Alex (with the bowtie), along with her team, preschoolers and caregivers singing a song during story time at one of the Teaching the Tots workshops. (Photo provided by Lauren Vargas)

Seeking to earn the “Silver Award,” Girl Scout Troop 9907 hosted the last of four “Teaching for Tots,” early literacy workshops on Saturday, March 21.

Launched back in early February, the biweekly workshops invited two to five-year-olds for an hour-long learning experience to build reading and comprehension momentum ahead of the primary school years.

The sessions, held at Esperanza Health Center in Hunting Park, were led by Troop Cadets Rayne Adams, Annaliese Hart, and young Germantown neighbor Alex Unterburger and taught around six children altogether. Troop Leader and adult supervisor Lauren Vargas supported the three with their project.

These girls also recruited their friend and fellow cadet Miriam Spiegel to help. 

As the highest award a Girl Scout in middle school can earn, Adams, Hart, and Unterburger pitched this idea as a way to obtain the Silver Award. The honor requires 50 hours of service, highlighting an issue in their community and working with community members to find a solution. 

Recognizing reading as a shared passion between the three, Vargas felt the project only made sense.

“My thought was this aligns very well with who you are and what you care about, and so finding something that’s close to your heart and what you love makes sense for you to carry forward.” 

The Girl Scouts also chose this idea because they realized that most kids can fall behind even in their first year of schooling if they don’t have the basic skills like phonics — learning the relationship between sounds and letters.

Each workshop typically begins with snacks and coloring to settle in the kids. Following, the younger kids and their parents follow the Girl Scouts to the rug area for songs, a “follow me” exercise, and most importantly, some old-fashioned reading. 

After storytime, it’s time to focus on letters. Alex sifted through sheets with letters on them modeled to look like an animal whose name starts with the letter. 

That final Saturday’s letter was the letter “T.” Each kid was handed a kit with paper and the letter to make their very own.

Each week, the cadets also give out three to five books to help the families build their own at-home libraries.

Each cadet held a clear, specific role helping to bring Teaching for Tots to life, as their initial pitch for the award was denied for lack of individual specifics. As the award is typically gained by an individual Girl Scout with an individual project, the role breakdown helps each scout work toward the award in a collective manner.

Adams held a book drive at her school to eventually give to workshop attendees. Hart handled the take-home literacy kits, connecting with folks doing resource donations, & helping secure the Health Center space. Unteburger was in charge of the workshop literacy kits.

The method embodies the classic saying about teamwork.

Alongside educating, the three had a chance to advocate for functioning libraries and librarians in Philly schools at a school board meeting last year. They also had to try to get a petition signed by their peers.

The cadets reflected on their time as young educators and the journey from start to finish, sharing important lessons.

“In the first class, everyone was running and jumping, but we also made some mistakes, like giving them plushies during reading time,” said Hart.  

The Scouts said that they were even surprised at how hard it is to get the kids to start. 

“The kids had a hard time paying attention because it’s hard to learn a new word. It’s hard for you to pronounce,” said Adams.

But, as classes progressed, the children did too, according to Adams.

“It just made me realize how important learning early really is,” she shared. “I think these kids will be used to it before they go to school now.” 

One of the moms and troop leaders, Monique Smith, was very grateful for the take-home literacy kit.

“During the snowstorm, her older sister had homework, but she didn’t because she’s not in school. So, I just told her to do the kits that we brought home,” Smith said.

The cadets turned in a binder with evidence and photos of their workshop. On Tuesday, they were approved for the silver award. 

Later this Spring, on May 31, a ceremony will be held with other cadets in the region where they will officially receive their award.

When asked about their own literacy goals, 7th-grader Unteburger proudly stated she already reads at an 11th-grade level. Her next goal is to reach 12th grade.

Vargas talks proudly about the growth in her cadets, from pitching the workshop to leading it. Not only changed the way they interact with younger kids, she said, but also the way they interact with their community. 

“They’re kind of using this as a tool to be advocates for their community. They’ve grown their understanding of younger kids and their own confidence in their ability. I’m envisioning them carrying forward other ways to advocate for literacy.”

Deesarine Ballayan is a Liberian-American freelance journalist from and based in Philadelphia. Her work is featured in The Philly Download, the Logan Center, CSIS, The Philadelphia Citizen, and Billy Penn @ WHYY.