Girls going into the Military - One recipients' Mom mentioned that her daughters' recruiter found out that Gold Award Recipients (like Eagle Scouts) go into the military with one year's service credit (and a pay raise).
         
          Helping Girls Go for an award? Here are some tips on how you can help them earn their Girl Scout Award.
1. Have the girl develop, and stick to, a reasonable timeline.
2. Guide her in selecting a suitable Girl Scout Award project.
3. Help her revise her project plan, with council approval, if it needs to be more   
     challenging.
4. Challenge her to stretch.
5. Make sure that health and safety considerations have top priority.
6. Help her find resources in the community; encourage her to contact local
     organizations for assistance with goods and services.
7. Remind her that, while she can enlist others to help, it should be her vision and
     leadership that make the project happen.
8. Share the excitement of a successful project


Thinking about a Troop Sleep Over? Troop sleep overs provide great opportunities for girls to have fun and build troop unity.  They also create lifelong memories and there's plenty to do with energetic Girl Scouts all night long!  If your troop is looking for a new and exciting sleep over that they've never done before how about an all-night behind-the-scene look at a mall.  Hold a scavenger hunt, do lip synching, stage a dance show and the night will fly by!  You can also hold a sleep over in a local college dorm to get a taste of campus life.  Remember to check Safety Wise and follow the necessary guidelines and to go through the Sleepover Checklist from Council.  If you don't want a sleep over then explore community night jobs by touring a bakery, police station, post office or newspaper.  Questions?  Contact your Consultant.

Do you like to reward the girls for a job well done? For an inexpensive way to do that just go to Troop #565's website where they carry all kinds of certificates that you can print out! 

White House Greetings - Do you have a Senior Girl Scout who is earning their Girl Scout Gold Award?  If so, then a request can be submitted for them to get a greeting from the President!  For more details, please click on the link above.

Is your troop looking for new service project ideas? - Then check out the Service Project Booklet -  For Cadette and Senior Girl ScoutsPresented and compiled by Judy Brennan from Girl Scouts of Mid-Continent Council and from many, many wonderful Girl Scout Volunteers.  This 25 page booklet is filled with many ideas, including some projects you may have already done and some new ones that you may not have thought of.  Keep in mind to always check safety wise when working on any projects        
                                                      Guidelines for Enjoying Your Teenage Troop
1.  Listen to the girls - listen past the words - When you sit back and hear what these young women are really saying, you'll hear them wrestling with important issues.  You'll be tempted to give them answers to their problems, but resist unless they ask you.  Instead of preaching, let them discover answers that are right for them.
2.  Respect the girls.  Insist that they respect one another - Girls should never be allowed to put anyone down, and they should be asked to work as a team.  Speaking and acting toward these young women in a way that shows you truly believe they are people of worth makes them pass that treatment on to others.
3.  Tell them they're great, and mean it - Looking at the girls keep in mind these are kids who care enough to be involved in a positive organization.  Older girl troops perform hours of service whether it's working at day camps, doing service projects or organizing activites.  They need to be told they're wonderful becaus they truly are.
4.  Challenge them to challenge themselves - We can sit back and do the same old thing but we need to encourage them to push their boundaries and try new things.  This will mean that you may have to step out of your own comfort zone.  But you will enjoy it as much as the girls do. 
5.  Be enthusiastic about their goals - Their goals may not be yours, so get behind the things the girls want to do.  By joining with them or connecting them with people who can help them, we show them that their goals are valid and worth pursuing.
6.  Lay off, lay back - This is one of the hardest things to do.  We have to let these young women succeed on their own and sometimes fail on their own.  We have to learn to keep our hands off except for health and safety issues.
7.  Treat these girls as adults, but let them be kids - We have to give them adult respect and reasonable amounts of responsibility, but not get bent when they take time off to goof around.  We have to be flexible about letting them back off if the load is too heavy, and let them know that it's okay to admit they've taken on too much.  Give them leeway to be the kids they are.
8.  Meet and do things regulary - When the group starts having fewer and fewer times together is the one that gets sacrificed when the schedule gets tough.  Successful older girl troops continue to meet often and the importance is spending time together,
9.  Know your boundaries and enforce them - Teenagers again and again say they want clear, reasonable, and consistent rules.  They want people who care to create a line that ensures their safety while they experiment, so define what those lines are.  Make the boundaries reasonable and logical and be prepared to defend them.  If you can't defend them, be prepared to listen.
10.  Finally - enjoy them, don't just tolerate them - They have thoughts, opinions, ideas and they still have a kid's sense of fun.  They can keep you alert and alive if you open yourself to their ideas.  You'll find that working with older girls will be the best time you ever had.
Looking for another resource to give you ideas and help with your troop? Join a yahoo group that's just for Cadette/Senior leaders.  The address is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cad-senleaders/
Interesting WEBSITES!
Troop 2099 Mid-Continent Council

Programs
Zink the Zebra

Silver Award
Dreams to Reality Online Workshop
Girls and Leaders!  If you have links for this page, or if you are looking for information, please click on the e-mail above and let us know.
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Calling all Teen leaders, check out a new program called Studio 2B for girls ages 11-17!
Cadette Ages 11-14 (Grades 6-9)
Senior Ages 14-17 (Grades 9-12)
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Calling all Seniors! Colleges and universities are beginning to recognize the merits of the Girl Scout experience by making available scholarships and grants for Girl Scouts and recipients of the Girl Scout Gold Award.  Senior Girl Scouts should check with their high school guidance counselor or with the financial aid office at the school they wish to attend for information on scholarships that might be available to Girl Scouts or Girl Scout Gold Award recipients.  For more information, visit Girl Scouts of the USA website for Girl Scout Scholarships.  There is also a map to click on to see what states have Girl Scout Scholarships available.