Artist on Call Amy Freeman volunteered with BuildaBridge back in the beginning of its Discovery programming. Amy has an MFA in theater.
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If you tell someone you have to stay after school, they usually think you did something bad, got
detention. There are times when staying after school is a good, no a great, thing, though. As an
elementary school student in first, second and third grade, staying after school one day a week meant
Brownies. And Brownies meant arts and crafts, snacks and an awesome uniform. While the details of
what we actually did at each Brownies meeting are spotty nearly 20 years later, I do remember enough
to see how being a Girl Scout at such as young age shaped me throughout the rest of my life.
Brownies receive small patches or badges for each award completed. Excited to show off the badges
I'd worked hard for, I hand-sewed each to my sash. Years,later, I'm still sewing, although the projects
have admittedly gotten more complicated. The same holds true for theater, which I got one of my first
tastes of during Brownies. As an adult, I have a MFA in theater. And finally, my love of crafts. Does
that stem from the one Brownie meeting I remember clearly, during which we made potato stamps?
Probably.
Another key part of Brownies and Girl Scouts is camping. During troop camping trips and visits to
Girl Scouts camps in the summer, I learned to respect nature, even though the method used didn't jive
with me at the time (we couldn't kill the icky bugs in the tent, since they were there first), but makes
perfect sense to me now.
I haven't stopped to think about my experience as a Brownie for years now. But looking back on it, I'm
amazed at how much one day after school each week shaped my personality, interests, and values for
the rest of my life.
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3:30 is a question: What is your 3:30 story and what role will you play in contributing to the development of children in your city and your world?
BuildaBridge answers with our own stories of transformation from the children we serve.
3:30 is a challenge: What will you do about 3:30?
BuildaBridge responds with the continuation of after school programming for children in need.
3:30 is a promise.
BuildaBridge promises to uphold this commitment both in Philadelphia and abroad.
Will you respond? Will you commit? Will you advocate? Will you give?
