Who says Girl Scouts isn't still cool? The numbers say otherwise

She may be 100 years old this year, but Girl Scouts of the USA is still alive and well.

There have been major changes throughout the life of the Girl Scout organization, but those have not had any impact on the ever-growing presence of Girl Scouts all over the nation, particularly in the Chicago area, according to Julie Somogyi, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

"In over 100 years, we've had ups and downs in membership, no doubt about it," Somogyi said.

But a decreasing membership certainly hasn't been a problem in recent years for the organization. Somogyi said there were more than 86,000 Girl Scouts, between the ages of 5 and 17, in the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana in 2011, which is 1,200 more girls of all ages and races, than in 2010.

"Our Hispanic membership as of Dec. 31, 2011, is 19 percent higher than the year before at that same time," Somogyi said. "In addition, we are bucking a national trend by showing a slight growth in girls in fourth through eighth grades year-over-year."

Although she's been a Girl Scout for more than five years, 12-year old Liani Chan thinks that the fun activities Girl Scouts have to offer are what makes girls continue to want to join the organization.

"When we were younger, we didn't do as much stuff outside of the meeting," Chan said. "Now, we're able to do a lot of stuff outside of the meetings."

Chan said her troop started off with about 50 girls a few years ago, but that number has decreased to 25 due to the group being split up into separate troops. However, the sixth-grader said many girls at her school continue to express interest in joining the organization.

"If we inspire them and they see us doing fun things, they'll think 'Oh, I wanna do that. I should join Girl Scouts,'" Chan said.

Somogyi said she could not really say what the primary reason was for the recent growth within the organization, but the merging of local Girl Scout councils could potentially have something to do with it.

"What we've seen since our merger, we've seen that our membership is growing," she said.

There were more than 300 Girl Scout councils nationally about five years ago, which included several in the Chicago and Northwest Indiana region, according to Somogyi. "We are now just over 100 councils (nationwide), and our (Chicago and Northwest Indiana) council was the result of a merger of seven councils," she said.

Since its launch in July 2008, the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana has become the largest council in the U.S. with girls and adult volunteers from more than 245 communities in six Illinois counties and four Indiana counties.

Liani's mother, Rebecca Ng, is her daughter's troop leader, and Ng said she has seen noticeable increases in Chicago area Girl Scout memberships in the last few years.

"Oh, we're big now," Ng said. "Haven't you heard?"

Ng said being the leader of a group of 50 girls certainly required some help.

"I had two other leaders, and we kind of divide and conquer," Ng said. "The three of us would meet together, but basically it was my job to come up with different activities."

Somogyi said another reason for the growing interest in Girl Scouts is the organization's attempt to incorporate events and activities with a focus in science, technology, engineering and math.

"We wanted to make sure that our process, even after 100 years, was contemporary," she said. "Those kinds of things that we've been strategically doing are also opening up the idea of being a Girl Scout to girls who might've never considered it before."

Somogyi said one of the major differences between the past and present structures of the organization was the girls' option to be a member of a troop.

"When a girl is a Girl Scout, she doesn't have to be a member of a troop in today's Girl Scouting program," she said. "There are lots of ways to be a Girl Scout when you may not be affiliated with a troop."

Opportunities and activities for potential Girl Scouts can be done individually, with a troop or individually with girls from other troops, Somogyi said. Many activities include Zumba, healthy living workshops, sleepovers and events at Journey World, the organization's interactive facility in downtown Chicago.

"There's no set limitations on how many meetings you need to go to be a Girl Scout," she said. "It's all about how she decides to customize her Girl Scout experience."

Somogyi said if girls or adult volunteers are interested in becoming involved with Girl Scouts, they should contact the local council for details.

"If a group of girls is interested in getting a troop started," Somogyi said. "At the same time when girls are organizing, there's usually a few adults who are ready and looking forward to stepping into the role as troop leader."