Quote to note.

Spellings, Margaret

"When [the Girl Scouts] organization was founded in 1912, Girl Scouts were working on badges like Matron Housekeeper, which focused on vacuuming and polishing a floor. And when I was a Girl Scout in the late 1960s, the popular badge was called Social Dancer. Now, I certainly have nothing against a well-kept home, and who doesn't like to dance?

But all of us know that today, girls need more advanced skills to succeed.... Today's Girl Scout troops can earn up to 75 badges that make math, science, engineering, and technology relevant. Like Math Whiz, which teaches girls to calculate their daily lives from flight times to sports statistics. Or Science in Action, which turns them into junior forensic scientists, learning to identify fingerprints and extract DNA from fruit flies.... You've made a great start. But, as a nation, we need to do more."

--Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (2/28/06), addressing a Girl Scout leaders conference in Orlando