Drop in on the girls of Troop 788 of the Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout Council, and you’re likely to find them busy working on scout patches, singing songs or even laboring excitedly over a community service project. In fact, at first glance, they’re not much different from the thousands of other troops that believe traditional values and self-confidence are a blueprint for success among teenage girls.

But, each member of this troop of 11 high school teens is mentally and/or physically challenged. They are fulfilling the Girl Scout motto, “Where Girls Grow Strong,” under the special attention of University sophomore Natalie Miller, AG 2002. Herself a former Girl Scout, Miller walks the short distance to Newark High School where the troop meets each Friday afternoon during the school year.

“I had never worked with mentally challenged people,” says Miller, an animal science major from Lancaster, Pa., who hopes to be a veterinarian. “This was a completely new experience. They didn’t know what to expect from me and I didn’t know what to expect from them.”

But, just a year later, the girls have forged a bond with their dedicated leader.

In leading one of the few troops of its kind in New Castle County, Miller says she attempts to get the girls engaged in projects undertaken by other troops, albeit at different performance levels.

“I’ve taught them a lot of songs, and we play different games,” says Miller. The troop also has become pen pals with girls from another troop in Lancaster, Pa., headed by Miller’s mother. And, like their counterparts, the troop actively pursues patches—badges that denote the completion of community service projects and participation in projects and themes that emphasize character.

In the spring, the troop completed a service project called “Being Our Best Around the World—School Bundles,” as part of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America national celebration. The troop collected new school supplies to be sent to children in need in other countries.

“We also worked on a badge called ‘Connection,’ and we read a story about a girl with a birthmark on her face and how she felt different,” says Miller. The purpose of the patch was to enhance their awareness of how people who are different should be treated, according to Sue McGrath, field executive for the Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout Council.

This particular patch was especially poignant given that the members in her troop deal with the same issues of self-consciousness, McGrath says.

But that is Miller’s way, she adds. “Natalie herself is very, very special, and she has gone out of her way to provide the same type of activities that others have done,” McGrath explains.

“Scouting does a lot for the confidence of girls,” Miller says. “It’s a special chance for girls to spend time together and make lifelong bonds.”

And, it’s bonds she’s encouraging her girls to make.

Volunteering with the Girl Scouts was one of the first things Miller did when she arrived at the University.

“I always wanted to work with Girl Scouts and I wanted to give back to other girls,” says Miller, a Girl Scout for 12 years.

“I really love doing this,” Miller says. “It stems from my time with the Girl Scouts and the way I was raised.”

–Christi Milligan