Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Brownie Ceremonies
We had our first Court of Awards of the year this year and it went wonderfully. We started with a candle ceremony. We had a raised candle holder with three candles symbolizing the three parts of the Girl Scout Law, and ten tea-light holders, each symbolizing part of the Girl Scout promise. We have thirteen girls in our troop so this made it the perfect ceremony for us.
Next, I wrote a special ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of girls showing up at a Boy Scout meeting in England and announcing that they wanted to be scouts too. WAGGGS made the charge "plant seeds for growth" this year, so I talked about how our troop had done that by inviting five new girls into our troop, and to make it more memorable, had each girl plant 6 herbs in little pots, and gave them the 2010 WAGGGS patch.
Next, we did investiture and rededication by having the experienced members of the troop put the newer girls' uniforms on them.
Last, I gave out the awards, shaking each girl's hand and giving them an envelope. On a side note, I am especially proud of my daughter, who got a huge pile. Of course, she has to come to every event, so it makes it easiest for her to earn Try-Its and patches. She got Girl Scout Ways, Dinosaurs, Bump in the Night, Bicycling, Archery, Animals, Art to Wear, Caring and Sharing, Water Everywhere, Fishing, her Brownie Quest Journey set, the WAGGGS patch, Halloween Fun, and more. She has really put a lot of effort into Girl Scouts this year, and has done a great job!
Next, I wrote a special ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of girls showing up at a Boy Scout meeting in England and announcing that they wanted to be scouts too. WAGGGS made the charge "plant seeds for growth" this year, so I talked about how our troop had done that by inviting five new girls into our troop, and to make it more memorable, had each girl plant 6 herbs in little pots, and gave them the 2010 WAGGGS patch.
Next, we did investiture and rededication by having the experienced members of the troop put the newer girls' uniforms on them.
Last, I gave out the awards, shaking each girl's hand and giving them an envelope. On a side note, I am especially proud of my daughter, who got a huge pile. Of course, she has to come to every event, so it makes it easiest for her to earn Try-Its and patches. She got Girl Scout Ways, Dinosaurs, Bump in the Night, Bicycling, Archery, Animals, Art to Wear, Caring and Sharing, Water Everywhere, Fishing, her Brownie Quest Journey set, the WAGGGS patch, Halloween Fun, and more. She has really put a lot of effort into Girl Scouts this year, and has done a great job!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
This Past Week in Girl Scouting.....
I had my Cadette meeting Wednesday and it went very well. We finished up the "talking" part of our aMaze journey by talking about bullying. I was very impressed the girls shared their personal stories, and was saddened by the story one girl told of being bullied by a teacher so much that she had to hide in the bathroom and cry. 8-( Now we are on to our Take Action Project - we're using World Thinking Day to complete this project!
This week my Brownies attended a Try-It day at our local children's museum. They did some great projects - a collage mask, T-shirts decorated with fabric paint and markers, reindeer headbands, face painting, and friendship bracelets, earning Art to Wear. They also got two hours of free play in the museum, which may have been their favorite part!
Today we have our troop cookie kick-off meeting - if anyone needs some Thin Mints, let me know! We're selling as of Wednesday.
This week my Brownies attended a Try-It day at our local children's museum. They did some great projects - a collage mask, T-shirts decorated with fabric paint and markers, reindeer headbands, face painting, and friendship bracelets, earning Art to Wear. They also got two hours of free play in the museum, which may have been their favorite part!
Today we have our troop cookie kick-off meeting - if anyone needs some Thin Mints, let me know! We're selling as of Wednesday.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Going to the Mall
Both my troops have had recent mall experiences. My Cadettes earned a mall overnight with approximately 750 other girls in their council. We arrived at the mall just before 9 pm and after the stores closed down the council offered all kinds of activities like crafts, games, juggling shows, movies, nail painting, yoga, dancing, video games, and more. The girls got about an hour of sleep each with Lisa and I staying up all night. They girls had a great time and LOVED this event.
My Brownie troop went shopping at the mall tonight. They broke into small groups and had a budge of $10 per group to spend on toys to donate to Toys for Tots. Different moms led each group and the girls did a great job, picking a tea set, a baby doll, accessories from Claire's, and a stuffed giraffe. After the big unveiling we went to Target and purchased some food for our pet food drive. I was very proud of how the girls did on this trip.
My Brownie troop went shopping at the mall tonight. They broke into small groups and had a budge of $10 per group to spend on toys to donate to Toys for Tots. Different moms led each group and the girls did a great job, picking a tea set, a baby doll, accessories from Claire's, and a stuffed giraffe. After the big unveiling we went to Target and purchased some food for our pet food drive. I was very proud of how the girls did on this trip.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Day My World Collided, and my thoughts on Journeys
My goddaughter came up to earn her Leadership in Action award while my Brownies did their Quest in a day at a local Girl Scout camp. Kristina is not one to be happy with sitting and listening so the planning section was not her favorite, but she did enjoy working with the littler girls, and Esme got to be in her group.
Initially, I was very skeptical about the Journeys. As a die hard leader, I am not sure I like something that takes weeks and tells me exactly what to do. Consequently, when Lisa (Kristina's mom and my Cadette co-leader) and I were making plans for the year, we were trying to decide if our girls should go do aMaze in one day in a council-sponsored program, or if we should do it as a troop. The more we weighed options for activities, the more I actually got excited about doing it. I can't speak to other troop's experiences, but for a brand new, very small Cadette troop, the aMaze Journey was actually the perfect first activity for us. Girls had never been Cadettes before, and one who had never been a scout at all, actually had a good way to get started and get some direction, while learning a bit about Girl Scouts and a lot about each other. We did adapt it quite a bit, mostly to keep the girls physically busy while discussing the issues outlined in the program - we found this kept them much more engaged.
My daughter is also almost done with her first Journey. I am so glad my Brownies had the opportunity to do this in one day - I think it worked much better for them. I have some non-readers in my group from what I've seen, it would be difficult for them with so much reading and writing to do. However, when they had Cadettes assisting them and the stories read aloud, it worked out perfectly. Also, I am very proud of what they chose as a group for their Take Action project - a pet food drive to help people who are out of work keep their pets.
Initially, I was very skeptical about the Journeys. As a die hard leader, I am not sure I like something that takes weeks and tells me exactly what to do. Consequently, when Lisa (Kristina's mom and my Cadette co-leader) and I were making plans for the year, we were trying to decide if our girls should go do aMaze in one day in a council-sponsored program, or if we should do it as a troop. The more we weighed options for activities, the more I actually got excited about doing it. I can't speak to other troop's experiences, but for a brand new, very small Cadette troop, the aMaze Journey was actually the perfect first activity for us. Girls had never been Cadettes before, and one who had never been a scout at all, actually had a good way to get started and get some direction, while learning a bit about Girl Scouts and a lot about each other. We did adapt it quite a bit, mostly to keep the girls physically busy while discussing the issues outlined in the program - we found this kept them much more engaged.
My daughter is also almost done with her first Journey. I am so glad my Brownies had the opportunity to do this in one day - I think it worked much better for them. I have some non-readers in my group from what I've seen, it would be difficult for them with so much reading and writing to do. However, when they had Cadettes assisting them and the stories read aloud, it worked out perfectly. Also, I am very proud of what they chose as a group for their Take Action project - a pet food drive to help people who are out of work keep their pets.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Loving Cadettes
We've been working on our aMaze Journey for several weeks. Last night we used an idea from the leader book - we made a circle on the floor and put post-its saying what we want from friends in the middle, and what we bring to a friendship on the outside, then compared the two by grouping the post-its. At that point energy was high so we played Machine a couple times and played the froggy song. After that we talked about I Statements and gave examples of how to use them in our lives, and make some great junk necklaces, with the theme that I Statements are Key. The girls had such a good time with this, we are considering working on the Just Jewelry Interest Project.
Before we started I was a bit intimidated by the idea of working with middle schoolers, but I am so happy with the way our year is going. Plus I love that my goddaughter is excited about Girl Scouts again - every meeting she says it was better than the last!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Centenary, Awards Ceremony, and Presents
In 1910 a group of girls in the UK presented themselves at a Boy Scout meeting because they wanted to be scouts. This event is officially recognized by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) as the beginning of the movement. WAGGGS has put out a really cool patch set - four triangles that fig together) to commemorate the centenary events, and I'm excited to get them for my girls.
Our first mid-year Brownie award ceremony is a month and a half away. I am excited to have investiture for some new girls, and rededicate the rest. My daughter has put in a ton of work and will have a mountain of new Try-Its.
I am also excited that we'll be having our first-ever awards ceremony for our new Cadette troop. Last year the only awards my goddaughter received were for fundraisers, so I am really glad to have helped her earn something more significant this year. She'll be getting Journey, LiA, PA pin, and fun patches of course.
Our first mid-year Brownie award ceremony is a month and a half away. I am excited to have investiture for some new girls, and rededicate the rest. My daughter has put in a ton of work and will have a mountain of new Try-Its.
I am also excited that we'll be having our first-ever awards ceremony for our new Cadette troop. Last year the only awards my goddaughter received were for fundraisers, so I am really glad to have helped her earn something more significant this year. She'll be getting Journey, LiA, PA pin, and fun patches of course.
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