S’More Experiences for Girl Scouts
By Laura J. Veach
Photos by Kendall Katusak ’22
When former CEO of Girl Scouts of America Sylvia Acevedo was presented with the Austin College Posey Leadership Award in 2023, the spark of collaboration was lit between Girl Scouts Northeast Texas (GSNTX), their STEM Center, and Austin College. In summer 2025, that spark ignited in the form of a summer Girl Scout camp hosted on the Austin College campus with classes taught by Austin College faculty.
Dr. Renee Countryman, Professor of Psychology and Dean of Social Sciences, championed the idea of bringing Girl Scouts to campus for a summer camp and was the faculty lead for building the camp curriculum. Countryman was a Girl Scout herself, and considers the outside-of-classroom education she received through the organization to be some of her most transformative experiences. “I got to geek out and explore things that truly interested me,” she said.
The inaugural camp was called Green & Serene: Wellness Adventure for a Better Place—a perfect fit for Austin College’s environmentally conscious campus and respected health programs. Eight faculty designed mini-courses in their fields of expertise geared toward the 8th to 12th grade girls. Courses included creative writing, chemistry, field biology, neuroscience focused on how environment affects the brain, and economics. Students from the Austin College Physician Assistant Program even taught a class that included interaction with virtual-reality patients. Modeled on the college experience, each scout got to sign up for the classes of most interest to them, much like enrolling in a semester of college. In addition to the classroom work, the camp included daily wellness programming, such as yoga, journaling, and other self-care activities. And of course, they had a campfire and made s’mores.
The 42 attendees and their seven counselors from GSNTX stayed in Caruth Hall and had meals in the dining hall, providing them the full experience of living on a college campus. To further the campers’ thoughts on continuing their education after high school, faculty gave sessions on college planning—majors/minors, choosing a school, financial aid—and a parent session took place on the last day to answer parents’ questions about college planning, as well.
Participant and parent feedback from the camp was overwhelmingly positive. The Scouts raved about topics they hadn’t had an opportunity to explore before this camp, and neurodivergent attendees told of added benefits of feeling they could express themselves freely in the welcoming setting of Austin College. GSNTX worked with grocery chain H-E-B to sponsor registration fees for up to 20 participants who may not have been able to attend otherwise.
The flame that was lit to bring the camp to fruition wasn’t extinguished when campers headed home. Countryman says organizers from both Austin College and GSNTX plan to offer the camp again, and would like to expand future camps to a full week and incorporate additional faculty and mini-courses.
Attendees were able to choose from a variety of mini-courses during camp:
- Chemistry 110: Chemicals & the Environment with Dr. John Richardson
- Creative Writing 111: Witnessing Environmental Change with Dr. Lisha Storey
- Neuroscience 112: Brains & the Environment with Dr. Renee Countryman
- Art & Media 120: Ecological Narratives with Brianna Burnett & Dr. Brett Boessen
- Economics 121: Understanding Obesity Economic Causes, Consequences, and Interventions with Dr. Mohsan Khudri
- Biology 122: Animal Behavior in the Environment with Dr. Steve Goldsmith
- Creative Writing 131: Creative Writing for Connection with Dr. Meg Brandl
- Health 132: The Health Professions with Dr. Diana Noller
- Psychology 133: Gender, Health, and Culture with Dr. Renee Countryman
