Scenes from Scout Sundays
On select Sundays, Meghan Weible often brings her Girl Scouts to Whitaker Center in downtown Harrisburg.
Weible, of Biglerville, is a troop leader, and she takes the girls, including her own three daughters, to Scout Sundays, which, she said, is a vital resource for local troops.
Scout Sundays are designed for different ages and skill levels, with well-designed programs offered at a reasonable price. Young people enrolled in a Girl Scout or Cub Scout troop can earn badges in a variety of skills and experiences, from art to outdoors to leadership.
“Some of the STEM badges are really in-depth, and it’s really difficult to hit all of the requirements that are necessary,” Weible said. “It’s not a specialty that we have at a troop level. So, it’s really nice to go to Whitaker Center, where they have all of the resources there.”
Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are emphasized in the scouting curriculum, and local Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops can explore and earn a variety of badges in STEM fields through Scout Sundays.
This specialized series of hands-on workshops is offered from October through May, developed using guiding principles and badge requirements from the national scouting organizations.
Scout Sundays has been a part of Whitaker Center’s offerings for years, but the current leaders are “breathing new life” into the program post-pandemic, said Aris Hudson, director of marketing and communications for the center.
“Our mission is to create spaces in our communities by offering educational, creative and cultural experiences that turn moments into memories—and that’s exactly what happens during these programs,” she said.
The hands-on workshops cover a wide variety of STEM fields, including robotics, forensics, coding, engineering and scientific principles and experiments. Educator Katie Brittingham leads the Scout Sundays workshops, along with occasional guest speakers and presenters.
Participants can attend individually or as a full troop and can take advantage of discounted admission to Whitaker Center’s other exhibits before or after the workshops.
“Our team of educators are brilliant. They have their own specialties and their own lanes, and the scout leaders are also so engaged,” Hudson said. “This program has outlasted many others here, even through organizational changes and instructors, and it is still popular. I think it will be here for a long time, and I think it is at the very heart of what we do.”
Whitaker Center’s programs are unique in central Pennsylvania, Weible said. The closest location offering similar programs for scouts is in Baltimore, and those offerings are more expensive and do not include the physical badges, she said.
“The kids absolutely love the hands-on part of it,” she said. “As a parent and as a scout leader, there are a lot of win-wins. The staff is amazing, absolutely amazing. It’s not just the resources, not just the cost, it’s the staff.”
To Weible, Whitaker Center is “a hidden gem.”
“We like to say that Whitaker Center is where discovery happens, and with Scout Sundays, we’re proving that discovery doesn’t require traveling to a distant science museum or waiting for a special field trip,” Hudson said. “It’s happening right here, every month, in the heart of downtown Harrisburg, open to every scout who’s ready to explore, create and grow.”
Scout Sundays workshops are offered on Sunday afternoons from October through May at Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. For a full schedule or to register, visit whitakercenter.org/learn-with-us/scouts or email [email protected].
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