People couldn't ignore what was happening at Girl Scouts event in Detroit

Kashya Baldwin enjoys a snow day just as much as the next kid.

When Baldwin, a sixth grader at River Rouge STEM Academy, was asked whether her school had canceled any days following a recent winter storm, the words “Oh yeah!” flowed from her lips, ending in a broad smile.

That smile and twinkle in Baldwin’s eye lingered as she explained why she had willingly — and happily — gotten up early that Saturday instead of spending another relaxing morning at home. As Baldwin revealed on the morning of Jan. 28, everything that brought her to the Ford Resource and Engagement Center (FREC) in southwest Detroit was connected to the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan. And from Baldwin’s perspective, being a Girl Scout, and being a part of the special bond it represents, is even more special than having a snow day.

“You know, it’s just like we’re all one group. And if one of us is down, we all go down, but then we get back up —together. And the activities are really fun too,” said Baldwin, who has been a Girl Scout since kindergarten and aspires to be a lawyer, teacher and an investigator once her scouting and school days are completed.

For anyone who has ever devoured a box, or two, of Girl Scout cookies during the early months of a year and wondered about the cause supported by the purchase, a compelling answer was provided Jan. 28 within an activities room located on the first floor of the FREC located at the Mexicantown Mercado. Just down the hall from an office where a steady stream of adults filed into for free preparation of their tax returns, 12 metro Detroit Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts (ranging from sixth through 11th grade) handled their own business while covering a broad range of “empowering” subjects including camping, budgeting, fundraising, entrepreneurship, chemistry and more. Equally noteworthy was how the Girl Scouts treated each other. Through observing the group, words from the “Girl Scout Law” such as “friendly,” “helpful,” “considerate,” and “caring” appeared to come to life.

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While the noise level in the activities room was never very high, the sheer purposefulness of the Girl Scout’s words and actions produced a force that was felt even outside of the room, as witnessed by the people — young and older — who periodically stopped in their tracks while walking past the room to examine the activities taking place on the other side of large glass windows. It would come as no surprise if some of the onlookers paid particular attention to Angelina Lawson, who, in addition to exuding positive energy throughout the morning and early afternoon, was wearing a vest loaded with colorful badges and patches. When asked about her vest, Lawson’s face revealed her pride. But Lawson also made it known that the vest represented much more than a showpiece for her.

“I want to make my life worth it, so that’s why I decided to join Girl Scouts,” said Lawson, a 10th grader at Oak Park High School, who looks forward to going to college and eventually becoming a nurse or a personal chef specializing in meals for seniors. “I’ve learned a lot from Girl Scouts and most of these badges are from workshops that we do together. I enjoy working together with others because it makes me feel comfortable with myself.”

Lawson’s appreciation for her own self-worth validates the mentoring and other support provided to local Girl Scouts for roughly 32 years by Marsha Smith, a native of Florida, who came north a few years after graduating from high school to take care of her father. The Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan’s online staff directory lists Smith as a “Girl Empowerment Consultant,” but when she discussed what has driven her work the past three decades, Smith drilled down on the first part of her job title.

“The girls. It’s about the girls,” declared Smith, who said she found a husband in Detroit and her life’s calling, which has allowed Smith to make a difference in the lives of girls residing on Detroit’s far east side and the west side. “We’re always trying to give girls opportunities to experience different things. And it really doesn’t make a difference to me where the kids live. I’m going to always be an advocate for girls.”

On Jan. 28, advocating for metro Detroit Girl Scouts by exposing them to new things actually involved bringing in a professional who the girls were already familiar with, and that was Alyssa Space, a chemist, as well as the CEO and founder of Detroit-based ForHerCosmetics. In an article from the Aug. 5, 2021, edition of the Detroit Free Press written by Chanel Stitt, Space said: “I want to be an example to the next generation.” Staying true to that pledge, Space followed a December workshop for Girl Scouts with another workshop Jan. 28, where the girls assembled at the FREC made their own natural shampoo and natural conditioner with Space’s expert guidance. Both free workshops were a part of “Chemistry in Cosmetics,” an outreach program through Space’s nonprofit MySpaceLaboratories. The second workshop came about so quickly because the Girl Scouts who saw the first presentation reached out to the adult leaders and said they wanted to learn more STEM skills. And Space was happy to oblige.

“It makes me feel that what I’m doing is not in vain,” said the 29-year-old Space, who pointed to after-school, weekend and summer activities that she was exposed to while growing up in Detroit’s Rosedale Park — including dance, soccer, karate and science programs — as valuable experiences that helped her to become the scientist and entrepreneur she is today. “This (“Chemistry in Cosmetics”) is bigger than me. And when kids connect with the experience and I know this is clicking with them, it gives me fulfillment.”

Through Space’s crisp, white lab coat and the bright green folders she passed out containing instructions and an extensive analysis of each chemical the Girl Scouts needed to make the natural shampoo and natural conditioner, she set the tone from the beginning of the workshops that the girls were about to be transformed into real scientists. But she balanced the seriousness of the occasion with what she calls “a different way to look at science,” which included a heavy dose of personal engagement in the form of stories and examples that connected with the girls’ experiences; having girls read the lab instructions out loud to the entire group to encourage accountability and ownership of the task at hand; and a constant, warm smile from Space, which helped the girls smile, too, and even laugh at times.

And as Space and 27-year-old Kyra Davis, a brand ambassador for Space’s company, walked around repeatedly to each Girl Scout to make sure every girl was fully engaged in the activities, a small group of seated adults also watched the girls closely. The observers included Andrea Evans, who, at one point, called out: “Some of you girls aren’t that shy,” during the early stage of Space’s workshop, when some of the girls were a little reluctant to speak up. Evans spoke with a tone of familiarity because some of the sixth- and seventh-grade girls attending the workshop had been with her since they were in kindergarten. She also has a deep appreciation for any chance to enrich the lives of youths because there was a period of time when that opportunity appeared to be taken away from her when the school she was teaching at in southwest Detroit, Higgins Elementary, was closed. But shortly afterward, in 2004, she says the Girl Scouts gave her a chance to do what she loves.

“I started off in the Detroit Public Schools system and found out that I loved working with kids, and, of course, I wanted to empower girls to want more for themselves,” said Evans, who defined her role as “troop leader” for the Jan. 28 event through her position with the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan’s girl-empowerment program. “So, when my school was closing, my principal said: ‘Hey, the Girl Scouts are hiring and I think you would be great.’ And I have been with the Girl Scouts ever since.”

Always a teacher with high expectations, Evans appeared a bit intense at times, when the Girl Scouts were engaged in learning activities. But her soft side came out for a moment when she stepped away from the group and talked about the growth she has witnessed in girls through the years.

“I love what I do and it’s amazing because if you look back at some of the girls that will be graduating from high school, they will tell you it’s because of Girl Scouts that they’re now on the right track. And then, after they graduate and move on, one day they’ll want to be volunteers, so it’s awesome,” Evans said. “Girl Scouts gives girls the skills and courage they need to be successful in life. We’re also teaching girls to lift each other up. When so many girls nowadays want to tear each other down when they’re this age, we’re showing them and teaching them that we’re supposed to be empowering.

"And if you talk to most of these girls in here today, they are very much empowering each other.”

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Girl Scouts team up with MySpaceLaboratories for Detroit event