Bake Sale and S'mores Fest

BAKE SALE
To kick off the school year, our principal allowed our troop to host a Bake Sale during Open House.  By holding the event prior to the the first day of school, we did not have to get permission from the School Board.  I did make sure to get permission from Council.  I was told they generally approve fundraisers if the girls are offering a product or service to the customers.  Our Council provided paperwork for us to distribute throughout the evening to girls interested in joining Girl Scouts.

Prior to the Bake Sale, we made some signs.  We also displayed photos from past troop events and activities on a large piece of poster board.  This allowed potential Girl Scouts to discover some opportunities they could have if they joined a troop. 

I asked the girls to each bake something to be sold at the Bake Sale (with an adult's supervision, of course).  If Brownies are working on the Snack badge, a Bake Sale easily satisfies Step 3: Try a Sweet Snack.  If Juniors are earning the Simple Meals badge, they can complete Step 4: Create a Delicious Dessert.  We had quite an array of sweet treats: Brookies, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats, and M&M cookies.  My favorite baked good might have been the cupcake that was inspired by the school's mascot.  The "Cougar Cupcake" was a vanilla cupcake topped with buttercream, filled with strawberry jam, and baked in a red cupcake liner to match the school colors.  The cougar paw was made with a mini Oreo cookie and four chocolate chips.  Super cute!

The girls earned over $130 in two hours!  This money will be combined with a portion of the profits from the 2016 Cookie Sale, and the girls will plant a garden this spring for veterans and their families staying at the Fisher House in Cincinnati.  

S'MORES FEST 2015

In early September, a neighboring Service Unit hosted a FREE S'mores Fest event at a nearby state park.  Several years ago, our Daisy troop attended a Council-sponsored S'mores Fest Recruitment Event at one of the Girl Scout campgrounds.  We had fun, so I registered our girls for this event.

Upon our arrival, the girls gathered in a circle to play an ice breaker.  Each girl was asked to say her name and tell the group what she brought to the picnic.  The item had to begin with the first letter of her name:  "My name is Laurie, and I brought lemonade."  Because there were some younger girls in attendance, each girl was only asked to say her own name, what she brought, the name of the person to her right, and what she brought.  If older girls are playing, it's fun to try to repeat the name and item for each person in the circle.

The girls were divided into three groups by troop, and they rotated through three different stations:  s'mores, songs, and games.  The older girls hosting the event had lists of games and songs, and our girls were asked to choose between two games or songs, depending on the station.  They had enough time to play a couple of games and sing a few of songs at these stations.  There were enough ingredients available to allow each girl to make two s'mores.

Getting Girl Scouts together from across the community was the goal of this S'mores Fest, but what a fun way to recruit and register girls!  If you are hosting your own S'mores Fest, you may consider having a registration table and paperwork available for girls interested in joining a troop.  Based on my observations, the success of this event is highly dependent on the weather, available shelter, the number of girls in attendance, and the number of volunteers willing to help.  Looking forward, if enough help is available, it might be fun to include a craft station.  Years ago, our girls made God's Eyes with lollipop sticks and yarn.  This could be relatively inexpensive to try at S'mores Fest, especially if the event is held outdoors.  Two small sticks can replace the lollipop sticks, and the host only has to provide the yarn.   

When the weather doesn't cooperate, the event could be held at a local civic center or church.  While roasting marshmallows over an open fire would not be possible in this situation, you can still provide a s'mores-inspired treat.  I invite you to check out this post for s'more mini cupcakes that would be perfect for an indoor event.  

This month our troop will be learning all about the art of glassblowing.  Please check back soon to read about the experience!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Recruitment Meeting, registration paperwork, fees, dues, Parent Meeting, meetings...aaahh!  Maybe you volunteered to be a troop leader, or maybe someone strongly persuaded you and you reluctantly accepted the position.   In any case, take a deep breath.  Consider one task at a time as you prepare for your first meeting.  In this post I will share how we successfully conducted troop business.

RECRUITMENT MEETING:  See my previous post.  

REGISTRATION PAPERWORK:  When our girls were in Kindergarten, the parents were asked to complete the required paperwork at the recruitment meeting.  In the spring of their Kindergarten year, the girls re-registered for the upcoming school year.  If 50% of your troop re-registers by June 30th (along with a leader), our Council offers a 15% Off Discount Coupon to use at the Council Shop along with an Early Bird Patch for these individuals.  If your troop takes advantage of these Early Bird Incentives and you participate in the fall product sale, you benefit from increased cookie sale profit.  The funds in our troop bank account were boosted this year because we took advantage of these incentives.  I should also mention that On-Time Registration ends September 1st for those girls interested in re-registering.  Some girls are uncertain about continuing with Girl Scouts.  As leaders (and parents) we should support them and give them time to make a decision on their own.  Last year we had a girl re-register in early November.  No worries.  Really.

FEES:  Registration is $12.  We ask that at least one adult register with each girl.  This person can be a parent or guardian, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or close family friend.  Any person chaperoning a meeting or transporting girls to special activities or events must be a registered Girl Scout.

DUES:  We decided to collect $18 at the beginning of each year.  To be honest, this figure was agreed upon simply because $18 dues + $12 registration equals a nice even $30.  Our first year we informed the families that they would have some out-of-pocket expenses during the year.  Our second year, thanks to cookie sale profit, our troop was completely self-sufficient.  After the initial $30 for registration and troop dues, the families had no additional expenses related to participation in the troop.  The girls and their parents did not have to remember to bring dues to each meeting, and we did not have to worry about collecting any dues after the initial meeting.  

Please note that the budget created for our troop is based on the standard of living in the Midwest.  The cost for a troop to go roller skating in Cincinnati may vary from the cost to do the same activity in other parts of the country.
  
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:  Please see this link for more information.

HEALTH FORMS (or Emergency Medical Forms, as I like to call them):  Do NOT fail to have a completed and signed health form for each girl in your troop.  You may also consider having them for all leaders and adult chaperones too.  You never know when something might happen.  When I was a student athletic trainer, I spent my sophomore year of college traveling with a Division I men's soccer team.  There was ONE athlete on the team who repeatedly failed to turn over his medical form, but he continually promised to have it.  When we were boarding the bus to leave for the first game of the season, he still could not produce the form.  He assured me that his entire family would be in attendance because the game was being played near his hometown.  Wouldn't you know not five minutes after he set foot on that field, he was kicked in the shin.  He fractured his tibia.  I summoned his parents from the stands after the Certified Athletic Trainer for the home team helped me splint the broken leg. (This was my first unsupervised road trip as a student athletic trainer).  His parents accompanied him to the hospital.  He was a sweet guy--as they wheeled him away, he took one look at my frazzled expression  and apologized.  Needless to say, I learned my lesson.  I carry these forms in a binder in my backpack to every Girl Scout function.

PARENT LETTER:  At the recruitment meeting, I distributed a letter to all who registered with our troop.  I used this opportunity to touch base with everyone.  We did not have a separate parent meeting.  I included leader contact information and then typed the following:

“'Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.'  (Girl Scouts Mission Statement).  There are troops for girls of every age.  Daisy Girl Scouts spend time in Kindergarten and first grade learning the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law.  Our meetings and outings have been designed to help the girls earn daisy petal patches for her uniform.  The blue center of the daisy set represents the Girl Scout Promise while each petal represents one part of the Girl Scout Law.  The girls will earn the blue center and five of the ten petals this first year.  They will have the opportunity to make decisions for the troop and even sell cookies."

I then provided details about our meeting times and location.  I explained our dues and requested parental involvement for the cookie sale and outside events.  A tentative schedule for the year was also included in this letter.

MEETINGS:  We meet every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month (with a few exceptions).  The girls arrive at 4:15pm, and the meeting ends at 5:30pm.  Here is a sample schedule:

4:15pm  Arrive.  Assign kapers and buddies.
4:30pm  Girl Scout Promise, Pledge of Allegiance, Sharing Time (the girls answer a question that has to deal with a previous meeting/outing or something related to the present day's activity).
4:45pm  Song, Game, Craft, Lesson (or any combination of the four)
5:25pm  Closing 

SHUTTERFLY SHARE SITE:  Make your job a little easier by creating a troop website (or recruit a parent to manage the site for you).

"With Shutterfly Share sites, you can create a free photo-sharing website in minutes. Use your Share site to privately (or publicly) share photos with friends and family...or any group. As with any Shutterfly product, you can customize your website with exclusive designs and layouts specific to your tastes. With your new Share site, you are not limited to just sharing photos; share messages and updates, add videos, calendars, polls, team rosters, forums and more."

 I will be leading my younger daughter's Daisy troop in the fall.  The other leader and I decided to structure their troop business similarly.  Don't fix it if it is not broken, right?  Thanks for reading.

Rally the Troop: A Note on Recruitment

Before I rush to outline our petal activities and service projects as I promised in previous posts, I should describe how we went about inviting girls to join the troop.

There is a woman who serves as a troop leader for older girls who attend our elementary school.  She also volunteers as a Recruitment Coordinator for our school.  Her responsibilities include but are not limited to:  marketing Girl Scouts to the female student body, planning and running a recruitment meeting in the fall (and possibly again in the spring), securing leaders for a troop at each grade level, and assisting interested girls in finding a troop to join.  She worked with our Girl Scout Council in the first few weeks of the school year.  A couple of weeks prior to the recruitment meeting date, each female student in the school was given a flyer to take home.  Detailed information about the meeting was printed on the flyers.  Council provided paper bracelets that listed the date and time of our school-wide Recruitment Meeting.  The Recruitment Coordinator's contact information was also included for those individuals unable to attend the meeting and for people interested in addressing questions and concerns prior to the meeting.  She and I met at school during lunch the day of the meeting.  We secured the bracelets on the wrists of girls interested in learning more about Girl Scouts.  The bracelets served as a reminder to families interested in attending the meeting.   

The Girl Scout year begins on October 1st.  The recruitment meeting was scheduled on a weekday evening in late September.  We convened in the elementary school multipurpose room.  While parents met with leaders and filled out registration paperwork, members of the older troops in our school took aside younger prospective Scouts and taught them different Girl Scout songs.  The girls also enjoyed coloring together while discussing what to expect once they join a Girl Scout troop.

In the spring of our first year, we had the opportunity to re-register our troop.  Early Bird registration allows leaders to re-register their current troops for the upcoming Girl Scout year.  We always ask that one adult register with the child.  This person can be a parent or guardian, a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or even a neighbor.  On occasion, this adult may be asked to transport girls or chaperone a special event, and he or she must be a member of Girl Scouts.  As incentive to participate in the Early Bird registration, our Council offers each troop a 15% coupon to use in the Council Shop.  Any girl who re-registered for the 2011-2012 year received a limited edition 100th Anniversary patch from our Council that was only available to those who took advantage of Early Bird registration.   

As the summer progressed, we were fortunate to be contacted by several families expressing interest in joining our troop.  Our Service Unit was invited to a S'mores Fest registration event in late September at a nearby camp.  The event was free.  Participating troops were asked to provide their own dinners and s'mores ingredients.  Upon arrival, leaders were asked to turn in the $12 membership fee with each registration form.  Then we were led on a hike through the camp to see the different lodges and tents we could one day reserve for a camping trip. Members of older troops planned games and built a fire for the younger girls attending the event.  Fun was had by all!

Please feel free to share any of your recruitment meeting and registration event ideas with us.  Thank you for reading!