Whiz Kids: Girl Scouts’ Super Sales Force

Oakdale Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: The cookie sales force of Girl Scouts Troop 52932, which meets at Transfiguration Catholic School.

Accomplishment: These young saleswomen are part of the largest cookie sale program in the world, as no other Girl Scout council sells as many boxes of cookies annually, according to the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys.

Key to Awesomeness: If you happened to stop at Wal-Mart in Woodbury between 4 and 5:30 p.m. on Friday, you probably learned from a group of singing girls that cookie booths operated by the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys are open for business. Katelynn Propp, Maria Bloemendal and Samantha Burrows, third-graders at Transfiguration Catholic School, are part of the ground-level sales force that’s hoping to sell a total of 5 million boxes of cookies this year—and they aren’t content to sit behind a table and let business come to them. They wrote a song, which they sang and danced to in front of the superstore’s main doors while ushering customers to their goods.

“They pretty much attract a lot of people,” said parent Angie Propp. “They’re very energetic.”

All three girls said they enjoy selling. Bloemendal said the opportunity to make money appeals to her. Burrows called it her “dream job,” along with working at a coffee shop and a day care facility someday. Propp and Bloemendal both said they’d like to use their sales skills to work in a clothing store sometime.

A portion of the profits from cookie sales goes to the local troop, and they plan to use the money for horseback riding and other activities, they said.

Scouts from this troop, as well as many others, will be out selling cookies at various booths in the coming weeks. For cookie booth locations go to: http://cookielocator.littlebrownie.com/.