Covid-19 and Girl Scouts: Meetings

 

Girl Scout 

verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

Welcome.  In this time of world wide pandemic, girl scouts is suffering. The socialization and education that girl scouts, as an organtization, brings to young womens lives is remarkable.

Covid started, for my family, one day last march.  One day, my children were in school, with rumblings of having to take some time off.  That day, they came home from school, with no idea that they would not be back in a classroom for almost a year.  It was a friday afternoon, and life was as usual.

That weekend, we watched our country fall.  We watched our schools close, one by one, and there was an air of uncertainty.  We assumed this would be under control shortly and life would resume as normal.  We joked about the hurricane like response to flood the stores and over buy everything one could imagine.  We laughed at the idea of people hoarding toilet paper.  We put on our masks, and we waited.  And we waited.  And we waited. 

Eventually, we realized that this covid life is now life as we know it.  We settled in.  We stayed home.  Our kids learned how to zoom meet for class - which was exceptionally hard for my kindergartener.  

My girls suffered.  A lot.  All of my scouts lived within a few blocks of each other. They were used to running the neighborhood, and slipping in and out of all of our homes and it came to a sudden halt.  It was hard for them to not see each other.  And as we entered this extended time that requires masks, and 6 feet, I reached out to our parents to get their opinions.  More recently, I reached out to other leaders to ask how they have managed it so far, and how they have addressed it within their troops. I have compiled this information here, in a few installments, and hope that leaders and parents alike find use in it.

MEETINGS 

Many leaders expressed frustration with the limitations placed on meetings these days. Kids are burnt out from zoom/google meet/etc at school, and it can be a real strain for them to the have one more committment to screen time.  This was also VERY council specific.  As always - please consult with your council prior to making any decisions about how to meet. 

Virtual meetings - 

    These meetings are easier to facilitate - especially during the colder months. Some of the most common ideas were the following:

**Pre meeting prep**  Many leaders have put together supply packs for their girls containing items not generally found in the household needed for patches, or just something fun to make them smile, and distributed prior to the meeting.

1.  Open with something fun - a social time for the girls just to catch up; a scavenger hunt for supplies for the meeting; etc - some variation on a purely enjoyable activity. 

2.  Focused work - badge work that is planned for the day to work with each other, or alongside of each other.

3. Closing with something positive - saying nice things about their neighbor, their life, etc.  

Many leaders have given feedback on what they found to be fuctional with a zoom meeting.  Some easier things to try are:

- Reformulating badge programs to fit the online or distanced forum that is so essential today.

- Offering the girls a time to socialize.  The lost socialization our children are missing with Covid is an enormous loss to their generation, and its important to fit it in wherever we can.

- Fun badge or fun meeting ideas, such as:

    1. Scavenger hunt

    2. Recycled material fashion show

    3. Healthy Habits

    

In Person meetings - 

    These meetings are more difficult to facilitate as they require a larger space, and more necessities.  Further, many councils DO NOT allow meeting in person of any kind, so as always, please contact your council prior to any decision making. 

**Pre meeting prep** Please make sure you have additional supplies with you.  Extra masks, hand sanitizer, and lots of space.  Remember - 6 feet is the best distance WITH masks, and 10 feet without. 

In closing, we will continue to share our knowledge and experience as we continue to navigate this worldwide pandemic. 

Songs - The Princess Pat

Girl Scout songs are an integral part of being a girl scout.  These are some of my favorites! Please enjoy them.  I grew up in the midwest, so if you are from a different region, you may have slightly different lyrics!  I've included links to YouTube videos, but they are not *my* videos - enjoy them, and let the artists know if you loved them!

The Princess Pat

Link to YouTube video for On My Honor

The princess pat, (the princess pat)
Lived in a tree, (lived in a tree)
She sailed across, (she sailed across)
The seven Seas, (the seven seas)
She sailed across, (she sailed across)
The channel two, (the channel two)
And she took with her, (and she took with her)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)

Now what is that? (now what is that?)
Its something made, (its something made)
By the princess pat, (by the princess pat)
Its red and gold, (its red and gold)
And purple too, (and purple too)
Thats why its called, (thats why its called)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)

Now Captain Jack, (now captain Jack)
Had a mighty fine crew (had a mighty fine crew)
He sailed across, (he sailed across)
The channel two, (the channel two)
But his ship sank, (but his ship sank)
And yours will too, (and yours will too)
If you dont take, (if you dont take)
A rick-a-bamboo (a rick-a-bamboo)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)

Now what is that? (now what is that?)
Its something made, (its something made)
By the princess pat, (by the princess pat)
Its red and gold, (its red and gold)
And purple too, (and purple too)
Thats why its called, (thats why its called)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)
A rick-a-bamboo, (a rick-a-bamboo)

But what about dues?

Girl Scout 
verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

Dues.  This is a hot topic for every troop leader.  Between annual national dues, any local dues that may be imposed on top of national, and the potential troop imposed dues, it is something leaders must seriously consider before making the choice to charge them or not.

First - I'd like to add that girl scouts is a girl led activity, and regardless of age, the girls should be involved in the decision of whether to charge dues or not.

There are a lot of pros and cons to charging dues, and the mechanics of making a troop work can be more difficult without dues.  Some leaders view dues as integral.  Some view them as an unnessecary cost.  Personally, I see the value in charging dues, but I also see a LOT of value in refraining from charging them.  In my troop, we charged $25 per girl the FIRST year we were a troop.  If parent's could not pay, I didn't pursue it.  I lived in a pretty low income area, and we really just were trying to get through fall and get to cookie season.  That council did not give any funds for new troops, so we were really starting at ground zero.

This worked well for my troop.  We had a few that didn't or couldn't pay, and many who did pay promptly.  It was enough to get us through, and we haven't charged dues since.  My troop has always been fairly successful with cookie sales.  We generally run between 7 and 10 girls and my girls generally net $1500+.  Since they are small yet, this is plenty for them to do fun stuff, pay their registration, and purchase their uniforms and badges, etc.

In the following paragraphs, we will go over the pros and the cons of charging dues. Ready?

Pro's

• The troop has funds - this is important.  Without funds, they cannot do any activities that cost money, purchase badges, or buy supplies
• Dues give a girl ownership over her troop, and meeting.  
• Dues teach girls many lessons - life isnt free, money comes from somewhere, etc. 
• You, as a leader, are not spending a lot of money out of pocket.
• Often the troop can do more things, or more expensive things.

Con's

• Dues can cause conflict between troop members family's and the troop.  Sometimes parent's can't or just wont pay.  If they can't, some element of embarassment or shame is generally hand in hand with that.  If they won't pay, they might just not care. 
• Dues are NOT required, thus you cannot penalize a girl if her parent's dont pay them.  Troop money is still troop money and must be used equally.  This national standard can cause some frustration for leaders and scouts, as well.
• It is hard to guess the correct amount.  Leaders I know have charged anywhere from $.25 a meeting to $150 a year.  
• Enforcing dues handed in at meetings may unitentionally single out a girl who's family cannot afford to pay.
• If your troop does charity work, parents may have some issues or question why they need to pay dues, if the troop is well off enough to donate to more needy groups. 
• It may not cover all expenses, and it becomes a lot to ask for someone to pay national dues, possible local dues, troop dues, then drop another $75 for a uniform, and pay a portion of events.

In the end, you really have to sit down and talk with your parents, girls, and coleaders.  Some troop charge dues, some don't.  It really comes down to what works for your specific troop.  I urge you to sit down and really see how far you can get without them.  I would not advocate using your own out of pocket money on scouts, and don't run yourself ragged trying to saving money.  Just be frugal and cognizant of everything that can be done at low or no cost, and keep costs low all around.  Everyone will appreciate it!

Look for a post coming soon on low cost and no cost activity ideas, and as always, please share any questions or comments you have!

Coral Patches

Girl Scout 

verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

One day, I was perusing Facebook for further resources pertaining to girl scouts.  I happened to come across a really interesting post in my Facebook group - Girl Scout Troop Leader Connection.  The post was actually kind of distasteful, when I looked more into it.  On the surface, it was a post that said something like, hey check out this cool group - what it really meant was, I need to refer people to this group so I can win something for me, so I am spamming other groups for my own benefit.

ALL THAT ASIDE, when I went to check out the group - Coral Patches - and it was a REALLY COOL group!!  I followed the link to her website - http://www.coralpatches.com/store/ and just looked around.  This site.  You guys. It is awesome.  First and foremost - there are TONS of great resources.  

Let me introduce you to Nicole Sutherland.  She is the creative mind and power behind this site, and she is a doll.  I've spent quite a but of time talking with her, and spitballing, and I am very excited to do a collaboration in the form of a blog post with her.  We have an exciting surprise for you at the end of this post as well! <3 

I am a coffee drinking Girl Scout mom from San Diego who likes Disneyland, making cupcakes, watching football, cooking, crafting, and running marathons. Follow me on Instagram @nic0le for more ideas. ”

— NICOLE

First.  FREE.  There is a large number of FREE resources - I'm talking, download and print at Office Max on the cheap, free. There are awesome, detailed fun patch requirements that you can print for free.  I love this - you all know how we do fun patches in my troop - we have 3 requirements that must be met to earn it - so this was right up my ally.  However, it was also just the TIP of the iceberg.  Nicole has so much more than just patch instructions.  There are resources from super cute planners, to attendance forms.  Cookie sales trackers to calendars.  Kapers charts to badge trackers.  

People. They are gorgeous as well.  Nicole has a great eye for design, and color, and it really shows in her work.  Now - my FAVORITE part of the free printables is that Nicole will absolutely print these items for you.  And yes, there is a cost - but not the etsy cost you've come to expect.  Nicole prints these for a minimal fee ($0.65), on 90lb cardstock, in a flat envelope.  

Click on the photo to check it out!

There are also a variety of other fun things available for purchase for a small cost - patches, stationary, stickers, etc.  I would love for you to pop on over and check her things out.  AND it's probably pretty important that you do - because I am hosting a giveaway.

My readers are girl scout leaders who are selfless, and giving and dedicated. And deserving of a little something fun - so check out the rafflecopter below and enter to win a $20 credit to Coral Patches.  The giveaway runs from now until 12a EST on October 5th.  Enjoy and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you check out Coral Patches? Did you enjoy it? What are you going to get when you win the $20 credit?

Parent Email - Start of the Year

Girl Scout 

verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

I've been remiss on my posting lately, and I apologize. Writing this blog and providing resources for other girl scout leaders is a sincere passion of mine. 

Unfortunately, my mother passed away from stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain, femur and heart this past week. It has been a whirlwind of caring for her, funeral arrangements and settling her affairs. 

I did come across an email that I used at the beginning of the year and wanted to share it with you all. It's personalized for my troop but it's a pretty good template and the verbiage is really well put together. I hope some of you find it helpful. 

Girl Scouts 2016-2017 *Important*

Hello! It is that time of year again...school is starting.  AND....Girl Scouts is coming back to your regularly scheduled programming!!  I am very excited to be seeing your girls again regularly (or to begin seeing them, if they are new!) and cannot wait.  SO. I wanted to send out a quick email - even though I know we, as a group, are terrible at emails lol.

I wanted to apologize for my lateness in this email - It's been half written for weeks.  My mom (as most of you know) is very sick with stage 4 lung cancer, and last week, we discovered it had metastasized further, to her heart.  She was given 3-6 weeks to live.  I did end up flying out to Minneapolis again to tend to her, and spend time with her, and have plans to do so again in Sept.  This may interrupt girl scouts at some point, but I am confidant that our parent volunteers will be able to step up and get us through. 

We have a really exciting year coming up - our Daisy's and Brownie's have a lot on their docket!  We will discuss them more in depth at our first meeting - September 6th - but I wanted to give a quick overview.  Our Daisy's will be working out of the girls guide for Daisy's and our Brownies will be working out of the girls guide for Brownies.  We will do TWO really fun events this first half of the year.  1.  A day trip here in town to the Poplar Grove Plantation.  They have fantastic educational programs for us to choose from.  This will cost about $7 per girl, plus a patch if we decide to get a patch for it.  This event will be open to all scouts, parents, and family members.  2.  An overnight trip to the Asheboro Zoo.  Melissa (our second in command) and any other parent who would like to will help me design some fun events for this overnight.  We will plan to leave town around 7 or 8a on a Saturday, and return around dinner time on a Sunday.  We'd like this to happen in October or November.  This event will be open to ONLY registered scouts and registered volunteers, due to constrictions regarding insurance, and girl scout policy.  The cost for this will be around $35 per person, and that will cover food, admission to the zoo, hotel stay, and transportation.  If we would like the girls to receive a badge for this event, there would be an additional $0.75 - $1.50 added.  
The reason for two trips - one overnight, one day trip - is because we have a variety of girls who span different ages, and may be at different places in terms of how comfortable they are in leaving mom and dad.  I want EVERY girl to be able to have a great experience so I did a lot of research to find a great day trip here in town.  I think we will be very pleased with Poplar Grove Plantation.

We are planning on meeting weekly this year, Tuesdays, from 6p to 7p.  Please reach out to me ASAP if you have some major conflict with this day or time.

The first meeting of the year will be September 6th, in our regular meeting place.  This will be our *parent* meeting, so each girl will need at least one parent present for this meeting.  If you cannot make it, please reach out to me and we can work on alternate arrangements.  Since we joined together mid year last year, none of us have been through this meeting together in the past, but I think you will all enjoy it.  I will have a calendar to hand out, a parent letter that will over our troop standards - and these are just generic guidelines - all of you and all of your girls are simply wonderful people!

We will talk about the various roles that need to be filled and availability for all of you to help.  I handled most of them last year, and I will absolutely handle any of them that need to be done, but any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Snacks should once again be pretty simple.  As far as I know, none of our new girls have allergies.  If someone has a new allergy, or anything that would interfere with what type of snack was provided, please reach out to me and I will make sure it is listed in the parent letter.  This year, you will also have the opportunity to opt out of your snack day(s).  If you choose to do this, you will need to make a $10 contribution to the troop, and I will make sure snack is provided.

As our girls age, we will continue to encourage them to lead their own activities, meetings, etc, as that is one of the cornerstones of girl scouts.  As such, we will continue to allow girls to pick a badge and lead a meeting.  We will have a little bit more constriction as to what they can pick due to use working out of the girls guide, but please encourage your girl to do this if she is interested.  What happens is, your girl chooses a topic/badge.  She works with you (or other parent, or adult in her life) to design activities for the troop to do that meet the requirements for the badge.  I can meet with you to help with the planning, and guide your girl as well.  It has been a lot of fun for the young women who elected to do this last year.

Money earning for the year starts soon.  Our bank about has about $325 in it right now, and I will have the current, exact total at the parent meeting.  Girl scouts, as a whole, has 2 fundraising campaigns the girls do throughout the year.  One is the fall product sale, which is nuts, candies, and magazines, and the other is our cookie sale.  As a troop, we will participate in both of these.  The reason for that is because if we participate in both campaigns, we can do outside fundraising as well, such as a bake sale, or car wash.  Fall product sales are not as well known as cookie sales, and I don't want ANYONE to get nervous or worried about the amount their daughter sells.  It is important that our entire troop makes an effort, but I don't care if they sell one $6 tin of nuts, or $500 worth of nuts. Each effort is equal, and all will be recognized for a job well done.  Cookies are easier to sell, but also can be a pain (LOL).  I get it - please dont feel pressured.  Something I'd like to touch on in the parent meeting, then again before cookie sales, is booking a large amount of booths.  Its much easier to sell at booths than it is to go door to door, and every booth has at least 2 girls at it so its sometimes more fun as well.

Cookie sales are where troops garner the largest amount of their funds - our previous cookie sales are responsible for funding everything we did last year, as well as the remaining balance in our account this year, so it really is a very important fundraiser for the girls.

Something I'd like all the parents to consider is a money earning project in the month of September or early October.  I was thinking something like a bake sale or car wash.  We could even do both.  These would go to bring down our costs for our two events this fall.  If there is anyone who would like to take on planning these with me, please let me know.  We will also have girls involved in the planning as well.  The *biggest* thing we need to consider is WHERE to have these things.  Church is often a great place for a bake sale - so if someone is a member at a church, that may be something to look into.  We can also cold call companies, such as ACE Hardware, or Trader Joe's and ask if we can have a bake sale near their entrance.  Please take a few minutes and think of any connections you may have or ideas you have, so we can talk about them at the parent meeting. 

In closing - LOL - that's all I have for now.  Please, again, let me know ASAP if you cannot attend the parent meeting Sept. 6th, and please reach out to me through email, text, facebook, or phone if you have any questions or concerns - I am almost always available.  I am looking so forward to spending time with your little ladies again this year - Yay girl scouts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like/use this - was is beneficial to you? Please comment and let me know!

                 

Parent Email - Start of the Year

Girl Scout 

verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

I've been remiss on my posting lately, and I apologize. Writing this blog and providing resources for other girl scout leaders is a sincere passion of mine. 

Unfortunately, my mother passed away from stage 4 lung cancer that had metastasized to her brain, femur and heart this past week. It has been a whirlwind of caring for her, funeral arrangements and settling her affairs. 

I did come across an email that I used at the beginning of the year and wanted to share it with you all. It's personalized for my troop but it's a pretty good template and the verbiage is really well put together. I hope some of you find it helpful. 

Girl Scouts 2016-2017 *Important*

Hello! It is that time of year again...school is starting.  AND....Girl Scouts is coming back to your regularly scheduled programming!!  I am very excited to be seeing your girls again regularly (or to begin seeing them, if they are new!) and cannot wait.  SO. I wanted to send out a quick email - even though I know we, as a group, are terrible at emails lol.

I wanted to apologize for my lateness in this email - It's been half written for weeks.  My mom (as most of you know) is very sick with stage 4 lung cancer, and last week, we discovered it had metastasized further, to her heart.  She was given 3-6 weeks to live.  I did end up flying out to Minneapolis again to tend to her, and spend time with her, and have plans to do so again in Sept.  This may interrupt girl scouts at some point, but I am confidant that our parent volunteers will be able to step up and get us through. 

We have a really exciting year coming up - our Daisy's and Brownie's have a lot on their docket!  We will discuss them more in depth at our first meeting - September 6th - but I wanted to give a quick overview.  Our Daisy's will be working out of the girls guide for Daisy's and our Brownies will be working out of the girls guide for Brownies.  We will do TWO really fun events this first half of the year.  1.  A day trip here in town to the Poplar Grove Plantation.  They have fantastic educational programs for us to choose from.  This will cost about $7 per girl, plus a patch if we decide to get a patch for it.  This event will be open to all scouts, parents, and family members.  2.  An overnight trip to the Asheboro Zoo.  Melissa (our second in command) and any other parent who would like to will help me design some fun events for this overnight.  We will plan to leave town around 7 or 8a on a Saturday, and return around dinner time on a Sunday.  We'd like this to happen in October or November.  This event will be open to ONLY registered scouts and registered volunteers, due to constrictions regarding insurance, and girl scout policy.  The cost for this will be around $35 per person, and that will cover food, admission to the zoo, hotel stay, and transportation.  If we would like the girls to receive a badge for this event, there would be an additional $0.75 - $1.50 added.  
The reason for two trips - one overnight, one day trip - is because we have a variety of girls who span different ages, and may be at different places in terms of how comfortable they are in leaving mom and dad.  I wantEVERY girl to be able to have a great experience so I did a lot of research to find a great day trip here in town.  I think we will be very pleased with Poplar Grove Plantation.

We are planning on meeting weekly this year, Tuesdays, from 6p to 7p.  Please reach out to me ASAP if you have some major conflict with this day or time.

The first meeting of the year will be September 6th, in our regular meeting place.  This will be our *parent* meeting, so each girl will need at least one parent present for this meeting.  If you cannot make it, please reach out to me and we can work on alternate arrangements.  Since we joined together mid year last year, none of us have been through this meeting together in the past, but I think you will all enjoy it.  I will have a calendar to hand out, a parent letter that will over our troop standards - and these are just generic guidelines - all of you and all of your girls are simply wonderful people!

We will talk about the various roles that need to be filled and availability for all of you to help.  I handled most of them last year, and I will absolutely handle any of them that need to be done, but any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Snacks should once again be pretty simple.  As far as I know, none of our new girls have allergies.  If someone has a new allergy, or anything that would interfere with what type of snack was provided, please reach out to me and I will make sure it is listed in the parent letter.  This year, you will also have the opportunity to opt out of your snack day(s).  If you choose to do this, you will need to make a $10 contribution to the troop, and I will make sure snack is provided.

As our girls age, we will continue to encourage them to lead their own activities, meetings, etc, as that is one of the cornerstones of girl scouts.  As such, we will continue to allow girls to pick a badge and lead a meeting.  We will have a little bit more constriction as to what they can pick due to use working out of the girls guide, but please encourage your girl to do this if she is interested.  What happens is, your girl chooses a topic/badge.  She works with you (or other parent, or adult in her life) to design activities for the troop to do that meet the requirements for the badge.  I can meet with you to help with the planning, and guide your girl as well.  It has been a lot of fun for the young women who elected to do this last year.

Money earning for the year starts soon.  Our bank about has about $325 in it right now, and I will have the current, exact total at the parent meeting.  Girl scouts, as a whole, has 2 fundraising campaigns the girls do throughout the year.  One is the fall product sale, which is nuts, candies, and magazines, and the other is our cookie sale.  As a troop, we will participate in both of these.  The reason for that is because if we participate in both campaigns, we can do outside fundraising as well, such as a bake sale, or car wash.  Fall product sales are not as well known as cookie sales, and I don't want ANYONE to get nervous or worried about the amount their daughter sells.  It is important that our entire troop makes an effort, but I don't care if they sell one $6 tin of nuts, or $500 worth of nuts. Each effort is equal, and all will be recognized for a job well done.  Cookies are easier to sell, but also can be a pain (LOL).  I get it - please dont feel pressured.  Something I'd like to touch on in the parent meeting, then again before cookie sales, is booking a large amount of booths.  Its much easier to sell at booths than it is to go door to door, and every booth has at least 2 girls at it so its sometimes more fun as well.

Cookie sales are where troops garner the largest amount of their funds - our previous cookie sales are responsible for funding everything we did last year, as well as the remaining balance in our account this year, so it really is a very important fundraiser for the girls.

Something I'd like all the parents to consider is a money earning project in the month of September or early October.  I was thinking something like a bake sale or car wash.  We could even do both.  These would go to bring down our costs for our two events this fall.  If there is anyone who would like to take on planning these with me, please let me know.  We will also have girls involved in the planning as well.  The *biggest* thing we need to consider is WHERE to have these things.  Church is often a great place for a bake sale - so if someone is a member at a church, that may be something to look into.  We can also cold call companies, such as ACE Hardware, or Trader Joe's and ask if we can have a bake sale near their entrance.  Please take a few minutes and think of any connections you may have or ideas you have, so we can talk about them at the parent meeting. 

In closing - LOL - that's all I have for now.  Please, again, let me know ASAP if you cannot attend the parent meeting Sept. 6th, and please reach out to me through email, text, facebook, or phone if you have any questions or concerns - I am almost always available.  I am looking so forward to spending time with your little ladies again this year - Yay girl scouts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like/use this - was is beneficial to you? Please comment and let me know!

                 

How to Plan a Girl Scout Meeting

Girl Scout 
verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

As we zoom towards the new year, many leaders are already in the trenches, planning meetings, and holding meetings.  For some leaders, this comes naturally - and for some...it's a labor of love.

Everyone does it differently.  But there are some parts of the meeting that are pretty standard.  There are typically six parts of a girl scout meeting.  Those parts are: 

1. Start up
1. Otherwise known as pre-meeting activities. These are the things one sets out to occupy girls as they arrive, until it is time to start the meeting.  They vary with age - for instance, I set out coloring pages for my Daisies.  Cadettes, or older girls, may not need anything set out, as they can usually handle entertaining themselves.  This may also be a good time to have girls vote on things of importance - like which badge do you want to work on next, or and upcoming trip - please select your top three choices so we can discuss the most popular ones as a group.  This should be simple, and easy to pick up - AND - if you make this part FUN, it is a great incentive for girls to arrive on time!
2. Opening
1. This is the official call to order for your meeting.  Everyone does this differently, but it should be something to bring the girls together.  In the past, I have gathered my girls in a circle, and we've recited the promise.  However, historically, girl scouts have started their meeting with both a recitation of the promise, as well as a flag ceremony.  I have neglected to do this, because of an incorrect assumption that it was pretty time consuming.  I recently chatted with another leader at length, and she really delved into how her troop handles a flag ceremony, and it literally took TWO minutes.  So, we will be adding that this year.  Some other suggestions are starting with a song or game.
3. Troop Business
1. I am a big fan of troop business.  This is when I collect forms, and I suppose if you collect dues, you would do this at this time as well.  You can touch on old business - 'Just a reminder girls, permission forms are due next week.  Cookies start Jan 12th.  Etc.'  Any simple decision making or planning is done at this point as well.
   *I have found, in discussion with other leaders, this is the most common section to be dropped when it comes to meeting planning.*
4. Activity
1. This is self explanatory.  The activity portion is when you will handle the crafts, badge work, etc for the meeting.  This is the meat of the meeting.
5. Clean up
1. This is self explanatory.  This is time designated for the girls to clean up and put the meeting space back the way it was before they had their meeting.  Girl scouts always leave a place looking cleaner than they found it.  It is important that all of your girls are involved with this step, and many troops find kaper chart to be useful for these tasks.
6. Closing
1. This signifies the ending of the meeting.  It is a great time to reiterate the girls accomplishments during the meeting, and let them know what to expect in upcoming meetings.  It is also a great idea to do some sort of feel good activity.  Some troops like to sing a song - my troop does a friendship circle complete with a friendship squeeze.

Now that we have all of that hammered out, some people find it useful to use a template to plan their meetings.  Personally, I like to use a laminated paper that I can write on with dry erase markers, then erase and use again for the next meeting.  

To find a copy of the form I printed and laminated (helloooooo Fedex!) so that I could reuse often, please click here!

Some leaders prefer a paper copy they can write on, and save.  Some like to hand these to the girls to run their own meeting, and lets be honest.  Some leaders prefer a cute, well organized meeting planner that is not only useful, but also makes them smile.  

If you are that leader, please click here to find a copy of a meeting planning for that a fellow leader has created and shared with all of us to use.  And while you use it, give a little shout out to Angela Brooks who has been so kind as to share with all of us.

As always, my resources are your resources.  Please feel free to use these as you find useful.  You will never find a fee, or a link to Etsy or Teachers Pay Teachers for the resources found on this site - leaders devote enough time and effort to their girls - no need to reach into your pocketbook as well.

Did you use these planners? How did they work for you?  Do you have another awesome resource you use for planning? Comment and let me know - the more information we have, the merrier!

Girl Scout Trip Behavior Contract

Girl Scout 
verb

Being a Girl Scout is something you DO, and it is an EXPERIENCE that no girl should miss!

Trips can be a daunting task.  But they are also rewarding, and fun, and an absolutely pleasure to partake in.  The planning for them can be a beast - and I WILL talk about that in another post - and the execution is sometimes a labor of love.  However. Watching your young ladies bond, learn, and evolve into smart, vibrant, confident young women is fantastic.

This post addresses some of the expectations you have for your girls and parents during the execution of the trip.  The two forms I am sharing with you today come from a wonderful leader - Colleen Doctorian - who has gracefully allowed me to blog about and share these with you.  They are a GREAT starting point. 

The first form is a permission slip with a payment schedule built right into it.  I love this idea because everything is up front, and there is no room for surprises.  The amount on the example is $421.28.  However, I just did a mock up of this form for my own girls, with a total due of $35.  We have 3 payments due - a non refundable deposit of $15, and two subsequent payments of $10.  So you can see this form will work with any amount.  

PERMISSION SLIP W/PAYMENT SCHEDULE

I really like this form simply because it lays out the expectations for parents clearly and concisely, and should prevent any awkward or unfun interactions with parents later in the process.  It provides consequences for a variety of things - from having to retrieve your girl, to losing your deposit.  It out lays out general behavior expectations.  I really think it is a well written form - and I think you will find great use in it!

The second form is a girl behavior form.  This one is pretty thorough and can be tailored to fit a day trip, and is already set up to fit an overnight.  It discusses a wide variety of expectations as well.  It opens with empowering the girl to take charge and responsibility, and the number 1 rule addresses the Girl Scout law and promise.  It goes on to address basic behavior expectations, as well as things like phone use in a hotel, quiet time, and what kinds of behaviors will result in a girl being sent home.

GIRL BEHAVIOR FORM

Please enjoy utilizing these forms, and offer Colleen Doctorian a little shout out for sharing her great resources.  Did you use these? I love to hear how these resources were used, and helped other troops - please share!