TROOP
1378 WELCOME LETTER
Welcome
back to returning members and their parents. And welcome to our new members!
It’s going to be another great year of Girl Scouting!
What
did we do last year?
Fall
Festival, Fall Product Sales, Caroling at Old Schoolhouse park, Cookie
overnighter, Cookie Sales, World Friendship Day, Crime Prevention Day, the zoo,
Memorial Day parade, badge work, crafts, games, singing....
What
will we do this year?
There’s
always some things that we won’t get to from year to year that I hope we can
find a way to fit in. But this is really up to the girls.
Each
year, the girls get more opportunities to hone their leadership skills and make
more of the team/group decisions. I am also going to rely on the older girls to
help the new troop members. This is going to be a great opportunity for all of
us!
So
far the girls have discussed using their Product Sales money towards: Cedar
Point, Chuck E Cheese, Bowling, Six Flags, Water Park, Cosi, and the Zoo as
some big trips. Of course we won’t be able to do them all, but we will work
towards at least one special trip this summer.
Try-Its
badge work that was voted on by the troop:
Sports & Games
Making Music
Art to Wear
Movers
Friends are Fun
The
troop has also chosen to work for a patch to celebrate Ohio’s Bi-centennial.
Council
sponsored events
3rd Grade Brownies bridging to Juniors
are invited to attend Jumpin’ to Juniors to work towards their Junior Bridging
requirements. Activities will include singing, knots, fire building, first aid
and safety and much more as they work toward a Junior Badge. Since this is not
a complete troop event – we will not use the troop treasury to pay for this
event. In addition, this event is not a requirement for the girl’s to bridge to
Juniors. Cost will be $10 per girl. Date/Time: Feb 15, 2003, 10am – 4pm.
Maple Sugar Festival at Camp Libbey in March. Maple
trees! Maple syrup! Maple candy! Girls will learn about this yummy stuff, plus
take part in games, crafts, and hands-on demonstrations. All this will start off
with a delicious brunch that the girls won’t want to miss! Date/Time: March 2,
2003, 11am – 3pm. The cost of this trip will come out of the troop treasury.
Service
Unit sponsored events:
Roller Skating
Ice Skating
Dad/Daughter Dance
Dad/Daughter Fishing Derby
Other
planned events:
October – Bridging ceremony,
Investiture/Redication, Founders Day Party
December – Christmas Caroling & other troop
sponsored Christmas event
January – Cookie overnighter
March – Girl Scout Sunday
May – Memorial Day Parade
All
of these events are published on our troop website at
http://oocities.com/troop1378westonoh/
Meeting Dates /
Time/ Location
Our
troop meets on the 2nd & 4th Mondays of each month,
from 6:00 – 7:45 pm. Meetings are held in the Weston Elementary Art Room. Our
meeting schedule is posted on our website:
http://www.localendar.com/public/troop1378.
Send an email to us at troop1378westonoh@yahoo.com if you would like to have a
meeting reminder emailed to you.
Note:
Our December meeting will be held the 1st Monday. This is due to the
3rd/4th grade musical being held on December 9th
and the rest of the month holidays.
Please
be prompt in bringing your daughters to the meeting. We will have the girls wait
in their seats at the end of the meeting for you to come and get them.
Please
wear your Brownie pin, sash, and or vest to all meetings and bring a water
bottle. A snack will be provided.
Communication
Each
family has a mail folder, which contains a copy of the meeting plan, as well as
other important information. Parents are asked to check their mail before each
meeting. The meeting plan has information about our planned activities as well
as a parent section with important announcements and the schedule of upcoming
dates.
We
can send meeting reminders to parents via email. If you would like to be
included in the distribution list, please give us your email address.
If
you have questions or concerns, please contact Shannon via email or phone.
Our Website
Shannon
will try to maintain the website, which is located at http://oocities.com/troop1378westonoh/
This
is where the calendar will be and we will try to show everyone what we are
working on. At this time we will not put any pictures on our site. Note – we will never put a name with a face.
When we get ready to put pictures up, we will send home a permission form.
Registration/Dues
Girl
Scout membership is $7.00 per girl/adult. Dues to cover crafts, and badge work
are $13. Any new member must pay before October 1st. Financial Aid is available for anyone unable
to pay dues.
The girls that began the troop in 2001 decided that
any girls that sell Fall Products and Girl Scouts Cookies will not have to pay
registration or dues for the following year as long as enough monies are earned
to cover the $20.
Girl/Adult Medical
Form
This
form is required by Girl Scouts USA and must be reviewed and initialed each
year. We take these on every trip so that we will have all needed medical
information at our fingertips in the event of an emergency. Adults and siblings
that travel with the troop must also complete this form.
Brownie Uniforms
The
girls are not required to have a sash or vest. They will be presented with
their Brownie Pin on a Felt tab at their Investiture Ceremony and can consider
this their uniform if a sash or vest is not purchased.
Girls
should wear their uniform to all Brownie meetings and events, and while
selling/delivery Girl Scout products. If your daughter would like to get a sash
or vest, they can be purchased at the Council Shop on Collingwood Blvd. in
Toledo, or online at http://shop.girlscouts.org/. Shannon will make several
trips during the year. Make any checks out to GSMVC Troop 1378.
Brownie Uniforms
Sash (suggest 59” long) $5.25
Vest (suggest a medium or larger vest) – SML -
$14.50, Plus sizes - $15.50
Brownie Council Identification Set $3.25
Brownie Troop Numeral – They need numbers: 1378 Total cost - $3.20
They will receive their World Trefoil pin and other
badges throughout the year. Of Special note: Try-It badges go on the front of the sash or
vest, whereas all other participation patches go on the back.
Permission Forms
We
must have a permission form for any girl to attend an event that is away from
the meeting place. During all trips, Shannon has her cell phone on :
419-308-2343.
Snacks
It
will be a great help if each family would take a turn bringing snack to the
meetings. We have approximately 16 girls attending. A sign up sheet will be posted above the parents mail boxes. We
need to stay away from items that the girls could choke on such as grapes, or
peanuts. Great snacks are: cheese & crackers, pretzels, carrots & dip,
etc. Other suggestions will be listed on the website. Girls should bring their
own water bottle to the meetings.
Rededication and
Investiture Ceremony
We have a ceremony at our 3rd meeting to
welcome the new and returning girls to Girl Scouts. One part of this ceremony
is an “investiture” to welcome the new girls, and the other part is called
“rededication” to welcome the returning girls. We invite the parents to come
watch.
Fund Raisers
We
work on two fund raisers a year: Fall Product Sales and Girl Scout Cookies. The
girls are not required to sell. If they do not sell, then they must pay for
their own membership fee, dues, and trips.
Fall
Products Sales are held in October.
Girl Scout Cookie Sales begin in January.
Brownie Handbook
and Try-It books
These
books are available from the Girl Scout Shop. They are nice to have, but not
essential. We currently have one handbook and two try-it books for our troop.
We will provide copies of any materials which are needed for our activities.
Try-It Patches
The
“Try-It” patches are recognitions. The Brownie focus is on trying new
activities, not seeing how many patches can be earned.
Each
Try-It has six related activities to choose from. Brownies must complete four
of the activities to earn the Try-It.
Most
of the Try-It activities will occur at our meetings. If a Brownie is absent,
she may be able to complete the Try-It at home, with parent’s assistance.
Try-It
Patches are awarded at the end of the year.
Participation
Patches
Occasionally,
participation patches are awarded for participation in a specific event.
Brownies must be present at the event to receive the patch. These are always
placed on the back of the Brownie vest or sash.
Girl
Scout Organization
National: The Girl Scouts of the
United States of America (GSUSA) is located in New York, and is administered by
a national staff of professional Girl Scouters. Local Girl Scout Councils
direct activities in cities and communities.
Council: The Gril Scout program for
the Maumee valley is administered by the Girl Scouts Maumee Valley Council. The
Council is divided into 30 geographic Service Units to provide better support
to the large number of Scouts in the area.
Service
Unit: Our
Service Unit is known as Black Swamp and covers the Bowling Green area.
Throughout the year, the Service Unit sponsors activities, ranging from Roller
Skating, Ice Skating, Father Daughter Dance, Dad & Me Fishing Derby, and
more. Service Unit events are an opportunity for the girls in a troop to see
and work with girls from other schools or from their own neighborhoods.
Troop: The troop is the basic unit
for Scouting activities. It is composed of girls who usually, but not always,
go to the same school. We are “Troop 1378”. The size of troops and frequency of
troop meeting times are dependent upon the Troop Leaders and the involvement of
parents.
Patrols: We will be introducing
patrol groups to our troop this year. This is a form of government used in
Junior Girl Scouting. Patrols give girls leadership experience, and provide a
convenient way to divide up the scouts into smaller groups.
Leaders:
Shannon Blessing Rhonda Kendall Krystal
Trumbull
Girl Scout Program
Goals
The
four Program goals are the areas in which we focus our program to give the
girls the opportunity to grow as a result of their participation in Girl
Scouting.
1.
Develop to her full potential
2.
Relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect
3.
Develop values to guide her actions and to provide the foundation for sound
decision-making
4.
Contribute to the improvement of society through the use of her abilities and
leadership skills, working in cooperation with others.
Service
Unit Supertroop Goals: This is a program designed by our Service Unit to outline and “ideal”
troop. Troops that follow this program naturally keep more girls because they
are active troops with a well-rounded program. Requirements include ceremonies,
outdoor activities, service projects, and level interaction. There are also
leadership requirements such as attending monthly Leader meetings, attending
training, and participating in a fundraiser.