January is the month of new beginnings for many. This may include setting goals, starting a new diet, getting a gym membership, or for some breaking their New Years Resolutions with the much anticipated Girl Scout Cookies. Girl Scout Cookie selling begins in the middle of January and will last until about March making the next couple of months the perfect time to stock up. 

This year cookie-selling will look very different compared to the past 103 years but the girls are still working very hard. Instead of walking door to door selling their boxes, customers will have to approach their favorite Girl Scout and preorder from their “cookie link”. Cookies are then delivered at the end of January. 

Cookies are priced at $5 this year (except for the gluten-free cookies, Carmel Chocolate Chip, which are priced at $6). There has also been an addition to the cookie family this year and they have been given the name, “Toast-Yay!” These cookies can be described as “delightful, toast-shaped cookie is full of French toast flavor and flair and stamped with the trusted Girl Scouts’ signature trefoil on top” (girlscouts.org). Although many are excited about this new addition, others will forever miss the beloved “Thanks-a-lots” cookies.

Moving on, this cookie selling season might just be all about the delicious treats and cured girl scout cookie cravings for its customers, these next couple of months means so much more for the Girl Scouts. Selling cookies is a time for goal setting, money management, and people skills for every girl that sells.

Not only are girls setting goals when it comes to how many cookies they sell, but their “goal is always to power amazing experiences for themselves and their troops all year long, while helping others too”. They are able to set goals in service projects, STEM-activities, and getting an education, all goals that will help them prosper in the real world.

Money Management has been a vital part of selling cookies and it is so important that girls know how to budget their money, keep track of money collected, and give back the correct amount of change to customers. 

Lastly, girls gain crucial knowledge of how to deal with people. They learn how to talk “about their product and goals; and resolving conflict in a positive, productive way—all skills that will help them succeed in school, in business, and in life”. Therefore building up confidence inside of the girls.

Luckily for us at Yorba Linda High School, we have a very beloved student here on our campus who takes her cookie-selling very seriously. Senior Shayda Roshdieh (12)  has had an amazing cookie-selling experience every year and it “means so much more than just going door to door or going to booth sells and selling.” She has raised so many funds and has been able to “travel to some of the most amazing places in the world, learning so many things about the world” and about herself. Selling cookies has taught her what she is truly passionate about and she is forever grateful for that.

Looking back at Shayda’s time as a Girl Scout and selling cookies, she would tell her younger self to “stay motivates and to stay in Girl Scouts. Getting as involved as possible with any opportunity given to me through the organization has shaped [her] into the person [she] wants to be.”

We are so thankful for all of the hard work that is put into selling Girl Scout Cookies every year and it is so important to remember that the next couple of months does not just mean cookies, but instead life long lessons and learning experiences. 

Also, special thanks to Shayda Roshdieh who has been our cookie supplier throughout the last four years while she was a student at Yorba Linda High School. If you would like to purchase cookies from her, check out this link.