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!

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.

Brownie Try-Its and Council's Owns

It's been fun starting Try-Its with the girls! We completed two as part of our activities to earn the Daisy to Brownies bridging award - Outdoor Adventurer and People of the World. This summer, I've been working with Esme. Today we finished the Water Everywhere Try-It.

When I initially looked at the Try-Its book I was actually a little disappointed. I'm blessed with a very adventurous group of girls, and I felt like maybe we are more adventurous than the book. I'd seen our Council's Own Try-Its and we're already planning to earn two of them in the Fall - two which are very specific, Bicycling and Archery. I did a quick Google search to find awards from other councils, and was delighted with what I found. There are lists put together out there, and I know my girls will be thrilled that I've found them for Rock Climbing, Horseback Riding, and many more things - even Caving! I also know my girls would enjoy things like Drama Queen. Esme and I have already started working on the Dinosaur one!

Last Daisy Event: International Night and Awards Ceremony

This year I tried to get the girls to toss more of their ideas out for what they'd like to do as a theme for our big event. They were very interested in what was happening in Haiti, and one of our girls has dual citizenship in both France and the US. After talking for a while the idea of an International Night came up. (Things about this would also help toward earning their first Try-It - People of the World.)

For the first two years a friend of my husband's had come in and done folk dancing with the girls. We asked him if he would be willing to come and lead the entire party in a couple dances from different countries. I had a connection to the Haitian Health Foundation, so I emailed and asked what we could do to help them. We decided on a canned protein drive (tuna, peanut butter, Spam) and donate the food to be shipped in a container to Haiti. My Cadette Assistant taught the girls a song in French to sing as part of the entertainment as well.

We had a potluck dinner again, and asked parents to contribute dishes with an international flair. We were very lucky and got a variety of dishes from all over the world. There really wasn't room for dancing at the camp hall we'd rented the year before, so this year we rented the Elks Club in our town. They gave us a special rate because we're a charitable organization. I also made simple programs for the event, with black ink on pink paper. The girls made flags to march in with, and centerpieces with small flags made out of paper and knitting needles stuck into flower pots.



The evening went very smoothly. We had dinner, opening exercises, Un Petit Canard, our song in French, the folk dancing, and then we brought it around to the more serious part of our evening. Since this was going to be their last chance to wear their Daisy uniforms, and to avoid parent confusion, I gave the girls all their petals and Daisy patches at our last meeting. They all had them on their tunics at the International Night so I announced the awards they'd received and had them do a twirl. Then I announced the awards that would go on their new Brownie vests and shook their hands, and presented them with their envelopes.

We gave gifts to our volunteers - we gave my Cadette Assistant a patch and necklace, and my Assistant Leader/Cookie Coordinator a box of chocolate covered strawberries. The girls presented me with a card they'd all signed and an awesome camping stove!

The last part of our night was Bridging. After much thought to how to bridge, I decided on the human bridge, where the audience raises their hands in the air to make arches and the girls run under them. I took of each girls Daisy uniform and their parents waited at the other end to put on their new Brownie uniforms. My husband put on my daughter's. After I sent her through I took of my Daisy Leader pin, ran through myself, and my mom put on my Brownie Leader pin.

Our Daisies' First Big Event: Fashion Show and Court of Awards

Last year by End-of-Year time, our Daisies were five years old. I suggested a few different themes for the evening, and we ended up deciding on a princess fashion show. Several were obsessed with all things princess, and the rest were at least very interested. We normally use a room at a public library for our meetings, and because we go into mid-June, it changes to summer hours, and starts closing early. We knew we wouldn't be able to use this space for the event if we wanted people who worked to be able to attend. We rented the dining hall at a Girl Scout camp one town away and made it a casual evening. For dinner, we did potluck, any kind of dish acceptable. We did have people sign up in advance, and we ended up with a nice variety.

One of the most important things we did was rent a simple PA system. We got it free from a local college library. The girls were very serious about speaking into the microphone! It made the whole thing more solemn and made them feel more grown-up. I assigned jobs to each girl so they would each have the opportunity to use it. We had girls say welcome, say the pledge, recognize current and former Girl Scouts, say the Girl Scout promise, and sing Make New Friends. I had one especially outgoing girl MC the fashion show. I traced their route on the floor with painters tape and marked the spot where they should twirl. Our MC came out first and I stood with her, to whisper in her ear when she got nervous and forgot her descriptions. She did a great job!



After the fashion show we lit candles to symbolize the serious part of the night starting. I listed the awards that were being given out at the beginning - there were so many that if I tried to list what each girl was getting, we would have been there all night. Each girl came up and accepted her awards and shook my hand. I always present awards in the order the girls joined the troop, from newest to oldest. Then I recognized my Cadette Assistant and my Assistant Leader/Cookie Coordinator. My husband helped the girls coordinating giving me my 10-year pin, and a special daisy card they made me.

At the very end of the evening we did a quick folk dance we'd learned that year, and then closed with a friendship circle for the entire audience. About 45 people attended this event and it went very well. The girls felt a great sense of accomplishment, and the parents and families were very pleased. Within the week, I mailed each girl a note telling her how proud I was.

Building Leaders

One of the best parts of my childhood was being a Girl Scout. Under the care of some dedicated women, I grew from and enjoyed the program to its fullest. I knew from the beginning that someday I would be a leader myself, and I have been for a total of five years. Before my daughter was born I had a Junior troop, and when she turned four I started a Daisy troop. Next year I will also have a Cadette troop - I am planning to help my goddaughter get her Silver Award.

Being a Leader has been as wonderful experience for me! Of course there have been ups and downs, but overall it is a very rewarding. I'd like to share some of my experiences here, and some of my ideas for building a great program for girls.



Since it is June now I'll start with an end of year program. In my opinion, it is important to have a big celebration of all the work your girls have done during the year. Extended families should be invited to come and recognize their efforts. A good end of year party has several elements - food, opening exercises, entertainment that showcases a theme of the girls choice that relates to their activities for the year, a point that brings the party back to solemnity, explanation and presentation of awards, recognition of volunteers, and closing. There are are limitless possibilities for planning this event, and it can be casual or formal, and it can be by troop, or by unit. The most important thing is that the girls are very involved in the brainstorming of ideas, planning, and implementing.

My troop has participated in both unit-wide and troop ceremonies. I love having an opportunity to have girls see that they are a part of the greater Girl Scout movement, but for this, I prefer to do this on a troop level. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. are more likely to want to attend a smaller ceremony, where they know they will be seeing a lot of their little girl and the focus will be on her. Also, if your unit is large, there is less time for each troop to participate, and the awards section will be much longer. Depending on the age of your girls and their attention spans, this can make or break the party.

More about specific ideas and what we've done in my next post!