Meet Richel Newborg
How It Started…
Whether you call it fate or circumstance, it certainly seems like Richel Newborg was meant to lead a Girl Scout troop.
Richel joined Girl Scouts as a Brownie. As a Girl Scout Junior, she had her first leadership experience by leading Brownies. She “fell into” troop leadership as an adult even before she had children.
At one point in time, Richel was an assistant director at a preschool where a troop met. One day, their troop leader disappeared. Richel stepped in and helped the girls finish out their Girl Scout year.
Richel’s daughter Cayzen is on the autism spectrum, and she needed an activity that was sequential and adaptable for her needs. After looking at all of her options, Richel chose Girl Scouts as the best program for her daughter.
Cayzen loved it from the first day as a Kindergarten Daisy. At the time, Cayzen was selectively mute so for her to say that she wanted to attend Girl Scout events was a was huge for her.
A Co-Op Model
Richel became a Girl Scout leader and grew her troop from 18 to 38 girls. She likes to call her troop an “island of misfit toys.” Girls who haven’t found a place in other troops find a home in Richel’s troop.
Her troop eventually grew to 50 girls and then the pandemic hit. In May of 2020, Richel became a Service Unit Manager and started to hosting virtual meetings for her troop. The troop grew, even during the pandemic, to more than 70 girls.
The troop is now 100 girls strong. The troop is comprised of nine individual troops under a co-op model. All Girl Scout levels go to a “patrol” to do their Girl Scout experience. This model lets adult volunteers serve a large number of girls. Having so many girls in one troop also helps when pooling resources and increasing access to opportunities. They meet every other week - younger girls in the morning and older girls in the afternoon. The troop serves girls from more than 20 schools.
Another feature of the troop is “special interest clubs” that offer more focused opportunities. They have two special interest clubs per year per grade level, with one always focused on the outdoors. The special interest club meetings are separate from regular troop meetings and focus on what the girls are interested in exploring more in depth. For example, there is a Story Club which serves as a book club and public speaking opportunity for older Girl Scouts.
Pride Crew
Pride Crew was a group that came about because of the special interest clubs. At the time, when asked, girls who quit Girl Scouts spoke about a lack of feeling like they belong in Girl Scouts, and they felt like they were being pushed out. This led to conversations among the girls about acceptance and inclusion.
Pride Crew came from these conversations and provides a troop experience and safe space for LGBTQ+ youth. LGBTQ Saves is a Fort Worth area nonprofit and hosts an annual Youth Pride Picnic. Pride Crew has participated in this event the past couple of years, hosting a booth with activities, including making Pride-themed SWAPS. A few visitors to their booth remarked that they were so happy to feel welcomed by an organization that they did not feel welcomed to in the past.
Emerald Juliettes & Gothic Tea
At 18-months old, Cayzen became very sick and developed a 103° fever. Two days later she stopped communicating. Doctors told Richel that Cayzen would not be able to speak. This did not deter Richel. This fueled her desire to help her child, with Girl Scouts playing a big part in Cayzen’s leadership development.
Today, Cayzen is a first year Girl Scout Senior who helps her mom lead Girl Scout trainings and facilitates activities at large Girl Scout events. She has expressed an interest in managing big projects and teaching others how to resolve conflicts. To that end, when Cayzen was 12-years-old, she created a leadership program within her troop called Emerald Juliettes. During the program’s first year, Cayzen led a leadership experience with 28 Girl Scouts from eight Troops. The program explored personal values, inclusion, leadership traits, emotions, and self-esteem. They even had a special guest speaker, GSTOP Chief Mission Delivery Officer Nekisha Henry.
Inspired by Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, Cayzen organized a Gothic Tea Party event. Girls were encouraged to dress up in their gothic best, learned proper table etiquette, and, in keeping with the party theme, the event also had a special guest speaker – a female mortician. Talk about career exploration.
Suturing Oranges
A few years ago, Richel had a desire to give her troop a career day. Several volunteers in her troop worked in the medical profession. She put these two pieces of knowledge together and Medical Day was born. The event also had a secondary effect of reducing some of the stigma and mystery of medical procedures. In the beginning, the event was driven by troop leaders and girls. Girls emailed doctors asking them to participate as speakers and facilitate purposeful learning opportunities, like suturing oranges. Some of the girls also created a Bronze Award project about Medical Day, documenting the event. When a troop from as far away as Oklahoma asked if they could attend, Richel knew the event was getting too big to be a troop event, and she turned to Council for support. Now, Medical Day is a Council-sponsored event.
Hopes for the Future
“I hope our girls come back and tell me about all of the amazing things they have done,” Richel said. “I hope they continue to show up for each other.” She wants them to know that they have a village of people behind them. Several girls from her troop look forward to coming back as adult volunteers and leading troops themselves.
A Message for Potential Volunteers
In her troop, Richel’s nickname is the “Sorting Hat.” She believes that “if you want to volunteer, we will find a way to help you lead” and that volunteers will “attract the girls that need you.”
There are many different volunteer roles in Girl Scouts, aside from Troop Leader. Richel wants to figure out what works best for each volunteer.
And perhaps most importantly, she believes that “...there is a troop for every girl and a girl for every troop. Same for adult volunteers.”
March 19, 2025
