WHAT’S DUECHECK your folder for the “Parent Reminder”. This will let you know if I'm missing any paperwork (registrations, health histories, etc) or any outstanding balance from the previous scouting year.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DISCUSSEDCouncil Realignment: Palm Glades and Broward merger. Most information that you need to know is posted to the
http://www.browardgirlscouts.org/ website. Effective 10/1/08, the merger will be complete. Transition should feel seamless at the troop level.
Dues: Will be increased to $8 per month, per child ($10/mo if the troop is to provide snacks/drinks for each meeting). Can we afford to have the dues paid 2x per year (instead of monthly). September – January and February – June. This will also give us a little to 'build the bank' and allow earlier registration for events without waiting for $$ from parents for participation.
Girls’ Folders: I will put flyers for new events (including cost & deadline for registration), permission slips, patches earned, important information, etc. into your daughter’s folder. You & your daughter will be responsible for picking up the information at each meeting. As always, I will also post information to the troop website as well as email it.
Volunteer Sign-Up: As a leader, I can only do so much. You all did such an AMAZING job last year, that I thought we could do it again! We'll divide some of the annual responsibilities including:
- Nut Mom – Attend “nut training” and organize the fall fundraiser event for our troop.
Cookie Mom – Attend “cookie training” and be the primary organizer of the cookie sale. - Co-Cookie Mom - Supports the primary cookie mom in any way possible. (We must have 2 Moms for Cookie Training)
- Program Coordinator – Someone that could attend each meeting during the first/last 30 minutes to answer questions about upcoming events and collect checks for admission costs to these events. Would also be responsible for keeping track of event registration and deadlines.
Plan-A-Meeting: Any parent who has does not sign up for one of the above mentioned “positions” for our troop will be asked to host one meeting for our troop. What that means is that they will select a specific meeting date from our calendar and coordinate/execute the activities that one time only. They should be able to work with their daughter to select a badge of interest or program activity and, together, create a plan to complete the necessary tasks required. Of course, the troop will provide necessary supplies and I’ll be there to support the planning and completion efforts as well.
NEW STUFF ABOUT THE TROOP
Meetings – It is perfectly OK to drop the girls off for the meeting. It is easier for the girls to concentrate on the activity at hand when there are fewer distractions. Just be sure that you’ve checked your daughter’s folder and register for any upcoming events as necessary.
Community Service Work: Giving back to the community is one of the areas of Girl Scouting that we’ve not done much. I’d like to get the girls a bit more involved with some troop-driven community service work. Possibly with local pet rescue, senior citizen community, or similar. We’ll start small with something age-appropriate that they can get their feet wet with. We’ll see how the girls feel about all this. We’re also going to talk more this year about the Juliette Low Foundation and how we’d like to contribute to it.
Fundraisers: Just curious if the Moms are ready to work on any troop fundraising activities. These might help us to offset the individual costs associated with group program activities, etc. Things I think our girls would be able to coordinate include: troop garage sale, car wash, etc.
Bronze Award
The Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout can earn, requires her to learn the leadership and planning skills necessary to follow through on a project that makes a positive impact on her community. Working towards this award demonstrates her commitment to helping others, improving her community and the world, and becoming the best she can be.
The girls collectively decided that they wanted to earn this award as a troop, but we haven’t done much toward earning it yet. They have laid the foundation by earning badges in other areas; however there is still so much to do! We will alternate our regular meetings with Bronze Award meetings. This will allow the girls to work on their award in small increments as well as continue their badge work and ‘field trips’. The girls must participate in ALL of the Bronze Award events in order to earn the award. If for any reason you’re unable to attend, then the work must be made up at home and presented to the troop at the next meeting.
Denise Fatigate and her family have participated in this wonderful community service for several years now. Denise has asked if any of the troop families would be interested in participating. It's a wonderful opportunity to bring joy and warmth to those in need on a day when we should all give thanks for what we have. And to share our joy with seniors who are likely spending this holiday alone.
