Respect, honesty, and consideration—it’s the Girl Scout way for Gail Barrett!
Gail Barret has been a Girl Scout member for more than 50 years, starting as a Girl Scout in first grade. She has served as a day camp director, service unit director, troop leader, delegate, and council member for 14 years. She is the second member in a three-generation family of volunteers. Her mother served in Girl Scouts, Gail serves now, and Gail’s daughter is the third-generation Girl Scout volunteer also serving now as a cookie manager.
Gail has many stories to tell after her more than 50 years with Girl Scouts. “I’ve got so many of them,” she says. “We went on a hike one time, and it was Nelson Ledges, where they have lots of the rock foundations. We got one of our leaders stuck up on a rock trying to get her down. That was pretty funny.”
Being a part of a generational Girl Scout family, Gail enjoys seeing other generations of Girl Scouts in her troops. She says her favorite part about Girl Scouts is “to see how Girl Scouts that have come up through the Girl Scout program now have their kids and their grandkids coming up through the program. I think that’s good for Girl Scouts, to see how it’s going on through the generations.”
“Live as a Girl Scout would live. Respect, honesty, consideration—those are all right there in the Girl Scout Law.”
Gail Barrett
Gail is honest with new volunteers who need her guidance. She says, “I don’t lie to new volunteers. It’s not a one-hour-a-week job. It takes some commitment because you know you’ve got to get the program right. I try not to sugar coat it because it is a commitment to do it if you want to do it right. The main thing is to have fun and don’t stress yourself out. I have fun. I tell people if I don’t have fun, I don’t usually get involved in it.”
She lives by the motto of her three values: “I always tell everybody—family, church, Girl Scouts. You live by those three things, you’re going down the right path.”
Gail is passionate about teaching the Girl Scout Promise and Law to her Girl Scouts. She believes Girl Scout values can teach and shape the future of every Girl Scout who joins the program. She says, “Live as a Girl Scout would live. Respect, honesty, consideration—those are all right there in the Girl Scout Law.”
Gail Barrett continues to teach each Girl Scout to uphold the honor of the Girl Scout Law, and she believes that the Girl Scout values will have lasting effects on each Girl Scout’s life.
GSWPA 