02 Jan 2026 Five-Oh-Ones to Watch 2026: Conway Girl Scouts

By Phyllis Ormsby

Imagine starting a new activity, not knowing exactly what to expect, and then having your expectations exceeded over and over again. That happened for young girls and their moms in Central Arkansas who have formed two new Girl Scout troops. “It has just been the most rewarding thing as a parent and a woman,” said Lauren Geier of Conway, co-leader of Girl Scout Junior Troop 6453. “The girls that we have are charismatic and brilliant. I don’t have enough adjectives to describe them. The Girl Scout program enhances and magnifies the talent and potential of the girls. It focuses a lot on building girls with character, courage and confidence.”

Brandi Keith, co-leader of that Junior Troop’s “sister group,” Brownie Troop 6452, said it’s been the best thing she could have done for her daughter, Kennedy, who now calls troop meeting days “the best days ever.”

“I’m not sure how she heard about it originally, but since kindergarten, Kennedy has wanted to be in Girl Scouts,” Keith said. “So I looked online but all the local troops were full.” Then she reached out to friend and former Girl Scout troop leader, Crystal Kemp.

“The last troop I had graduated in 2019,” said Kemp, who at the time had been a leader for 18 years. “A little over a year ago, Brandi approached me when she could not find a troop. In the beginning, we wondered if we would have four or five girls. Now here we are a year and a half later with 20 girls. I love every minute of it.”

Geier said their new troop formed at a “chaotic time,” just before cookie sales began, so they had to jump right in knowing that the third-grade Brownies would be moving to fourth grade, becoming Junior Scouts. That following summer, the new troop split, with the older girls forming Junior Troop 6453. Kemp is co-leader of both troops.

“Girl Scouts want their curriculum to be girl-led,” said Kemp. “That puts confidence in them. They will do things they didn’t know they could do. They learn to try new things and meet new people. Right after we started up, cookie sales started in January. People may say that’s to raise money, but really it helps them to set goals and handle money. It’s all these experiences that give them the confidence to do these new things. These girls are smart, they’re creative, they’re energetic, and they are going to make a difference in their community. They already have.”

Those experiences have included traditional activities of camping and knot-tying along with showing the girls how their community works. They visited Conway Corp to see where the community gets water, then made commercials highlighting the importance of water conservation and planted trees to help with erosion. After learning about the importance of literacy, the girls organized a book drive. They also learned about local history at the Pine Street Community Museum and the Faulkner County Museum, among many other activities.

Geier said the changes in her daughter are beyond what she had hoped, more than worth any investment of time and effort on her part. “It’s definitely been more rewarding than I anticipated. It’s easy to get cynical about kids and circumstances these days, but they are so insightful and excited. For me, it has really helped balance some of the cynicism about the world. It’s such a privilege to be a part of this and see them as change makers at the ripe old age of 8 to 10.”

Earlier this year, the leaders asked the girls to identify a community problem they would like to tackle. Their answer? Littering. First, they went out to collect litter, but they didn’t stop there. They planned scripts and filmed commercials at Conway Corp, even capitalizing on the 6-7 trend — as in, pick up six or seven pieces of trash when you go outside.

Geier calls this year’s theme the three P’s: power, passion and community problems. “Both troops are really working on helping them recognize their power, finding what you are good at,” she said. “Asking what skills and resources do you have and how can you combine that with your passions to solve community problems? They even made little commercials about littering. They recognized that was something they could do to better the community.”

Melissa Pearson didn’t grow up in Scouts and didn’t know what to expect when she and her daughter Iris, 8, got involved. “I’ve been amazed at the leadership elements Girl Scouts teaches as well as the service element,” she said. “Everyone just thinks about the cookies but there’s so much behind it. She’s learning entrepreneurship, service, leadership and learning to make decisions, valuable skills for someone so young.”

And while Iris’ favorite part of Scouting was camping out, she was surprised that she and other troop members would get to be on television and be interviewed for a magazine story. “The reason we do it is because we want people to stop littering,” she said. “And when you are on TV and in magazines, the more people know about it and the more people will stop.”

Geier’s daughter, Norah, said being a Scout gave her a ready-made group of good friends. “It’s changed my life for the better,” said Norah, a fourth-grader at Carolyn Lewis Elementary in Conway. “That’s what I told the last girl who joined. I said to her, ‘Even though you may be shy, you will make friends.’ They are all great and unique in their own way.”

Yaunica Peten of Conway said while her 10-year-old daughter, Londyn, was not really shy, being a Scout has still helped her blossom. “My favorite part is getting to thrive with other girls, to have fun and make new friends, to face challenges I’ve never faced,” Londyn said. “I’ve been surprised at all the friends that I’ve made.”