Miami Gardens Girl Scouts Learn Business Skills Beyond Cookie Sales
Troop 347 in Miami Gardens serves as a training ground for young entrepreneurs, where members learn that the annual cookie season involves far more than simply peddling sweets. Led by long-time volunteer Janice Coakley, known locally as “Miss Janice,” the troop operates out of the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, transforming cookie booths into classrooms for financial literacy and public speaking.
While the colorful boxes of Thin Mints and Samoas are the visible product, the core curriculum focuses on business management. Coakley, 69, who has mentored scouts since the late 1980s, emphasizes practical skills such as making change, calculating profits, and handling customer service interactions. For 17-year-old scout Tat’Ioanna Mapp, the experience has been a lesson in composure, teaching her how to maintain professionalism even when facing rude customers.
The program faces significant challenges, particularly regarding retention and economics. Coakley notes the difficulty of keeping girls engaged as they enter their teenage years and high school commitments compete for their time. Additionally, economic factors have forced changes; with cookie prices rising to $6 per box—and $7 for specialty flavors—and inflation impacting travel costs, the troop’s once-frequent end-of-year trips to destinations like Rome and Switzerland have become less common.
Despite these hurdles, the impact on the girls’ futures remains substantial. Under Coakley’s guidance, 30 scouts have earned the Gold Award, the organization’s highest achievement. Beyond the immediate sales goals, the troop focuses on long-term advancement, with Coakley guiding high school seniors through scholarship applications and college preparation, ensuring they understand pathways to higher education unrelated to athletics.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program is often recognized as the largest girl-led entrepreneurial business in the world. In the Miami-Dade and Monroe county areas, oversaw by the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, the initiative aims to instill five essential skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. For Troop 347, these concepts are applied daily, providing a foundation for economic independence and leadership that extends well beyond the cookie season.
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