| 1. |
Help! I just signed up to be a leader, now what do
I do?
The troop organizer should have given you some paperwork to fill
out. Fill out the Volunteer Personnel application and return it to
the organizer.Give the three references to people who know you and
make sure they get them filled out and mailed in. While you wait for
your references to be turned it, you can get started on your
training. Your Organizer can give you the name of the SU Orientation
specialist who will help you get signed up for training classes.
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| 2. |
I'm ready to have my parents' meeting, but I don't
know exactly what to present at the meeting.
Your training will lead you through a parents' meeting. The
module (take home booklet) has a great sample meeting agenda. When
you call the parents to inform them of the meeting, make sure you
remind them to bring their checkbook, daughter's shot records, and
health insurance information. Remember that some families may find
the dues, uniforms, and cost of a handbook prohibitive, so make sure
you cover financial assistance in the meeting. Parents can talk to
you privately if they choose this option. It is appropriate to use
troop money to buy a Leader handbook. Just remember that the Leader
book belongs to the troop and should go with the troop supplies if
you decide to leave Girl Scouts. If you need help putting together a
presentation about the Girl Scout program, contact your organizer or
the consultant for your level (Daisy, Brownie, etc.). You can find
their email addresses on the Team page of this website.
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| 3. |
I need to have my first girl meeting, but I don't
have any ideas. How can I come up with something new and different
every two weeks for the rest of the year?
I hate to sound like a broken record here, but your level
consultant or the troop organizer should be able to help you with
ideas for the first few meetings to get you started. During your
first couple of meetings, make time to talk to the girls about what
they are interested in, and plan some meetings around their
interests. Remember also that they will probably list things they
already know about, so try to schedule a few activities that are
outside their normal interests. Field trips are great, as you just
provide transportation, the rest is done for you. If you look
through the leader's handbook, or the girls' book, you can plan a
meeting around earning a petal, tryit, etc. Have your investiture
and rededication ceremony in the fall, maybe a Holiday party or
service project in the winter, and develop some outdoor skills in
the spring.
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| 4. |
How much should I charge for dues?
Dues for most troops average around $5 a month. Give parents the
option of paying up front for the year, monthly, or at each meeting.
Remember cookie money should be deposited in March or April, which
can help with end-of-year expenses, such as Encampment, Court of
Awards, or a year-end party. Keep your troop checkbook balanced and
dues money deposited. Dues should be paid up to date for any girl
attending a troop event. If you accumulate more money than you can
spend, consider cancelling dues for the remainder of the year. At
the end of the year, unless the same girls are continuing on to next
year, you should spend the money down to the amount you started with
in the beginning of the year. If you have significant troop funds
left, you can buy each girl a handbook or badgebook. This is
especially helpful for girls that are bridging up to the next level.
It is a nice gift to give them during their bridging ceremony, and
ensures that the girls that are leaving the troop take some of their
hard-earned money with them when they move on. You can also ask the
girls what they would like to spend their cookie money on. They may
say a trip to Disney world, but you should be able to find a
compromise that they'll love and you can handle. A great year-end
trip or pool party can help ensure they'll want to return to Girl
Scouting in the fall.
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| 5. |
What is an investiture ceremony? How do I make a
Rededication special when we've already done so many?
An investiture ceremony is a girl or adult's welcome into Girl
Scouting for the first time. Rededication is similar, except it is
for girls and adults that have already been invested. As part of
this ceremony, girls or adults make the Girl Scout Promise, and new
Girl Scouts are given their membership pin. Before the ceremony, the
girls should learn about the values and ideals of Girl Scouting and
become acquainted with the Girl Scout Law. During the ceremony, the
girls should commit themselves to these ideals in a meaningful way.
Daisies love ceremonies where they recite their lines together, or
can place an object symbolically without having to speak. Older
Brownies and up can help plan their ceremony, which will make it
special and unique. Older Juniors and Cadettes love candle-lighting,
just make sure you have permission from the meeting place for open
flame. Perhaps each girl can recite what one part of the law means
to them, or they can act out a skit that shows how a Girl Scout
should behave in a given situation.
It is easier to generate ideas if you pick a theme. Look over the
tryits / badges / field trips the girls have most enjoyed for ideas.
Some ideas for themes are Arts and Crafts, Camping, A Garden, Girl
Scouting Through the Decades, Sports. You can also have your
ceremony in an unexpected place, such as a bowling alley or a local
park. GSUSA has a good handbook, Ceremonies in Girl Scouting, which
is available in the GS shops and through the GS catalog.
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| 6. |
Why do I need to attend Service Unit meetings? What
is a Service Unit anyway?
The Girl Scout organizational structure is broken into
geographical areas, the smallest of which is the Service Unit. At
the top level is the national headquarters, GSUSA. The next level
consists of the Girl Scout Councils. We belong to Girl Scout Council
of the Nation's Capital (GSCNC). Our council has over 50,000
registered girls. To provide service to the girls and the
communities they live in, our Council is split into 22 associations,
ours being 80, Eastern Prince William County. We are service unit 9
of association 80.
The best reason I can give for going to Service Unit meetings, is
to find out what is going on in scouting in our community, Prince
William County, and our council. You will get information on events,
such as the Father Daughter Dance, Thinking Day, and Encampment. You
will also get a chance to meet with other leaders at your level and
pick up some great ideas. You can also voice your opinion on what
kind of events you'd like to see our service unit offer. If you ever
find yourself wondering why you keep missing everything, or finding
out about stuff late, you're probably not attending Service Unit
Meetings! Besides, they are a great place to network!
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| 7. |
Do I have to keep receipts, deposit dues, and use
the checkbook? Can't I just keep everything in cash and spend
that?
Remember that all the money you collect from parents, or get from
cookies sales, or any other income, is the girls' money. If someone
else was holding and spending your money, wouldn't you want to see a
receipt? Try keeping an envelope with your troop number in your
purse or fanny pack. Whenever you buy something for the troop, stick
the receipt in the envelope. You'll need the receipts at the end of
the year to produce the Money Manager report. Once you sign the
signature card for your troop checking account, you can pay for
troop supplies directly from the troop account. That eliminates the
need to pay yourself back when you spend your own money. Make sure
you make deposits regularly and update the balance so you don't
overdraw the troop account. If you do overdraw the account, you will
need to reimburse the troop for the amount of the bank
penalties.
And one more note on money and I'll shut up - if you don't think
managing money is your strong point, remember that the troop money
manager can be one of the parents. This is a great job for someone
who is too busy otherwise to help out. They just have to reimburse
you for money you spend, deposit dues, cookie money, and other
income, and put together a Money Manager's report at the end of the
year to document income and expenses.
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| 8. |
What is Thinking Day? How do I prepare myself and
my troop for it?
Thinking Day in our Service Unit is two things - one is the Girl
Scout holiday linking girls worldwide on February 22, the other is
an event our Service Unit holds every year, usually at a local
school, to celebrate that holiday. The Girl Scout holiday is on the
birthday of both Lord Baden-Powell and his wife Olave, who started
the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements. For more information on the
history of this international celebration, check your handbook, or
go to GSUSA's website,
click on Our Program, then International Girl Scouting, then click
on the link to World Thinking Day.
As for how to prepare for it, the most important piece of advice
is to attend SU meetings. We will begin planning for this winter
event in the fall. Each troop will be asked to choose a country to
represent. We will also pick a theme, which may be famous women, or
endangered animals, etc. Research your country or theme by going to
websites or getting books out of the library. Make sure you check
out any websites in advance to prevent the girls from inadvertently
visiting an inappropriate site. Our community has a significant
percentage of military families, so some of your parents may have
artifacts you could borrow depending on the country you choose. Once
you have your research assembled, purchase or make a cardboard
display panel, grab some markers, and stand back! You will be amazed
at what the girls' creativity can come up with! And for you Daisy
leaders, just plan to come to the event with your girls, don't worry
about making a display. This is a great introduction for the
youngest girls to the world of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides.
A couple of reminders - when planning for attending the event,
remember to bring the following; 1. your display (duh!) 2. a
permission slip signed by the parents of each girl 3. a passport for
each girl so she can visit each country and get a stamp 4. a stamp
that symbolizes your country (like tulips for the Netherlands, or a
zebra for Africa) so you can stamp visitors 5. a goody bag for each
girl to collect give-aways from each country visited 6. a
penny-a-pound (or inch) for each girl to donate to the Juliette Low
World Friendship Fund.
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| 9. |
What do my girls need to bring to
encampment?
The most valuable tool to bring to encampment is a well-trained,
confident leader. The council has fantastic training courses (see
the Training link below) that will give you the knowledge and
confidence you need to take a troop of girls into the woods. You
will also learn tricks on how to deal with "unforeseen events" that
you can count on happening to someone at camp, such as wetting the
sleeping bag, homesickness, run-ins with creepy crawlies in the
cabin, etc.
As for the girls, what they should bring depends on whether you
are staying one night or two, and what the weather is like. Here's a
packing list to get you started. In
addition to the girls' supplies, you will also need Permission
Slips, Health Histories and Authorization for Emergency Medical
Treatment forms (girls and adults), and swaps. To download the
forms, go to the GSCNC website (see Links below), click on
QuickLinks, and select Download a Form. You may also be asked to
bring other items, depending on the program, such as toilet paper,
latrine cleaning supplies, fire-building supplies, s'more makings,
mess kits in a mesh bag (girls should bring their own), kaper
charts, and/or an activity for troop time. If these items are
unfamiliar to you, or this is your first camping trip with your
girls, contact your level consultant a couple of months before
encampment for suggestions on how to get your girls and yourself
ready. | |
Leaders new and returning:
Your questions
are answered in your Green Pages reference book from council (paid for
with SHARE dollars-2005 edition is latest) and your SafetyWise reference
book(GSUSA Policies, Standards, and Checkpoints-2000 edition).
Each troop should have a copy of these two books that belongs to the
troop.
*Training-what do I need? page 3 Green
Pages(GP) *Training-how do I register? page 74GP *What is Troop
activity/camping eligibility form and when do I need it?pg 7,37 *What
is SHARE? pg 17GP *Are there council policies?pg 25-29GP *What do I
need to know to take my troop on a field trip?pg 6-10GP *What do I need
to do to open a troop checking account?pg 18GP *What are some other GS
publications? pg 4-5 GP *Who and how do we fundraise and what forms do
we use?pg 19-21GP *Do I need a first aider and a camp qualified person
for every overnight?first aid-pg4,6,12 GPcamp qualified pg 7-8GP What
are High Adventure activities?pg 9GP Forms-ABCs pg.37-38 A-Always
Required B-Be Prepared-use as needed C-Can Be Helpful-optional
opportunies and resource forms
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