A Day in the Life of a Juliette
by Helen Ruhlin
BETHEL—When you think of the Girl Scouts as an organization, a few things are bound to come to mind: cookies, camp, crafts, friendship, and of course the infamous troops that bring girls together from all around their home states. While there is a plethora of vernacular that dawns on one when considering the Girl Scouts, one word that probably doesn’t pop into your brain, is Juliette.
What’s a Juliette you may ask? Juliettes are individually registered Girl Scouts who do not participate in the traditional troop format, yet still have access to a robust selection of Girl Scout experiences and opportunities.
I recently had the privilege of speaking with Helen DeMaio, a Juliette from Bethel, and her mother, Ellen DeMaio, a former troop leader and lifelong Girl Scout member.
Helen is just like any other 11-year-old girl from a small town in Maine. She’s energetic, enjoys crafts, loves her American Girl Doll, and already has her career path sorted out: she loves animals and plans to be a veterinarian one day.
Helen wasn’t always a Juliette, in fact, for three and a half years she had been a proud member of Troop 155. Unfortunately, when the pandemic took a bulk of in-person interactions, gatherings, and other facets of normalcy in 2020—it took Helen’s troop as well.
“Covid kind of turned things to the worst,” says Helen, who had recently begun homeschooling around same time her troop dispersed.
Although Helen and Ellen desperately wanted to reconnect with their original troop once the pandemic calmed, a lack of willing volunteers and girls aging out of the program led them to try out alternative options—one even being a test run with another well-known organization…the Boy Scouts.
“I went over to a Boy Scout meeting at my neighbor’s house, and I’m sitting there thinking is there anything I can do that’s fun? And then I just thought okay that’s enough of boys, I’m all set, and walked home,” says Helen.
With the failed attempt at joining another club and no signs of forming a Girl Scout troop any time soon—Helen had no choice but to explore the world of being a Juliette.
Although she ultimately wishes to one day return to a troop setting, Helen is grateful for the many doors that being a Juliette has opened for her.
“As a Juliette, I can get so much more stuff done at my own pace online, at home. It takes longer to finish projects as a group who aren’t all at the same pace. When you’re doing it by yourself you have your own speed and you kind of do things faster and that’s pretty much how I was able to get a lot of my badges,” says Helen.
“The good thing about her being a Juliette, is anything she’s interested in or that I’m interested in, we can do […] there are so many videos for Girl Scouts that shows girls how to do so many things,” says Ellen, who has watched Helen participate in badge activities geared towards areas that she normally wouldn’t have interest in such as drawing and the Winter Olympics.
Beyond the ability to streamline learning and accelerate the badge-earning process, Ellen also says that having one-on-one Girl Scout time with her daughter has been a priceless experience that the two of them otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
“You can’t get this time any other way in today’s age, absolutely not […] Whether I’m leading 30 girls, 10 girls, 5 girls, or just my daughter, I’m still a leader,” says Ellen.
Despite Helen’s separation from the conventional Girl Scout troop structure, her connection to the organization’s mission and Girl Scout Promise, is stronger than ever.
“I like being a Girl Scout because you can get to know other people and make friends. I believe that every badge you earn, you’re getting one step closer to successfully growing up,” says Helen.
And just like anybody else, Helen can’t wait for camp. She’s already made dozens of bracelets to hand out to the many new friends she’ll make at Camp Natarswi this summer in Baxter State Park.
“Girl Scouts gives you the opportunity to learn more and it’s even easier and still fun when you’re doing it from home. Even with or without a troop you can still be a Girl Scout,” says Helen.
Helen and Ellen have recently been offered the chance to join a troop in Paris on Wednesday nights, an opportunity that they hope to be able to make work by the fall.
