March 8-14 is National Girl Scout Week.

Girl Scouting began in March, 1912, when founder Juliette Gordon Lowe met with a few girls in Savannah, Ga., to form the first Girl Scout Troop in the United States.

The Girl Scout tradition of service touches Tippah County as well as the rest of the nation.

The Girl Scout troops in the city and county include girls ranging from about five years old through high school.

Girls Scouts here perform many services as part of their community service requirements.

In short, Girl Scouts do a lot of good for a lot of people.

In years past they have taken teddy bears to patients in LeBonheur Hospital in Memphis to give to children who are patients there.

In this county, Girl Scouts have shopped for the elderly. They’ve served as the eyes of the visually handicapped. They’ve visited nursing homes and adopted elderly patients who may not have a lot of family.

They’ve helped with the Jerry Lewis Telethon and the St Jude Bike-a-thon in this county.

They have served as tutors at schools, and as volunteers at the Good Samaritan Center. They adopt angels during the Christmas season. They have established a Girl Scout exhibit at the Tippah County Museum. They also continue to be involved with the Kidz World playground and park.

Girl Scouts have framed the "In God We Trust" plaques which have been placed in local classrooms by the Tippah-Benton Baptist Association.

Girl Scouting teaches girls in all areas of life. It stresses honesty and dependability, among many other desirable traits.

In short, Girl Scouts practice the sorts of daily values which are the heart of good citizenship, and by so doing, they make themselves better as well.

A man called John Stuart Mill wrote in the 1800s, "The worth of a state, in the long run, is the worth of individuals composing it."

If that’s true, these girls and young women are raising the county’s net worth on the installment plan, one day at a time.

Every Girl Scout is, in a very real sense, a community asset of which we can all be proud.