UNO's 'Cookie University' helps teen Girl Scouts prepare for the future

Ordering product. Tracking receipts and paying expenses. Ringing that doorbell and making the sale.

Nebraska Girl Scout leaders say the lessons Scouts learned through cookie sales ? setting goals, managing money and working with people, to name a few ? can be a foundation for success in adult life.

?Cookie University,? a three-day program this week at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, gave 21 high school-aged Girl Scouts a taste of how those lessons translate into college and careers. The program, now in its second year, is sponsored by the Spirit of Nebraska Girl Scout Council at no cost to the Scouts or their troops.

Cookies and cookie selling were not the focus. It's not a seminar to help Scouts boost sales.

?These girls are already really good cookie sellers,? said Traci Cherrington, the council's product program manager ? a.k.a. the ?Cookie Lady.?

?This is to expose older girls ? who oftentimes wander away from Scouts ? to business, leadership and a little bit of the college campus experience,? she said. ?They don't always make the connection that the Hillary Clintons of the world started out as Girl Scout cookie sellers.?

Plus, it's fun to spend time on a college campus with other girls, said Jenna Podany, 15, a high school sophomore from Clarkson, Neb., sitting with Kylie Congdon, 14, and Melinda Union, 15, two girls she just met from Conestoga High School in Murray.

?I got a postcard in the mail,? Podany said. ?I thought it looked fun. It would be meeting new people. As you look forward to college, it gives you a better understanding of what you're getting into.?

Melanie Krings, manager for UNO's executive MBA program, talks to the girls during "Cookie University." JAMES R. BURNETT/THE WORLD-HERALD

Cherrington, whose 15-year-old daughter, Tyler, was among those participating, confided that the residence hall vending machines were big hits with the Scouts, who spent Monday and Tuesday nights in Scott Hall.

The program wrapped up Wednesday with a trip to Sioux City, Iowa, for a tour of a factory where cookies are made. On Tuesday, the Scouts attended classes taught in UNO's Mammel Hall, the campus's new business administration building.

UNO faculty and staff taught classes on credit-card management and budgeting but also provided information about extracurricular activities and services offered at college.

Kaitlyn Hodges, Helen Woods, twins Stephanie and Natalie Nepper, Lexie Deffenbacher and Angelika Bull, all age 14 and members of Omaha's Troop 41194, said they enjoyed staying in Scott Hall together.

They described themselves as ?pretty decent? cookie sellers. Woods said the troop averages about 100 boxes each, with some Scouts selling quite a bit more. They said it takes more skill for older Scouts to sell cookies.

?People think about the younger girls selling cookies, not the older girls,? said Natalie Nepper. ?It gets harder when you get older.?

Mariah Gamble and her friend, Jonique Jones, both 14 and heading into their freshman year at Omaha Central, said they didn't know what they would learn at Cookie University .

?My mom signed me up for it ? I didn't know what it was,? confessed Gamble. Jones said her grandmother, who leads Troop 45013, enrolled her. Both girls are longtime Scouts.

Gamble seemed a little stunned after a budgeting session, in which finance, banking and law professor Kath Henebry guided the Scouts in identifying the expenses of daily life ? food, housing, car expenses, insurance, even the cost of caring for pets ? that should be included in a budget. The budget session followed one on the pitfalls of credit cards.

?I didn't realize there's that much stuff my parents have to pay,? Gamble said.

The only time Girl Scout cookies made an appearance: as thank-you gifts to Henebry and the other teachers. Henebry said she had recently baked cookies herself as a way to coax colleagues to attend a meeting.

?They're not as good as these,? she added. ?I don't plan to share.?

Contact the writer: 402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com

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Source: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120719/MONEY/707199991

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