It`s 3:40 p.m., and the gymnasium at Reskin Elementary School in Glendale Heights is filled with Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts (3d through 6th graders), waiting for the start of their regular Monday meeting.
Carol Hubner, 36, leader for the 2d-grade Brownie troop and the 4th-through 6th-grade Junior Girl Scout troop, has the girls (nearly 30 of them)
form a huge circle to play a game called ”Shake It.”
Soon-and with humor aforethought-she is ”it,” along with her co-leader. The girls erupt with laughter as the adults shimmy and shake in the middle of the circle.
Three years ago there was only one Girl Scout troop that met at the school. Today, mainly through Hubner`s efforts, there are five. She is the leader of two of them-and the general organizer, recruiter of leaders, head of registration and overall consultant for all five, which include one Daisies troop (kindergarten age), three Brownies (grades 1-3) and one Junior Girl Scouts.
Hubner got involved when she registered her daughter Rachele for kindergarten. ”(The Girl Scouts of Du Page County Council) were also taking names for Scouts, and I signed Rachele up for Daisies. I foolishly said, `If you can`t find anyone else. . . .` Well, they called me! I`d always been a Girl Scout, so I felt very strongly about my own daughters being involved.”
Only one of her three daughters is old enough to be in Girl Scouts. But Sara, 5, and Jessica, 3, often come along to meetings and have even been on campouts with their mom and her troops. In fact, ”Jessie already thinks she`s a Girl Scout,” Hubner says.
Scouting has a long history in Du Page County. The council was formed in 1952. Serving a total 13,000 Scouts, the council is composed of 30 service units. The Glenside Service Unit has more than 600 Scouts and is the second largest service unit in the council. It encompasses Marquardt School District 15, which covers Bloomingdale, Addison, Lombard and parts of Glendale Heights, and Queen Bee School District 16, which covers Glen Ellyn Countryside, Wheaton and other parts of Glendale Heights.
The council`s offices are at Camp Greene Wood, a 129.8-acre campsite in Woodridge.
The council is a valuable source of leadership training and troop programs and equipment, says Linda Pfafflin, director of the Glenside Service Unit and another in the chain of volunteers who make up the Scouting network. Parents often are not aware of everything the council has for the Scouts and leaders, says Pfafflin, who has volunteered for four years. For example, she says, ”We have equipment like cross-country skis, poles, and tents for use by the troops.”
The council also offers a variety of leader training programs in basic leadership skills; safety certification, such as cardiopulmonary
resuscitation; and adult education, such as a job re-entry course for those who want to hone job skills before going back to work.
Almost 60 percent of the council`s budget comes from sales from cookies and Girl Scout calendars. The Glenside Service Unit sold 35,000 boxes of cookies and 3,600 calendars, Pfafflin says. About 20 percent comes from the United Way and parents` contributions, about equally divided; 14 percent from fees for special programs; and the remainder from miscellaneous gifts.
Pfafflin says that Hubner is a valuable leader and has been instrumental in building and sustaining the troops that meet at Reskin.
”She has indefatigable energy and is willing and eager to take on responsibilities when it comes to Girl Scouts,” she says. ”And she knows how to have fun.”
Most Scout leaders get involved because their daughters need a troop leader, and they often find themselves also benefitting from the experience, Hubner observes.
”I`m not the same person I was two years ago,” she says. ”I never went to college, and I felt bad about that. But Scouting has given me the opportunity to broaden my horizons.”
A few of the nearly 30 leadership courses Hubner has taken the last three years include: self-esteem and assertiveness training, a workshop on child abuse, a program on child abduction and a drug abuse workshop. She
incorporates all the training into her work with Scouts, because ”I`ve learned, and it`s not fair to limit that knowledge,” she says. ”You need to share it.”
She tends to downplay the value of her many contributions. ”If you ask anyone about me, they`d say `she`s crazy` ” to do so much, laughs Hubner, who also serves as Girl Scout chairman on the Reskin Elementary School PTA board and works three jobs: bartending on weekends, cleaning houses and selling home-delivered cosmetics.
While she and her husband sometimes feel overwhelmed, she also believes that ”everyone is busy. There are women who do more than I and still lead Scout troops. . .”
The girls in her junior troop bubble with enthusiasm over their Scouting activities. Among their favorite events were:
”The lock-in, where we went swimming and did crafts and stayed up all night,” says one.
”Ice skating!” says another.
”Camping at Camp Greene Wood!” says a third.
The girls in her junior troop do not think she`s crazy. In fact, Nicole Kanopi, Amanda Baturin, Chrissie Lauing and Laurie Ungaro are positively bubbling with enthusiasm for all the things they`ve done with Hubner as their leader.
And their heads nod in agreement when 5th-grader Nicole, 10, asserts that ”it would be boring without Mrs. Hubner” because she has them do lots of different activities.
Hubner sees Girl Scouts as an important vehicle for building sisterhood, self-esteem and independence. ”It`s important for kids to realize that it`s good to be a Girl Scout,” she says. She also acknowledges that it`s good to be a leader.
She points to a drawing by her daughter Rachele in one of the school`s display cases. It is an entry in the annual ”Reflections” contest, sponsored by the national PTA to encourage creativity in elementary-age children. ”Can you tell what it is?” she asks.
Despite its abstract style, there`s little doubt that the undulating green amoeba is Hubner`s Scout leader`s smock, the one she`s wearing, festooned with pins and badges that cover its front and march across the shoulders and down the back.
Across the top of the picture is the caption, ”My Mom is a Girl Scout leader, and I am proud of her.”
Hubner smiles: ”That says it all.”
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For information about the Girl Scouts of Du Page County Council, call 963-6050. For information about the Glenside Service Unit, call Linda Pfafflin at 668-4934.
