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Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. It's been a slow and sometimes arduous climb, but more and more women in our community, state and nation are reaching the highest echelons of leadership. While this is a fairly new dynamic, an older institution can claim at least partial credit for it. The Girl Scouts, while their cookie sales are what most of us see every year, are really focused on developing leadership skills for girls and young women. Today on the show, you'll meet two aspiring Girl Scouts and learn what they have gained from scouting and what they are doing to help make our community a better place. Then, at the end of the show, we'll check in with our reporter about some of the big takeaways from Tuesday's election results. Kylie Holton, a member of Girl Scouts Troop 20315, and Ella Killingsworth, a member of Troop 11527, we really appreciate you both coming into the studio. Welcome.
Both: Thanks for having us.
Dunne: Ella, talk about the skills that Girl Scouts provided to you. Did understanding how it would set you up for leadership training come later?
Ella Killingsworth: It absolutely came later, and I'm so grateful that it did. Girl Scouts has been the most unique space and organization I've ever been a part of, because it allows me to practice the skills I need in the more achievement-focused parts of my life, but in a space where you get badges for trying, for experimenting. You don't have to successfully carve a duck out of soap. You just have to try. Having that safe space as a rehearsal for all the other aspects of my life and all the other leadership positions I've taken on has been really valuable. I'm so grateful for the experience. It's given me a rehearsal space, to put it in theater terms.
Dunne: Kylie, you mentioned your troop is very age-diverse. Are you a mentor to the younger members, and did you learn that through the Girl Scouts experience?
Kylie Holton: Yes. I rejoined Girl Scouts in the fourth grade as a Brownie, and our troop has had every level from Daisies to Ambassadors the entire time I've been a part of it. When I was younger, I saw the older girls occasionally, but not often. High schoolers are always very busy. But as I've grown up, I remember thinking about those older girls and wanting to be that presence for our younger members. I've made a point to interact a lot with the younger girls, because building those connections encourages them to stay. If girls feel like nobody wants them there, or feel like it's not cool, and they're getting outside pressure to leave, they won't stay. But if older girls are telling them, "No, this is awesome. We enjoy having you here. You're learning a lot, and it matters," that allows them to believe they are wanted in Girl Scouts. I try to spend as much time with the younger girls as I can. A couple of weeks ago, we went yurt camping where our Cadet Girl Scouts were working on their field games badge. They had to present different field games to our Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts, and us Ambassadors came along just for fun, because we like camping.
Dunne: Ella, for someone my age, we realize young people are so much busier than we were at your age. How do you fit it all in? I imagine you're quite busy with school and other activities.
Killingsworth: That brings me to a really important point, and it's a thanks to my troop leaders. As we got older and our schedules filled up with school, other activities, sports and student government, my troop leaders really wanted us to stay in Girl Scouts. So they made scouting fill the gaps in our schedules rather than become another demand on our time. They made it so we could earn leadership awards and badges for things we were already doing, and they scheduled meetings around when we were available. It became a slower, more consistent effort rather than just another add-on.
Dunne: And Kylie, how do you navigate it?
Holton: Much the same way. My troop leader always made it a priority to pick dates that people could attend, and if people couldn't come, we rescheduled. After a big trip last summer, we were looking at two girls entering senior year and two others entering junior year. We landed on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m., which is a late commitment for my troop leader, and we appreciate her flexibility. Another thing I've noticed is that I live in Junction City, a small town with a small high school, where you really can do whatever you want. We don't cut people from sports teams. Anyone can be in the theater department. You can join every club if you want to, because everyone is needed to keep those activities going. So something I've had to focus on is prioritizing. I'm a three-sport athlete. I do student government, Girl Scouts and National Honor Society. Out of everything I could be doing, those are the ones I've decided are most important. I've learned a lot throughout high school about how to decide that Girl Scouts means enough to me to make it a priority.
Dunne: In addition to all of that, you've also ascended to a whole other level as an Ambassador, as you mentioned. And you're working on a Gold Award project. What is that, and what specifically are you doing?
Holton: The Gold Award is an individual take-action project where a Girl Scout has to identify a problem relevant not only to her community but also globally. She has to identify the problem, create a solution, implement it and ensure that it's sustainable. It's not a one-time project. It has to have impact beyond her time in Girl Scouts. For my Gold Award project, I started by looking at different topics. I'm currently a lifeguard and swim instructor, so water safety is a big priority for me. In doing research, I learned that about 236,000 people die globally every year from drowning. For reference, the population of Boise, Idaho, is about 239,000 people. That puts it in perspective. A whole city the size of Boise dies every year from something that is relatively preventable. Drowning isn't an illness internal to your body. It's something we know how to prevent. We have a lot of safety measures in pools: lifeguards, swim lessons, life jackets and constant supervision. But a lot of the population, especially in countries where the swimming pool system isn't well developed, spends time in open water, and we have almost nothing in place there comparable to what we have for pools. When I looked into why people weren't taking open water safety courses in Oregon, part of the answer was that open water feels natural to us here. It's everywhere. But as you get further into the interior of the United States, or in other countries, a lot of people don't have regular access to open water. They might visit the ocean for the first time at age 25. Meanwhile, pools are far more prevalent across the country than open water, but open water is still used regularly. So I wanted to create a safety curriculum that was accessible, low-cost and could use resources people already have. I created an open water safety curriculum that can be taught in a pool setting. It has two parts. The first is a dry-land portion that covers open water hazards: the importance of life jackets and specific hazards found in oceans, rivers and lakes. The second part takes place in the pool and covers safety skills such as how to make a flotation device out of your jeans, how to properly fit a life jacket on another person, and how to perform a reach-and-throw rescue technique, because you don't want to put yourself in danger trying to rescue someone else.
Dunne: Great. Ella, talk about your project.
Killingsworth: My project combines two lifelong passions: theater and equity and accessibility. My final product is a website called Minority Voices in Youth. It functions as a guidebook. If you scroll through it, you'll find plays written by authors who feature voices typically left out of the standard theater canon. In my experience in youth theater, directors are incredibly busy. They're not only picking a season, they're often managing interpersonal dynamics and, if they're also schoolteachers, handling a full workload on top of that. When they're selecting their season, they tend to go with what they know and what's easy to find. My website aims to make these works that tell a broader range of stories more easily discoverable. I like to call it "bookmarkable." Through my partnership with the Oregon Thespians organization, I was able to share and launch the site with thespians across Oregon. Recently, some friends in Ashland are using it to find a play for their season next year, which makes me incredibly happy.
Holton: The Shakespeare Festival? That's very cool. My AP Literature class went to the Shakespeare Festival.
Dunne: It's legendary. Last question for each of you: for folks who may not know much about Girl Scouts, what is the one thing that most exemplifies what scouting has meant for you? We'll start with you, Kylie.
Holton: At the end of the Girl Scout Law, it says to be a sister to every Girl Scout. The Law covers a lot of values we try to hold as Girl Scouts, but I think the most meaningful part for me, and the reason I joined, comes back to friendship and connection. Trying to be a sister to everyone you meet. There are a lot of different people in this world, and there are plenty in my own town with whom I have real disagreements. But what I've noticed is that if you approach everyone with kindness, even when you know you don't see eye to eye, it helps you enter every situation with a good mindset and prevents unnecessary conflict. I'm not perfect at it. I'm fairly argumentative. But I try, when I approach a new situation or a new person, to lead with kindness instead of automatic judgments or assumptions. That's the most scouting-like thing I carry with me: trying to be a sister to everyone.
Dunne: Ella, the last word is yours.
Killingsworth: The phrase that really captures what scouting means to me is having a safety net, a safe place to land. You get to grow, you get to do all these other things, but at the end of the day, scouting, Girl Scouts, the community and the people you build relationships with are always going to be there to support you. That's how I've been able to do all of this, knowing my Girl Scout community always has my back. That's where being a sister to every Girl Scout comes in. That strong community gives you the safety and the confidence to know you can do whatever you set out to do.
Dunne: They are Kylie Holton and Ella Killingsworth, two local Girl Scouts. Remember those names as they continue on their leadership journey. We really appreciate you coming in and talking with us.
Both: Thank you so much for having us.
Dunne: I spoke with Rebecca Hansen-White yesterday, right after Tuesday's election, and she joins me now to break down some of the most important results from our region. Rebecca Hansen-White, reporter here at KLCC. Rebecca, always great to see you.
Rebecca Hansen-White: Always great to be here.
Dunne: You had a busy night covering the election, and I want to note you're feeling under the weather, so you're a trouper for being here. Let's talk about what may be the most consequential race, given that it's a federal office. Tell us about District 4.
Hansen-White: We have our incumbent, Democratic Congresswoman Val Hoyle, who is seeking a third term. In the Democratic primary, she came in first with about 78% of the vote in preliminary results, so roughly three-quarters of the district voted for her. Her opponent, Melissa Bird of Corvallis, had a KLCC reporter at her election night party. Bird conceded later in the evening. She has not yet endorsed Hoyle, but she did concede. On the Republican side, Monique DeSpain won her primary with more than 80% of the vote. She defeated Stefan Strek of Eugene, who you may recognize from his previous run for mayor. DeSpain is the presumptive Republican nominee, and if results hold, this will be a rematch in November.
Dunne: That was a fairly contentious race last time. This would be Hoyle's third term. Generally speaking, the longer someone is in office, the easier it is to return. What did Hoyle say she's looking forward to if she wins this next term?
Hansen-White: I connected with her this morning about the results. She describes herself as a workhorse, and on the path to November, she seems very focused on affordability and on addressing the policy decisions affecting it, as well as the war in Iran, including policies coming down unilaterally from the Trump administration.
Dunne: In fact, I believe you have some sound from when you spoke with her. Let's play that now.
Val Hoyle: This is a district that has a lot of people who are being hurt by the increase in costs, by a president who said he was running to bring down costs and then started a war where we're spending over $2 billion a day in an unauthorized, immoral conflict that is driving up the price of gas and everything around us. Fundamentally, when I talk to people across the district, they're really worried about just being able to afford to put gas in their car, pay rent, feed their kids.
Dunne: So we've got a rematch coming up. Hoyle has a lot going for her, but DeSpain ran a very spirited campaign last time.
Hansen-White: Yes. Monique DeSpain is an Air Force veteran and former military lawyer, known as a JAG, or Judge Advocate General, officer. She is very focused on holding Val Hoyle accountable, in her words, for decisions Hoyle made as labor commissioner. If you'll recall, Hoyle was cited several months ago for a violation of the STOCK Act. There is coverage of that, including Hoyle's explanation of what happened. DeSpain has also consistently focused on public safety and immigration issues.
Dunne: You also covered the county commission races. Tell us about those.
Hansen-White: There may be a potential shakeup on the county commission, though it's a little early to say for certain. Two incumbents are currently trailing. Starting with East Lane County: incumbent Heather Buck is facing Jake Pelroy, who has worked on a number of conservative campaigns. He has also been a vocal opponent of the county's waste-sorting facility project, which he considers too expensive and unnecessary. Buck supported the project. On election night, Pelroy was leading with 49% to Buck's 45%, with a third candidate receiving less than 5%. If Pelroy can't reach 50% plus one in subsequent results, that race could head to a runoff in November. Buck has not conceded. She released a statement this morning saying she is waiting for the results and thanking her supporters. Pelroy, for his part, was optimistically hopeful on election night. In Springfield, a potentially larger upset: Sean Van Gordon, the mayor of Springfield, challenged incumbent David Loveall and was in the lead with the first round of results. Van Gordon did hit 50%, but more votes are still to be counted. On the campaign trail, he talked about calming the waters, focusing on regional problem-solving and bringing people together. Loveall has faced controversy recently, with reports of hostile interactions with county employees and ongoing ethics investigations. You can find KLCC's coverage of that, including Loveall's perspective. That race could still end up in November, but it could also be decided here in May.
Dunne: Going back to Hoyle: in your coverage and conversations with her, did she express optimism about the midterms? A lot of people feel Democrats could do well, historically the party out of power tends to gain ground. Did Hoyle comment on potentially being part of a blue wave in November?
Hansen-White: She did seem hopeful. She said something along the lines of, "I'm going to do my part to hold on to my seat." I think she wants to be part of a Democratic wave that would give Congress the tools to pursue accountability on the Iran war and other issues that have been difficult to address in the current minority.
Dunne: Rebecca Hansen-White, go have some chicken soup and feel better. Thank you so much for your coverage.
Hansen-White: Thank you.
Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon on the Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Monday on the show, for Memorial Day, we'll be bringing you Grace Under Fire, a special radio documentary featuring an Army Ranger and decorated veteran sharing inspiring stories from his remarkable combat experiences in Vietnam. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon on the Record. Thanks for listening.
