Bridging to Juniors: The Ceremony

Our Brownie troop bridged to Juniors in late May.  We devoted two meetings just to plan and prepare for this special ceremony, and their participation in this process satisfied the 5th step for the Celebrating Community badge.  In the previous post I provided details about our decorations, but I thought I would include some of the photos here, too.

OUR BRIDGING CEREMONY 

Welcome:  I began the event by welcoming our guests.  I also gave a brief overview of our year for the extended family members in the audience who may not have been familiar with our troop's activities and accomplishments.

Promise:  One of our girls led the troop in reciting the Girl Scout Promise. 

Pledge:  We had placed a flag in the corner of the ampitheater prior to the start of the event.  Another girl invited our guests to stand and join us in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Skit:  Two girls introduced our skit, politely requesting our guests not use flash photography (their idea).  This was adorable and got a few laughs.  The skit was written by the girls in the troop.  They brainstormed general ideas, agreed on one, and worked together to write the lines.  We leaders helped ensure the speaking parts were equally distributed.  In the skit, the girls helped a "younger girl" learn about Girl Scouts.  They incorporated the Girl Scout Law, the song "Make New Friends," and the Friendship Squeeze into the skit.  Super cute!

              

Introduction of Girls:  Prior to the ceremony, we filled mason jars with water and added a couple of drops of food coloring to each jar.  Just before the ceremony, we tied a balloon to each mason jar.  We lined them up in two rows, making the "bridge."  When the skit was finished, we announced the name of each girl and let her walk through the balloon bridge.  Once all the girls were lined up across the front of our stage area, we leaders said something special about each girl.  We chose to hand out the bridging gifts at the end of the ceremony, but we took time at this point in the ceremony to explain what each girl would be receiving in her gift box.

Balloon Ascension:  When they were planning the ceremony, one of the girls asked if they could each have a balloon from the balloon bridge to release at the end of the event to symbolize their graduation to Juniors.  We all thought this was a great idea, and we agreed the girls should end their ceremony this way. 

 

Kona Ice Snow Cones!:  The girls decided to have Kona Ice serve snow cones to the troop and their siblings after the ceremony.  This was a great way to end another great year!

The girls are going to work on the Junior aMUSE Journey in September.  This will be our first Journey, so I will be sure to post what worked and what, if anything, we would do differently.  The girls hope to work on their Bronze award next year and have also voted to earn the Camper, Detective, Jeweler, and Simple Meals badges.  We hope you will check back in with us.  Thank you for reading!