The Girl Scouts are out selling cookies again this year. I stopped outside the Monrovia Vons and bought two boxes of Thin Mints the other day and asked the Brownie (ages 7-10) Girl Scouts what they would spend their earnings on. They were a bit tentative since they were new to this annual tradition, but I inquired because I had worked as a trainer of Girl Scout leaders for many years. They teach the girls about the cookie sale, planning, budgeting, handling rejection and approaching the next potential customer.

I complimented the two young moms leading the troop during the sale. It is a lot of work for them. They smiled while keeping an eye on the girls. The leaders are the backbone of Girl Scouting. They must have training to start a troop and receive guidance at all levels: Daisy, Brownie, Cadette and Senior through a guidebook for leaders. Daisies (K-1) learn the Girl Scout basics. Seniors (grades 9-10) focus on community service. Many troops use their cookie profits to visit the Juliette Gordon Lowe Birthplace Museum in Savannah, Georgia.

Lowe was a visionary who founded the Girl Scouts in 1912, eight years before women gained the right to vote. She adopted the values and structure of the Boy Scouts, but from the start, the organization was run exclusively for girls. They became skilled in camping and canoeing and enjoyed various outdoor activities.

Girl Scout troops participate in service projects, learn first aid and safety and attend cultural events. I saw a professional actress perform live in my small Midwestern town’s high school auditorium for the first time with my Girl Scout troop, instilling a lifelong love of theater.

Girl Scouts are well known for conducting flag ceremonies at civic events and service clubs throughout the San Gabriel Valley. I always tear up when I stand for the flag ceremony. As the honor guard enters, the sight of girls solemnly holding the flags for the U.S., California, and Girl Scouts is moving. One girl gives the commands, and the others position the flags at the front of the room while the audience stands in respectful silence.

Because of their tradition of respecting flags, both Girl and Boy Scouts have a tradition of retiring flags because they symbolize honor, courage and the strength of our nation. After 9/11, many San Gabriel Valley residents brought flags to our office for retirement. They had been kept in a closet for years, waiting for a respectful way to be disposed of.

We held a flag retirement ceremony at Camp Mariposa in Altadena — now sadly damaged by the Eaton fire. The ceremony, led by older Girl Scouts, began with commemorating the tragic day our country was attacked, accompanied by two girls who played the violin and flute. Then, four girls, each holding a corner of the flag, walked alongside the campfire and slowly lowered it into the flames. Tears were shed freely.

Since the 1960s, Girl Scouts have been viewed as quaint and out of date. The uniform is no longer cool or even acceptable. Since 2008, however, Girl Scouts at each level have had only one required element: a tunic or sash for displaying official pins and award insignia. The troops can choose matching T-shirts (tie-dye is popular) to wear with the sash or tunic.

Another update in Girl Scouting is its incorporation of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs. STEM-related Girl Scout badges can be traced back to the 1913 electrician and flyer badges. The first computer-related badges appeared in the 1980s. Our council had a collaboration with JPL. I spent an evening with a NASA scientist in a training session who pointed his telescope to the moon and, as we watched on a TV screen, walked us around the moon’s surface, which he knew like the back of his hand.

Girl Scouts starred at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016 to showcase Digital Cookie 2.0, a website that helps girls manage their cookie sales online. Girl Scouts have come a long way from baking cookies at home and selling them to fund troop activities in 1917. While they hold dear their traditional values, Girl Scouts continue to evolve as they face new challenges of the 21st century. Their foundation is friendship, citizenship and leadership in an all-girl environment. Social media has diminished girls’ self-esteem and fueled misogyny. Girls seeking to connect with others to thrive, rather than wither, should consider joining Girl Scouts.

Kathleen Vallee Stein is a Monrovia writer.