directory. I'd like to invite you to join us for Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival which is a weekly gathering where Catholic bloggers share posts with each other. This week's host post is at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2012/06/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival_09.html

Unknown said...

nearerbean - thank you for your insight NFCYM and their relationship with GSUSA. This does not change the fact that GSUSA thought it was okay to publish the Journey with the Anti-Catholic content in the first place.

We found a Catholic AHG scout troop, which has been a Godsend for my girls. They are allowed to pray the Rosary, make sacramentals, and have a priest on the board. This is the perfect troop for our family.

I am glad that you have found something that works for your family too.

RAnn - thank you, I will check out the Carnival

Marybeth said...

LOVE the post (even if I am 2 years late in reading it!) I 'googled' Catholic American Heritage Girls for the AHG National Catholic Committee Facebook page to see if there were any articles of interest to post.... I hope that your daily - and your Troop - are still flourishing!!
Marybeth Slocumb
Chair, National Catholic Committee
American Heritage Girls
https://www.facebook.com/AHGNCC