Investiture and Rededication Ceremony

During our first meeting of 2015, we held an Investiture and Rededication Ceremony to welcome a new member into our troop.  "Investiture welcomes new members, girls or adults, into the Girl Scout family for the first time. Girls receive their Girl Scout, Girl Scout Brownie, or Girl Scout Daisy pin at this time."  "Rededication Ceremonies are an opportunity for girls and adults to renew their commitment to the Girl Scout Promise and Law."  It is suggested by Council that these ceremonies be held each year, and I read that many troops hold a joint Investiture and Rededication Ceremony in October, when the Girl Scout year begins.  I will admit that our older girls are in their fifth year as Girl Scouts, and this was only our second ceremony.  When our girls began their first year as Daisy Girl Scouts in kindergarten, we held an Investiture Ceremony.  You can read all about that sweet ceremony here.  

To begin our Investiture and Rededication Ceremony, I described the difference between the two types of ceremonies to the girls.  I explained the importance of the Girl Scout membership pin.  We welcomed the newest member into our troop.  I continued by reading the story of Juliette Gordon Low and her magnificent strand of pearls:

"In the early years of Girl Scouting Juliette Gordon Low, or Daisy as she was affectionately known, dedicated almost all of her personal assets to pay for the expenses of the movement. Her vision and passion for helping girls became self-sufficent, strong leaders was the moving force in her life; no sacrifice was too great for her girls.
Daisy owned a magnificent strand of pearls - one of her most cherished possessions. She loved her pearls; they were beautiful and quite valuable, and Daisy reserved them for special occasions.
By 1915, if the organization was to continue to grow, funds were desperately needed. To support the movement for another year, Daisy sold her exquisite pearls, once again putting the needs of the girls over her personal desires."

Each girl then had the opportunity to share what they would do to help others if they suddenly had a great deal of money.  (Side note:  At the suggestion of one of our co-leaders, I emailed our families a few days before the meeting and requested they ask the girls the following question:  "If you were given a lot of money, or if you sold something really valuable, or if you won the lottery, what would you do with that money to bless or help others?"  Asking this question in advance was brilliant (Thank you, Mandy!).  The girls had their answers prepared for the ceremony, and more importantly, it gave them an opportunity to talk about serious issues with their families.  We knew if we didn't give them time to consider their answers, we would have had blank stares and shrugging shoulders during the meeting).  As I mentioned in a previous post, children are natural helpers.  They have good hearts.  A few of the girls said they would use their money to help homeless people.  A couple of the girls mentioned giving the money to an animal protection organization.  One girl wanted to help children battling life-threatening illnesses by providing these children and their families a free Disney vacation through Give the Kids the World.  Another girl wanted to give her money to Friends of Bethany.
 

We gathered around the island in my kitchen for a candle ceremony:

ALL:  (Recite the Girl Scout Promise)  "On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country (leader lights one of three candles), to help people at all times (leader lights second of three candles), and to live by the Girl Scout Law."  (leader lights third of three candles).
ALL:  "I will do my best to be..." 
GIRL 1:  honest and fair
GIRL 2:  friendly and helpful
GIRL 3:  considerate and caring
GIRL 4:  courageous and strong
GIRL 5:  responsible for what I say and do, and to
GIRL 6:  respect myself and others
GIRL 7:  respect authority
GIRL 8:  use resources wisely
GIRL 9:  make the world a better place
GIRL 10:  and be a sister to every Girl Scout.
*Prior to the ceremony, we stuck one birthday candle in each cupcake.  When the girl read her Law component, she held her cupcake and tipped the candle into the flame of one of the candles lit by a leader.  (Thank you for that suggestion, Amy!) 
Once the candles were all lit, we sang the Girl Scout Law song.   

 
This ceremony lasted about 30 minutes because I first wanted to explain what was going to happen, what they needed to do, and the girls got in position.  Of course there are always a few giggles and sweet shenanigans... 

We spent the first half hour of our meeting reviewing for the Cookie Sale that starts January 9th in our area.  Check out this link to see how we prepared for the Cookie Sale when our girls were Daisies.  We spent the remaining half hour of the meeting completing the Energy Expert Patch Workbook from Consumers Energy.  We requested the free patches for our Brownies and Juniors last spring.  As of June 1, 2014, the free patch program is only available for Michigan residents.  The Brownie and Junior Workbooks are slightly different, but they were similar enough to complete together.  As we worked through the packet, we skipped a few activities and asked that they finish them at home.  When we began talking about conductors and insulators, the 4th graders got really excited.  They had been studying that unit in science class, and their test was scheduled for the following morning!  Overall, I think they enjoyed earning the Energy Expert patch.  Thank you for reading!