Plains Girl Scouts earn new badge with hands-on printing project

Nine junior Girl Scouts, members of Plains Troop 485, capped off requirements for their printing and graphics badge Friday afternoon with a hands-on lesson in silk screen printing at Ironhorse Screenworks in Plains.

The group, with troop leaders Lara Hagerman and Polly Gill, has been working on completing six tasks for the printing and graphics badge, including making prints out of potatoes and other objects from nature, cutting shapes with exacto knives and tracing.

Hagerman said the troop chose from 10 badge requirements, and one of the options was to learn about silk screening. The nine girls listened to silk screen manager Vanessa Deaton explain the process of printing shirts.

Deaton demonstrated how the ink is dragged over a pattern and dried, then allowed the girls to try silk screening themselves.

"I think they're enjoying it," commented Hagerman. "Anything that's kind of crafty really peaks their interest." Scout Tierra Person, 11, said she learned a lot from the experience. She said she has seen many of the shirts made at Ironhorse Screenworks, and was excited to discover more about the screen printing process. Troop 485, for girls ages 8 to 11, meets two times each month at Plains High School. Gill said there are certain prerequisites for the group, such as community service, but the girls also get to chose which badges they want to work toward.

Last year, the troop planted trees. They plan to sing carols at the nursing home this month, and will start working on the annual cookie sale fund-raiser in January.

The Plains scouts will also meet jointly with the Thompson Falls troop this month for a babysitting course, where the girls will learn about child care and safety while earning their babysitting certification.