Oklahoma City Girl Scout Katie Francis has achieved her goal of breaking the national record for cookie sales — and she’s getting national attention for it. 
 
 In February, the Hefner Middle School sixth-grader set her sights on breaking the national record after smashing the state record for Girl Scout cookies sales two years in a row. 
 
 Katie’s mother, DeLee Francis, confirmed for The Oklahoman on Monday that the 12-year-old has exceeded her record-breaking goal of selling 18,100 boxes of cookies. As of Sunday night, Katie had sold 18,107 boxes of the tasty treats, her mom said. 
 
 In honor of her record-breaking feat, the intrepid Cadette is scheduled to be featured on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday, according to a producer. “Today” airs from 7 to 11 a.m. weekdays on KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City. 
 
 The girl also was to be featured Monday on ABC’s “World News Tonight.” Both shows contacted The Oklahoman seeking permission to use photographs Director of Photography Doug Hoke took of Katie in February. 
 
 Since cookie sales were extended for a week because of wintry weather, Francis said her daughter isn’t done with the delicious annual fundraiser. Katie has set a new goal of 20,000 boxes and plans to keep selling to the new final day of cookie sales, which is March 30. ||||| “There's three ingredients to selling cookies: There's lot of time, lots of commitment, and I have to ask everybody that I see (to buy),” says the self-described “Girl Scout Cookie Entrepreneur.” 
 
 When it comes to racking up record-setting sales, Katie Francis is one smart cookie. 
 
 “I'm good at what I do. Cookie selling is just so much fun to me.” 
 
 After breaking the state record for Girl Scout cookies sales the past two years, the Hefner Middle School sixth-grader is setting her sights even higher: She wants to break the national record. 
 
 If a goal of selling 18,100 boxes of cookies in less than two months sounds like the 11-year-old is biting off more than she can chew, Girls Scouts Western Oklahoma CEO Shannon Evers has no doubt the intrepid Cadette will make it. 
 
 “Katie is a stellar Girl Scout. She embodies everything that we teach in Girl Scouting and through the Girl Scout cookie sale program,” Evers said. 
 
 “We figured out last year … that over $40,000 went through her hands in a six-week period. And just for a kid her age to have that experience, you know, she's running her own business.” 
 
 More than just crumbs 
 
 Girl Scout cookie sales officially begin Friday, and troops can start booth sales Feb. 21. Continuing through March 23, sales of the tasty treats amount to more than just cookie crumbles. 
 
 “A lot of people don't realize it's an almost $800 million business nationwide,” Evers said. “Not every girl is Katie Francis … but when they join Girl Scouts, they want to participate in the cookie sale.” 
 
 After Little Brownie Bakers gets paid, the cookie cash stays local. A portion covers sales incentives such as camp opportunities and tablet computers. The council gets part to fund its operations, including camps, volunteer training and financial assistance for children who can't otherwise afford Girl Scouts. And the troops get a cut of the cookie, too. 
 
 “In Girl Scouting everything is girl-led, so the girls decide together how they want to spend the money,” Evers said. 
 
 In 2012, Katie's Troop No. 3469 took a cruise to Mexico and donated 54 backpacks of school supplies to an orphanage in Cozumel, said DeLee Francis, Katie's mom and the troop's co-leader and “cookie mom.” Last year, they donated and volunteered with the Noble-based WildCare Foundation, and this year, they plan to give to breast cancer research. 
 
 “She's motivated a lot of other people in the troop to sell big numbers as well,” DeLee Francis said. The troop's goal exceeds 30,000 boxes. 
 
 The cookie program is meant to teach five essential life skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. 
 
 Sweet experiences 
 
 A popular children's book ponders all the things that could happen “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” If you give Katie an opportunity, she'll sell cookies — lots of them.
– An Oklahoma City girl who says she asks everyone she meets to buy Girl Scout cookies has broken the organization's decades-old sales record by a margin about the size of a Thin Mint. Katie Francis sold 18,107 boxes in the seven-week sales period that ended Sunday night. The previous mark was set by Elizabeth Brinton, who sold approximately 18,000 one year in the 1980s. The sixth-grade student, who sold 12,428 boxes last year, told the Oklahoman last month that there were only three ingredients needed to rack up large sales: a lot of time, a lot of commitment, and asking everyone she met to buy. Her troop receives a share of the proceeds from the fundraiser and intends to donate to breast cancer research. The Oklahoman adds that this year's cookie-sale deadline was actually extended one week to March 30 due to winter weather; Katie hopes to reach the 20,000-box mark by then.