As National Mentoring Month comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to recognize our Girl Scout Cookie Construction team. We have had blast working with the girls over the last few months and are look forward to our final sessions. What is Cookie Construction, you may ask? Well…

Each year, AIA Kansas City and its committee, Women in Design, and Girls Scouts of NE Kansas & NW Missouri host Cookie Construction for the area Girl Scouts who have an interest in design and/or architecture. Over six months, Girl Scout teams work with female professionals from the design industry to create structures using roughly 1,000 Girl Scout cookie boxes. To the disappointment of our staff, the boxes do not come with cookies inside. The structures will be constructed at Crown Center and on display in March. Cookie Construction is on its sixth year and A3G is excited to be a part of the program.

We met the A3G Cookie Construction team in September 2019 and immediately got to work on determining our design concept. Monthly meetings ensued, each marked by design project milestones and work on standard industry documents. For us, the goal of Cookie Construction is not just to build the best design, but to involve the girls in the process and guide their creative thinking into action. We hope to teach them basic design skills along with accountability, teamwork and perseverance.

A3G staff is also benefiting from the Cookie Construction program. We are discovering a new perspective, expanding our communication skills and leading with a positive influence – all thanks to a dozen young ladies.

It has been a real pleasure to share our love of design and architecture with the girls. Our final Build-Out Day is right around the corner. Come check it out at Crown Center March 8-27, 2020 and cast your vote for the People’s Choice Award.