It wasn’t long ago that Ellie (Elizabeth) Winship wanted to quit Brownies but she stuck with it and her perseverance paid off when she was recently named the the Brownies winner of the national Confidence Girl Greatness Award.
And she didn’t hide her excitement when her mother Caroline Winship shared the news with her.
“I jumped up as soon as my mom let me know,” said Ellie, who describes her reaction to finding out as “super surprised.”
To be considered for these awards – there are also awards for resourcefulness, courage and making a difference – members of the Brownies and other Girl Guide categories like Sparks, Pathfinders, Guides and Rangers must nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else in the organization, says Nadine Vokey, the Brown Owl or troop leader of Ellie’s Brownies troop.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Vokey. “She may have made her Brown Owl cry.”
“I talked to Elizabeth about it, saying ‘What do you think?" says Ellie's mother Caroline Winship. "' Mom thinks you did a really good job this year of overcoming your fears and learning to be confident and proud of who she is,’ and she said, ‘Yeah, I want to try that,’ so then we sat down and we sent in a very short letter.”
The letter reads as follows: “My name is Ellie. I am almost 8. My mom is helping me write this because I am not a very strong reader. I am one of the only girls in my unit who cannot read and write things on my own. This made me feel very bad about myself because I try really hard to read but it is taking me longer than anybody else I know . I am the only homeschooled girl in my unit. I am also the only girl (that I know of) that loves dinosaurs and snakes more than dolls or dresses. All these big differences make me stand out and feel really shy. I begged my mom to let me quit brownies because I felt so silly and different. She told me to be myself and take my time. I stopped trying to be like the other girls and started talking about what makes me special. I am going to read a story to the unit this month. brownies gave me confidence so I am excited to do it because I know they will support me . I am also planning to bring my toy dinosaur collection so I can teach them all about the different dinosaurs . I am so excited that I can teach them . maybe another girl will learn to love dinosaurs too! Thank you for helping me with my confidence. I am pretty awesome and brownies helped me see that.”
Vokey says Ellie has definitely earned this honour.
“The difference from the first day she walked into Brownies to now is astronomical,” Vokey says. “She was the quiet little girl in the circle that was lucky if you could get her to say her name to introduce herself. Last week she got up in front of 26 people and read out a story about who her hero was for her badge. We almost cried then too but we held it in.”
The connection between Vokey and the Winships goes back a generation, to when she and Caroline were in Brownies together and Vokey’s mother was Caroline’s Brown Owl.
“Elizabeth is actually a third-generation Brownie in our family because my mom was a Brownie,” Caroline says. “It was really exciting when Ellie got promoted to Brownies and we had a picture done with the four of us - me and my Brown Owl and her Brown Owl and her and I were in Girl Guides together so that’s kind of fun, a nice Thompson tradition.”
As the winner of the Confidence Girl Greatness Award, Ellie will be featured on the Girl Guides of Canada website and may be profiled in Canadian Guider magazine. She will also receive a Girl Greatness pin and a certificate signed by the chief commissioner of the Girl Guides of Canada.
Ellie says she isn’t sure what she’s going to do with the certificate yet.
“I think I’ll just keep it safe somewhere in my room,” she says.
What she does know is that her opinion of Brownies has changed since the days when she wanted to quit.
“You learn lots of stuff,” Ellie says. “It makes me feel good about myself. It actually makes me feel like a big girl. I feel small because I’m the youngest in my family. I feel good and I’m having fun and I don’t feel left out anymore.”
