Be Great - Communicate!
Department's Students, Professors Create
Special Day for Area Girl Scouts

By Chrissy Nethercutt
Journalism sophomore

From teaching Spanish to sign language, party planning to public speaking, no task was too big for department students and faculty when they welcomed 55 eager Girl Scouts to Beering Hall on Jan. 18 to learn about communication from some of Purdue's most outstanding communicators.

"Be Great-Communicate!" consisted of six different workshops that Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts rotated through. It was sponsored by the department; the Purdue chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the national Communication Honor Society; and Sycamore Girl Scout Council Service Unit #13.

Lambda Pi Eta member Hannah Brooks leads scouts in the semaphore workshop

In the workshops, the girls were able to plan a birthday party using public relations tools; learn about Spanish, semaphore (a type of signaling by means of flags), Braille and sign language; develop their public speaking skills; and get their first assignment as a "cub reporter."

The first- through sixth-graders were given an opportunity to not only earn communication badges but also to learn methods of communication that they might not have known existed.

Most indicated they wanted to learn more about sign language, Braille and semaphore, said Dr. Erina MacGeorge, event organizer and a visiting professor in the department.

"I thought everything was cool and great. Nothing could be better," Devon, one of the girl scouts, wrote after the event.

Another aspect of the event that captivated the girls was the foreign languages workshop, during which they learned some Spanish words and phrases and details about the culture.

"A lot of the girls had been exposed to Spanish in school but didn't know much about it," said Hannah Brooks, a leader of the Spanish workshop and a senior in Telecommunication. "This might have been a real starting point for getting them more interested in the future."

Dr. Erina MacGeorge leads scouts in the Girl Scout promise

Spanish was not the only aspect of the event that opened the girls' eyes. Many were on a college campus for the first time. Such an event makes Purdue appear more accessible and shows that college is possible, said Beverly Davenport Sypher, a professor in Organizational Communication and the Associate Provost for Special Initiatives at the university.

"I was proud to be a part of Purdue — a university that opens its doors to young girls and gets them thinking about college and gets them excited about learning," said Sypher, who led the workshop on public speaking.

"Be Great-Communicate!" showed the girls as well as the community that Purdue's doors are open and that the school welcomes engagement. MacGeorge, who leads a local Brownie troop, said she believes "professors have an obligation to share what they know beyond the classroom."

Sypher agreed. "How could we better engage in our community than by sharing our time and our experiences with such a large group of young leaders?"