By JANA ROE Special to the Post

If you've been out and about in the community lately, you may have noticed that it's a delicious time of year - Girl Scout Cookie Time! But while devouring that box of Tagalongs, in record time for some, did you ever stop to think about what's behind that sweet goodness? There's more than meets the eye.

If you go to the Girls Scouts of the USA website and click on who we are you will see the mission statement: "Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." This does sound nice in theory but does it work in real life?

Well, you might see the cookie booths as just little girls all dressed up to ask you to buy something. We see little entrepreneurs, learning about business and about dealing with all types of people and not being afraid. We see girls learning to set their own goals and working together as a group to achieve those goals.

Of course, there's more than just cookies in our past and our future. On March 12, 2007, Girl Scouts of the USA is celebrates 95 years of helping girls learn to be themselves. If you can think back 95 years, the world has changed a lot. The Girl Scout movement has grown from 18 girls in Savannah, Ga., to more than 3.6 million members throughout the United States and beyond. But in some ways, things never change.

Girl Scouts began as a way for girls to feel safe to express ideas and to develop into active members of society. That's still the case today. We still offer a way for girls to be active in the community, through community service projects, through learning and training exercises, through just being together as a group of friends and learning from each other.

But you don't have to just listen to me. Listen to the girls. I had some of my fellow leaders ask their troops what they liked best about Girl Scouts. Some mentioned the friendships. We have a motto to be a sister to every Girl Scout. We practice what we preach. Not only do we bond with our troop, we also get together with other troops in our city, state and sometimes even our country to meet and exchange ideas.

Others mentioned the fun. We do have fun! We go camping, hiking, play sports together. I even got to try canoeing last year (and I can't even swim!). These are all opportunities not every girl has on their own. But together, we can.

And of course, there is also constant learning. There's a reason for all the Try-its and badges (besides the fact they look pretty). They each represent something new the girl has tried.

You may have figured out _ I am a Girl Scout. I have been a leader for the past three years. It has given me a chance to learn and grow with my daughter and the rest of our troop. I never knew just how powerful those cookies could be until I saw it first hand. It's definitely some food for thought.

Speaking of food, I hear those Thin Mints calling from the freezer!

Jana Roe is a Girl Scout leader for Troop 1609 and Buchanan School coordinator for the Scouts.