ALUM CHRISTINA DOCK TALKS ABOUT CAMPUS PARTNERSHIPS

Christina Dock: MTCC VISTA alum 

Christina Dock served from July 2014 to July 2015 in a partnership position between the the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming and Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT. Christina worked hard to build a strong, reciprocal campus-community partnerships and we asked if she could discuss what went into them, reflect on what she accomplished and share her successes and challenges.

Campus Partnerships

"At the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW) headquarters office, we tried to make connections and recruit students from every college in our region including Rocky Mountain College, Montana State University Billings, Montana State University, Little Big Horn College, Fort Peck Community College, Dawson Community College, etc.

Our main partner is Rocky Mountain College in Billings. Last year our partnership consisted of a meeting space on campus and hosting Rocky Work Study students. This past year our partnership with Rocky expanded to include hosting Work Study students; holding a Troop on campus; co-hosting events; and introducing girls to faculty, staff, and students. Rocky Mountain College troop 2435 met every other week and has the opportunity to meet with college professors, athletic teams, and/or staff members once a month. The members of the college came in, discussed what they do, how the girls can take steps to getting into college (in a way a 5 year old can understand), and did activities pertaining to their professions with the girls. That gave the girls an opportunity to see that they can attend college and be anything they want whether it is a chemist, an artist, and anything in between. We have also worked with RMC to create a higher education patch which the girls can earn at the end of the year. With all of our successes, we are planning for next year already!"

DCTA Project

Rocky Mountain College

"Many people think that Girls Scouting is about the "3 C’s" Camps, Crafts, and Cookies. This is not the case! GSMW’s main focuses for 2015 are Science Technology Engineering and Math (or "STEM"), financial literacy, and the outdoors. I encouraged my Rocky student volunteers to use STEM to create engaging lessons that get the girls pumped to learn. We hope that this will carry over into their school work and get the girls ready for higher education!

My project was called "Discover, Connect, Take Action (DCTA)," and we have recruited 575 girls to participate in our council-led troops just last year. These girls meet at one of our 13 partner troop locations including the YMCA, Friendship House of Christian Service, Discover Zone, CARE Academy, Rocky Mountain College, various middle schools in Billings, and many churches. The main goal of the DCTA project is to create a sustainable campus partnership that leads to a reliable stream of college student volunteers to lead these troops and encourage the girls to pursue higher education. I have successfully recruited and retained four long-term volunteers, so if you know of anyone in eastern and southern Montana who wants to volunteer, send them to GSMW, we have opportunities across the region!"