Sparks go to Tumble City!

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Carissa

One of the cool parts about Girl Guides of Canada is getting the chance to try new things with your friends!

Recently, our 1st Sparks Unit had the chance to try something very new, and go to Tumble City! They went for an introduction to Parkour. Parkour is a sport where participants try to jump from point A to point B in the fastest way that they can. The Sparks got to practice running, jumping, and tumbling over all kinds of obstacles. The program leaders were young and energetic. The girls loved chasing each other, doing races, and some free time play. Some of them were really little ninjas.

It was such a cool experience for everyone! Thank you, Tumble City, for having us!

Burnaby Mountain District Needs Volunteers!

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Carissa

Burnaby Mountain District is so lucky to have many incredible volunteers in our District that make all of our Guiding activities possible. Volunteers run our Units, plan activities and camps, come up with fun event ideas, and so much more!

Burnaby Mountain Guiders and former girl members Katrina Berry, Andrea Berry, Carissa Konesky, and Eliesse Harpaz at the West Coast Area Guider Appreciation event.

Right now, our District needs volunteers more than ever! Now is the perfect time to consider joining Girl Guides as a volunteer and becoming part of our amazing team!

Four of our volunteer leaders – Katrina, Andrea, Carissa, and Eliesse, have been involved with Burnaby Mountain District since they were girls themselves! They went through Guiding together and had the chance to attend camps, sleepovers, and events. Even after they became adults they stayed with the District to become leaders and give girls the chance to have similar opportunities that they had.

Girl Guide leaders have a lot of fun and learn many new skills that look great on a resume! All volunteers with Girl Guides have access to trainings, support, and mentorship. Girl Guide volunteers also have access to scholarships to support with education, travel opportunities, and the chance to meet so many amazing fellow Girl Guides from across the country! There are also opportunities for recognition! Recently, many Guiders in our District attended a special event at Van Dusen Gardens.

Doesn’t this sound awesome? We’d love to have you join our team and make Girl Guides possible for even more girls. Apply now to volunteer here: https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/AdultReg

Bridging Activities!

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Carissa

Recently, Burnaby Mountain’s 1st Sparks Unit connected with our 14th Pathfinders to do a fun Unit building activity together, and to earn their “How To” badges! The Sparks each received their own building kits and made their own penguin goalie game, where you flick a ball and a little Foosball style penguin tries to kick it.

The Pathfinders were a huge help with the big project! They helped the Sparks put together their games, and the Sparks were so proud of the finished projects. The Sparks couldn’t have done it without the help from the Pathfinders, so the Sparks and Spark leaders were very grateful that they came!

Bridging is a fun opportunity for Girl Guides of different age groups to come together and work on fun activities. It allows our older members to take on a leadership role, and the younger members to see what Girl Guides is like when they get older!

Everyone was so excited about the finished project!!

Frozen at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Carissa

On Sunday January 22, the 1st Sparks and 47th Guiding (Sparks and Embers) went on a very exciting outing to see Frozen with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!

First we rode the skytrain all the way downtown and made our way to the Orpheum theatre. There, we found our chunk of 44 seats and watched the musicians warm up. The movie Frozen played while the VSO played the music. It was really interesting having the music play an even larger role than normal. In some parts it got very loud!

It was a pretty exciting outing for the Sparks and Embers! Thank you to the VSO and to the Guiders for making this wonderful afternoon possible!

Guides Go Skating!

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Carissa

Winter is the perfect time to try some new and fun activities! In December, the 56th Burnaby Mountain Guides decided to get active and go ice skating for one of their Unit meetings!

The Guides had a great time skating around, laughing, and trying some tricks. The skating rink even had nets to play hockey with and chairs to slide around on. For some of our Guides, it was especially exciting as it was their first-ever time ice skating.

There’s still time to participate in Girl Guides for the rest of the Guiding year and join our fun adventures! Did you know that from now until the summer, the registration fee to join Guiding is 50% off? A lot of our Units in Burnaby Mountain still have space, so join now by visiting register.girlguides.ca

Meet the Guiders of our District!

Posted on December 11, 2022 by Carissa

Each month, we will be featuring one of the amazing Guiders who make Guiding in Burnaby Mountain District possible.

To start off, meet our amazing District Commissioner, Sandra! Sandra leads our District. The District Commissioner acts at the main support for Guiders in the District, and provides mentorship and feedback. She also has a large administrative role, making sure that records are kept and contracts are signed. Not to mention, she chairs the District Council and sits as a member of Area Council.

Not only is Sandra a District Commissioner, but she is also a Guide leader!

Sandra started Guiding in Brownies as a girl. She had some fantastic leaders and great memories of being a girl member, so she decided to stay in Guiding as an adult. Her favourite part about Guiding is that everybody is accepted, and it is a different experience for each member. She has met many fantastic people through Guiding. She also loves taking girls camping at Camp Olave, which is our Girl Guide camp on the Sunshine Coast.

Sandra’s favourite part about Guiding in Burnaby Mountain District is the wonderful, supportive Guiders in the District. They are all fantastic and have done wonders ensuring that the girls in the District have a memorable Guiding experience, as well as feeling supported as they grow.

Thank you for everything that you do for Guiding and Burnaby Mountain District, Sandra! We are lucky to have you!

STEM Fun!

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Carissa

In Girl Guides, one of the badges that all branches can work on is the “Science Lab” badge. There are so many fun things that girls can do to learn about STEM!

Recently, SFU Outreach visited the 56th Burnaby Mountain Guide Unit to talk all about engineering and to make bath bombs! The Guides first learned about all of the different types of engineers that there are – including chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, and civil engineers. It was then time for the group to become engineers themselves, but first, they did an activity to learn all about the scientific process.

Once they had learned about the scientific process, it was time to make bath bombs! Each Guide got to choose the colour and scent of their bath bomb, and each one turned out very unique.

Thank you very much to SFU Outreach for taking the time to visit the Guides and put together such a fun activity! We loved learning about STEM.

Tea-rrific Tea Party

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Carissa

One of the most exciting things about this Guiding year is that we’re allowed to have sleepovers again! Sparks and Brownies in Burnaby Mountain District recently held a Tea-rrific Tea Party sleepover at Richmond Guide House. For all of the girls, it was their first-ever Girl Guide sleepover, and it was a huge success!

It was a full-house, with Sparks and Brownies from the 1st Sparks, 27th Guiding, and 47th Guiding Units coming together for the tea party. The group cooked strawberry jam on a camp stove, made fascinators (headbands) to wear to the tea party, and made tea sandwiches. Of course, dinner was a high-tea with the sandwiches and other treats!

The group also played a rousing game of pass the parcel and ended the evening with a movie night, watching Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.

Thank you to all of the Guiders who worked hard to make this sleepover happen, and to all of the Sparks and Brownies for attending. It was such a fun evening!

Camp SPARKLE

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Carissa

This fall, Guiding in Burnaby Mountain has been in full swing, with Units and members across the District participating in fun adventures and new activities.

Our members are very excited about the fact that we can go camping again! Recently, Spark members in the District had the opportunity to get ready to go camping and practice their camping skills at a District-wide SPARKLE event, held at Robert Burnaby Park this October.

SPARKLE was a Province-wide event held for our BC Sparks! Organized by the BC Camping Committee, members from across the Province had the chance to sign up for a SPARKLE camp kit. Our older youth members, Rangers, developed their leadership skills by helping to plan the activities and run stations. The kits were full of fun activities for Spark members to learn all about camping. Spark members across the Province participated in the same activities throughout the weekend – how cool is that?

At SPARKLE, our Burnaby Mountain Sparks had the chance to learn how to put up a tent (shaped like a unicorn, of course!), practice their First Aid skills, and discuss the hiking essentials that they should bring outdoors. They also learned about Hug a Tree, and what they should do if they are lost in the woods.

All of our Units are planning exciting activities throughout the year. Some of our Units still have spaces for members to join! If you would like to join our adventures, find us on the Girl Guide Unit finder at https://register.girlguides.ca/web/en/unit-search and register now!

Guiding Lights for Thinking Day

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Carissa

Happy Thinking Day everyone! As our Guiding enthusiasts all know, February 22 is the joint birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell and celebrated worldwide as a way to honour Guiding’s past, present, and future here and all around the world.

According to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, this year’s World Thinking Day theme is Peacebuilding. On that note, did you hear that WAGGGS was nominated this year for a Nobel Peace Prize? You can learn about that here: https://www.wagggs.org/en/news/wagggs-and-wosm-welcome-nobel-peace-prize-nomination/

Closer to home, if you follow our local Guiding bodies (like West Coast Area, or BC Girl Guides) on social media then you probably already know about the Guiding Lights Across BC celebration this year. Due to Covid, we can’t celebrate Thinking Day with the big parties and celebrations that we’re used to, so we’ve invited landmarks from across the province to light up blue to help Girl Guides celebrate our special day.

Sample lights made by Sparks and Brownies in Burnaby Mountain

Many of our units have been busy making their own blue Guiding lanterns so that they can let their Guiding lights shine this evening as well. Are you a Girl Guide? Were you a Girl Guide? Do you simply love the cookies? Whatever your affiliation is with Guiding we encourage you to put a blue light in your window tonight. Eagle-eyed girls around the province will be looking for their sisters and supporters and it would mean a lot to them if you showed the love.