Girl Scouts Go Online to Save Troop : Technology: Facing disbandment, Manhattan Beach group becomes the first to hold meetings on the Internet.

As junior Girl Scouts, they worked on the cooking badge and sold thin mint cookies. When they reached cadette status, they went camping at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. And now that the members of Troop 732 have reached the senior level of scouting, the group has gone where no troop has gone before: the Internet.

Based in Manhattan Beach, Troop 732--the newly formed Internet Troop No. 1--is the first Girl Scout troop in the nation to hold its meetings on the information superhighway. After eight years of traditional after-school rendezvous and the possibility of having to disband, the four remaining troop members decided that, amid their busy schedules, computerized meetings would be the best way to keep the troop going.

Troop member Cindy Vahey came up with the idea over summer vacation while working as a junior counselor at Girl Scout Camp Scherman in Idyllwild. When Cindy mentioned that her troop was going to split up because her mother no longer had the time to be troop leader, college seniors Mary Alfson and Shelby Rosiak volunteered for the job. But the two counselors live in Michigan.

Thus: scouting the Internet.

“We never thought about the idea before that because the Internet was such a new thing,” Vahey said. “Now that we have, we’re hoping to get people all over the world to join.”

The idea has the blessing of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., which already was making plans for the Internet to play an active role in its future. A World Wide Web site is under construction to provide the 3.4 million Scouts worldwide with event information while fostering communication among the troops.

“With the Internet we can spread Girl Scouts to as wide an audience as possible,” said scouting spokeswoman Marianne Ilaw. “We can reach girls who might not otherwise have access to the program.”

Meanwhile, the girls of Internet Troop No. 1 have signed up for Internet accounts through the computer lab at Mira Costa High School, where they are seniors. As soon as they are more familiar with online operations, they plan to converge on the Internet twice monthly for live chat. Vahey hopes eventually to bring girls worldwide into the troop.

Members Elizabeth Owen, Carolyn Nguyen, Heather Crossley and Vahey have so far spent most of their Internet time getting to know their leaders. Alfson and Rosiak, who are roommates at Albion College in Michigan, sent a questionnaire that asked each girl to describe herself and her goals for the year. They also were asked to describe what they thought the leaders looked like. When this exercise is complete, each member and leader will download a photo of herself so that everyone can match up the faces with the names.

At the senior Girl Scout level, scouts focus on community service projects and interest patches, an advanced badge program. Luckily for Internet Troop No. 1, one of the interest patches is computer-related, requiring mastery of the ‘Net. The next patch they plan to tackle is communications.

“Working on the Internet will really improve their communication skills because they will have to learn how to write exactly what they mean to say,” Alfson said. “That will be a big challenge for the girls who have a hard time expressing themselves.”

But the ‘Net meetings also will require a level of independent work that the Scouts have not had to perform before. If each member doesn’t follow through, nothing will happen.

Rosiak, who originally is from Torrance, sees this is as a benefit. She said that the girls will have to be accountable for the operations and that itself should provide a learning experience.

“As girls get older, it’s more difficult to keep them interested in Girl Scouts,” Rosiak said. “By having the troop on the Internet, the girls get to keep the troop on their own terms.”