Happy New Year!

It has been a while since I last posted.  Time flies when you're having fun!  How is your Girl Scout year going?

Ours has been busy, but not so busy all at the same time.  A Junior Troop was disbanding, so the remaining girls joined us in September.  These girls have been a wonderful addition as we had two Juniors in our troop.  They have been able to focus on the Agent of Change Journey and discuss ways that lead them to more leadership roles.

In November, members of a disbanding Brownie Troop joined us to add to the fun, friendship, and experience.  The Brownies have been working on their Brownie Quest Journey and have all but finished.  With all the new girls, they have earned the new Making Friends badge.

In December, those interested walked in our local Hometown Christmas Parade and helped pick two tags from the local Angel Tree.  Our girls are so kind and giving.   After donating blankets, comforters, etc. for the Share the Warmth campaign and gloves, hats, and scarves for Warm Hands, Warm Hearts, they voted to adopt an Angel from our community.  The girls chose two.  For those who were available, we met at our local superstore and purchased two shirts/blouses, two pairs of pants, and items related to their wish list.  What a great experience!

Our January meeting brought us cookie training and COOKIE Sales!!  The girls are out and about selling away.

February is going to be a fun month, and I hope March tops it.

What are you doing to celebrate the 100th Anniversary?

We have some extra Brownie Try-Its from the old program.  If you are in need or are interested in earning some, let me know.

Journey Materials

Have you received the new materials--Girls' Guide to Girl Scouting and/or Journey Skill Builders?  I may not have called them by the correct names, but they look fantastic.  I am still waiting on my Brownie and Junior GGGS, but I have looked through the badge work for the Brownie Quest Journey.  We are almost finished earning the Keys, so I look forward to planning activities so the girls can earn the badges.

Have you worked with any of these?  How is it going?  Ideas for others?

Juliette Gordon Low's Birthday

Juliette Gordon Low's birthday has come and gone.  What did your troop do to celebrate?

Because we meet once a month, we celebrated a little early by singing and enjoying a giant chocolate chip cookie.  We also read a short biography about her and spent time discussing cancer awareness.

The girls painted pumpkins in the colors representing various cancer awarenesses.  The pumpkins were then put into arrangements and placed at a local Oncology Center to brighten up the waiting areas.

Journeys

Have you gotten the new Girl Scout materials?  I am waiting on mine to arrive.  I am anxious to see what has been developed and how we will implement it with three Girl Scout levels.  I know that there are 5 badges linked to each Journey.  

We have decided that we are doing the Daisy Flower Garden, Brownie Quest, and Junior Agent of Change this year.  Did you know there are meeting plans created for the Journeys that include the badge work?  Check out this site.  
http://gsnetx.org/Default.aspx?tabid=463 
Click on the one you need, and it downloads in PDF.

We would love to hear how your meetings are going and what ideas you have for implementing the new materials, Journeys, and fun additional events.

First Meeting of the Year

Have you had your first meeting yet?  We did at the beginning of September, and it was so much fun.

We began our meeting with a "get to know you" activity.  Another troop disbanded and the girls wishing to stay in Girl Scouts joined our troop.  We were so excited to meet 4 new girls.  The girls had fun getting to know each other and the leaders.

GSNETX had shared information about 9-10-11, a service project.  We discussed ways to help end world hunger and conserve energy while at the meeting.  We communicated with the girls beforehand, so they each brought their 10 food items.  We will weigh our food and then donate it to our local Food Pantry.

We enjoyed nachos and fruit before ending the night with two ceremonies.

We never held a Bridging Ceremony at the end of last year for our two girls going to Juniors.  The new girls joining us never had a ceremony either, so we held a Bridging Ceremony.  It was a simple ceremony with speaking parts by the "Brownie Leader" and the "Junior Leader," the girls crossed an imaginary bridge, and ended with everyone singing "Make New Friends."

We then had a Rededication Ceremony so our girls who are remaining as Daisies and Brownies could take part as well as our new Juniors.

What did you do for your first meeting?

Working with Volunteers

In the past few months, I have seen two organizations struggle to work with volunteers in a respectful manner.  Those who volunteer do so for various reasons, but those I hear most are to spend time with their child/loved one or because they have had experience with the organization, feel passionate about it, and want to give back.  Sometimes these volunteers work within the organization at a more basic (and very important) level while others strive to be on boards or committees.
I encourage all those involved to remember that everyone is a part for a reason.  Everyone is giving of his/her time, energy, and expertise. Everyone has a voice and should be heard, no matter what level they volunteer.  Organizations should not be completely run by the board or committee, and voices should not be silenced just because a few want to be "in charge."

The most valuable volunteers in an organization are those who know the organization/program, were a part of it for years, and are passionate about it.  In Girl Scouts, former Girl Scouts can be a great asset, not only to the girls in troops, but to new leaders learning the organization.  Girls who grew up in Girl Scouts and earned their Gold Award have a passion that is hard to explain and should be built upon.

Service Units who are struggling to find leaders, visit your local college/university.  Members of campus organizations need volunteer hours, but also, you can tap into girls who are new to the area who were Girl Scouts back home.  They can be part of an organization with which they are familiar in a new area.


Good luck working with your volunteers.  Remember, they are human and would like to hear a little appreciation every now and again.  Treat them as you would want to be treated.

Planning For the Year

Have you begun planning the 2011-2012 year? 
Not having the new materials reminds me of starting a new school year without the new curriculum.  I am a planner.  I like to spend time looking through all the resources, making decisions about the year, deciding what trips we will take & which events we will attend, and setting a tentative, yet firm, calendar. 

When looking at the year, I create a document that looks like a lesson plan.  My document includes the date of meeting, plan for meeting (activities, crafts, etc.), materials needed, plan for dinner/snack, and notes about upcoming events to discuss with parents.  I tend to plan as detailed as possible for the first semester, make changes as we go, and then build the second semester closer to December.

My co-leader and I have not planned our year yet, but we are seriously considering beginning with one of the Journeys and work through it until we can add the new materials to it.  We will have a tri-level troop this year, so we will work to keep everyone on their level but doing activities/crafts that tie the levels/Journeys together.

So . . . have you planned your year yet?  What plans do you have?