Sparks Go to Dance Studio

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Carissa

The girls of the 1st Sparks love going out into the community to try new things. One of their recent outings was to ArtSpace for Children where they participated in a Dance Expression workshop. The studio was turned into an imagination playground by a wonderful workshop leader who encouraged the girls to move creatively and to work together. Feb 2014 018

The workshop was meant to show fundamentals in contemporary dance technique while acquiring coordination, balance, strength and physical confidence. Girls go t to develop improvisation and creativity while exploring movement, self-expression, rhythm, body awareness and musicality. They were active for almost two hours. Feb 2014 026

Most importantly, they had a great time! It was so much fun to go somewhere special and take part in something like contemporary dance. Thank you to Artspace for Children for having us!

This outing was entirely funded by our unit’s cookie sales — way to go girls! This is just one example of where that cookie dough actually goes.

District Science Day @ SFU

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Carissa

This March, Burnaby Mountain District partnered up with Simon Fraser University’s Let’s Talk Science to put on a fun-filled day of science at SFU campus. Feb 2014 017 Volunteers from the various science disciplines lead girls through age-appropriate science activities. Younger girls learned about bacteria and fingerprinting, while older girls did things like extract DNA from fruit.

In the afternoon girls participated in a science challenge. Above are some Guides building parachutes to help eggs survive a 2-story drop. Meanwhile, below, Sparks worked on building tall structures using drinking straws.

It was fun to expose the girls to science at the university with enthusiastic volunteers. District Science Day was inspired by Girl Guides’ committment to engaging our girls with the STEM disciplines — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The event was a huge success with a total of 95 girls and 21 Guiders from all twelve units coming out. A HUGE thank you to the people from Let’s Talk Science — we can’t wait to work with you again in the future!

Thinking Day 2014: Operation Earth Action

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Carissa

On February 22nd, Burnaby Mountain District gathered to celebrate Thinking Day, a special day celebrated by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all around the world.

This year, our district decided to celebrate Thinking Day by completing the Girl Guides of Canada National Service Project Challenge, Operation Earth Action. Girls from nine different units presented challenges that they completed related to environmental sustainability.

Projects included making lip balm from household ingredients, doing crafts with recycled supplies, and doing litter pick ups. One unit presented a map-your-meal project to learn about how far away some of our food travels to meet us and to learn about the benefits of eating local. A Pathfinder group gave a presentation about tree planting in the community.

In addition, every girl at the event got to decorate a tote bag made out of a recycled T-shirt. Everyone at the event also participated in an oath to use reusable bags and water bottles when possible. All girls who participated got a crest celebrating their participation in the National Service Project.

The event also included a bake sale which is a fundraiser for our District camp at the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who donated baked goods, and to everyone who bought treats — we earned almost $250 for camp. About 80 girls came out to the Thinking Day event, and many parents and siblings stayed to join in the festivities. It was one of our most successful Thinking Days yet!

Sparks at Disney on Ice

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Carissa

The 1st Burnaby Mountain Sparks had an exciting night out at Pacfic Coliseum in Vancouver when they went to see Disney on Ice: Rockin’ Ever After.

The show featured the stories and music of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, and Brave, all performed by talented skaters. Jan 2014 056

The girls were excited to be out at such a fun event with their friends from Sparks. The highlight of the show was definitely the sequence from Tangled, as the girls had watched that movie at their sleepover earlier in the year. Some of them even wore the Tangled Rapunzel hair we made as a group.

Shown here is part of the Tangled sequence when the coloured lanters floated through the air. Thank you to our Sparks who showed how well behaved a large group of girls can be, even in a coliseum with thousands of excited little girls.

Provincial Book of Honour: Nancy McAskill

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Carissa

Girl Guides values the contributions of all of its members, but some women stand out as having gone above and beyond. Long time member Nancy McAskill was one such inspiration. Having held positions ranging from Unit Guider, to District Treasurer, Camping Advisor, and Commissioner, her vivacious personality and dedication to Guiding touched countless girls and women in our District.

Sadly, Nancy passed away at the end of 2012. Our District was set on recognizing Nancy’s involvement in our organization so an awards team formed to get a posthumous honour. It is with great enthusiasm as well as mournful remembrance that we got Nancy installed in the Girl Guides of British Columbia Book of Honour.

A member in the Book of Honour is one who demonstrated both a considerable commitment to fulfilling the organization’s Vision, Mission and Values and her acceptance of them as outlined in Guiding Essentials. The exemplification of and promotion of the spirit of Guiding through keeping the Promise and Law should have been evident in her Guiding endeavours. The Book of Honour is on display at Provincial Guide House and a different page is shown each day to recognize our Province’s most outstanding members.

A copy of the page from the book was presented to Nancy’s husband, Neil, at a ceremony at one of our District meetings in early 2014. Nancy’s devotion to Guiding and her contribution to our District will not be forgotten.

Shadbolt Seasonal Festival

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Carissa

Girls from the 1st Sparks, 24th Brownies, and 54th Brownies all came out to a community event at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. The Seasonal Celebration featured crafts, snacks, music and more from various cultures showing how they celebrate in the winter time.

Girls got to meet particularly animated characters like the Gingerbread Man as they wandered through the different activities.

Girls got into the spirit of the season and had a great time making crafts with their friends.

This great family event was a huge success. Thank you Shadbolt Centre and the City of Burnaby for putting it on!

Guides Sleepover at the Pool

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Carissa

The 49th Guides recently had a sleepover at Eileen Daily pool. The spot is a favourite for units in our district because of the friendly, helpful staff and the great facilities. The girls had a blast and sent along a few pictures to share from their awesome night of fun and friendship.

Trust us when we say they spent time in the pool as well. It’s just a lot harder to get photos when everyone’s busy splashing and having a good time.

University Highlands Guiding Group

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Carissa

Great news! Burnaby Mountain District is opening a brand new unit to service the SFU community at University Highlands Elementary. They’re off to a bit of a late start because we only recently found leaders for the group and there was a lot of set up procedures to go through, but now we’re ready to go. University Highlands Guiding Group is now available on UnitFinder so people in that neighborhood should be able to enter their postal code and register online for the group.

University Highlands Guiding Group is going to be a new adventure for Burnaby Mountain District — this mixed-branch, or “blended” Guiding Unit will accept both Brownies and Guides. The two branches will do most of their activities together, but still accomplish their own branch-specific programming.

(Click poster above to see more clearly)

The district will be hosting an information session for interested families next Tuesday at the school, and regular meetings will start a couple of weeks after. We look forward to getting involved in the SFU and UniverCity communities and welcoming the fantastic girls of University Highlands!

International Day of the Girl

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Carissa

Did you know that October 11th was declared by the United Nations the International Day of the Girl? The girls of the 24th Brownies commemorated this event by participating in Girl Guides’ International Day of the Girl Postcard project. To read more about the day and this project, click here.

Below is a gallery of the girls’ postcards explaining why the world needs girls. Way to go, Brownies!

(If you click on one of the pictures you can open it bigger and scroll through the gallery to better see the postcards)

Sparks Sleepover Movie Party

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Carissa

The 1st Sparks recently enjoyed a sleepover at Richmond Guide House. The theme was a movie pajama party where the girls watched Disney’s Tangled. They had pizza and popcorn, and did a craft themed to the movie. It was a great chance for the girls and leaders to bond early in the year and to have a great time.

The craft was to make Rapunzel hair. Each girl was given a long braid that they could decorate with clips, flowers, ribbons, and butterflies… just like the part in the movie where Rapunzel gets her hair decorated. The craft turned out great!

Then the girls went into the “movie theatre” — a room in the house where a projector played the movie on a big wall, just like really going to the movies. After the movie the girls went to sleep. The leaders are thrilled to report that the girls were very well behaved and slept really well… for a sleepover, anyway.

One of the highlights of a sleepover like this is seeing some of the shyer girls grow in confidence as they get to know new friends and feel more comfortable in the group. By the end of the event quiet girls were speaking up more and girls who would normally be a little nervous or hesitant were jumping right into the action. It’s amazing what an activity like this can do for the confidence of a young girl — for many of these girls it was their first sleepover ever, and it was a really great experience.