December 13, 2011:

We had agood meeting yesterday.  The girls earned their "power of one" badge which goes on the front of their vest (see diagram below for placement).  This badge is one of three badges which they will earn for completing their Journey this year.  The next badge is the "power of team" and then the "power of community".  Each badge encapsulates the previous badges earned.  This means that when you iron on the badge from yesterday, you will want to leave room for the other two bages to go around it.  The diameter of the community badge is about 3.25 inches.  I hope this helps you decide where to place this first badge.

We will not be meeting again until January 9th.  The girls are supposed to prepare an idea for a play, comic strip, etc. as found on page 68 in the Journey book.  The comic we talked about in the book is their guide  and example.  Please make sure they work on this over break and are ready to share their ideas with the group at this next meeting.

Also, cookie time is upon us.  Friends and Family sales begin this Sunday (12/18) and continue throughout the month.  Open sales (work, neighborhoods, etc.) begins on January 1st.  The girls have set a lofty goal of 1000 boxes for the troop.  I hope they are willing to work hard individually and as a group with booth sales.  More on that in January.  I will need all initial orders turned in to me no later than January 17th.  We want the bulk of individual sales to be complete by this time and will focus our energy more on booths after this date. Any questions about cookie sales, please let me know.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday and we'll see you next year!

Karin

October 25, 2011:

We had a nice ceremony bridging Kerry and Hannah and welcoming Bela and Maria to the troop at yesterday's meeting.  We talked about our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, and continued on our journey of discovering our individual powers.  The girls have some homework to prepare for the next meeting on November 14:

1)  Complete the power log on page 15 of the Agent of Change Journey book.  Keep track of all the powers you use in one or more days.  Pick any day of the week.

2)  Read pages 12-13.  Create a "What make me - me?" collage as seen on page 13.  You may do this in your book or you may create something artsy using materials from home.

Also, look through the new Junior Girl Guide book (large purple binder) and see if there are any badges you may want ot work on, either independently or as a group.  Bring these ideas to the next meeting and we'll discuss.

October 2011:

***Due to an athletic conflict, our bridging and investiture ceremony schedule for October 10th will be rescheduled at a later date. ***

Notes from last meeting:

1)  The girls will have an investiture and bridging ceremony once we determine the best date/time/location for this.  Bela will officially become a Junior Girl Scout and Hannah and Kerry will bridge to Juniors.  It would be great if you could attend.  Bela will need to memorize the Girl Scout Promise (see website URL below).  At this ceremony, each of the girls should have their Junior vest or sash with them.  If you have not purchased one from the Girl Scout Service Center, please do so soon.  Also make sure to pick up the "Agent of Change" Journeys book and the Junior Girl Guide book.  Returning Girl Scouts should have received a post card allowing them to purchase the new Girl Guide book on/after 10/15 for a reduced rate.

2)  The girls are interested in participating in one of the many celebrations being held across our state, region and nationally this school year celebrating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts.  Specifically, there is a celebration planned at the council level in Greensboro in March where girls from around the council will be gathering.  There are other opportunities to consider including a national gathering in Washington D.C. where they expect thousands upon thousands of Girl Scouts to attend.  This is the opportunity in which the girls said they would like to participate.  I don't have all the details yet, but I do know it will involve some money to be spent for transportation, housing and food for a few days.  I'm also aware that these girls will be going on the 4th grade trip which involves additional funds.

To help offset this, the girls said they would like to participate in the fall fundraiser (nut and magazine sale) which begins this Friday, September 30 and runs for about 2 weeks.  I'm not requiring this, but if you are comfortable having the girls sell what they can, it will help to put some money in our checking account, which can be used to help fund whatever trip the girls take this year.  If you would like you daughter to participate in this fundraiser, please fill out the permission slip which your daughter brought home yesterday and return it to Hannah at school this week.  I will give a sales packet to Hannah to give to your daughter the next day so that you can begin taking orders on Friday.  Money is to be collected at the time of the order.  Product delivery is in November.  Everything should be spelled out in the sales packet. Let me know if there are any outstanding questions about this.

3)  The girls have begun work on their Journey - Agent of Change.  I'm excited about this Journey because the girls will have plenty of opportunities to discover their own strengths and see how by working together, they can accomplish great things and help out their community.  This Journey will likely take most of the year to accomplish and will culminate in a service project of their choosing which will help their community in some way.  A lot of unknowns at this point, but it will all start to come together as we work our way through the material.

September 2011:

We will be meeting in the youth room adjacent to the lunchroom right after school.  Our first real meeting is on Monday September 26.  Please bring registration materials/dues to this meeting.  Also, bring the troop crest sheet with you since we will be deciding on our troop crest.  We will begin making plans for the year and may crack open the Journeys book (Agent of Change), so bring this if you have one.

See you then!   Karin

August 2011:

We have an informational meeting scheduled for September 12th right after school in the sanctuary.  Please be there if you are at all interested in joining this group.  We will likely begin making some plans for this fall, so don't miss out!  This meeting will likely end by 4pm.

We typically meet on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month.  This holds true for the fall.  Our meeting dates are:

9/12, 9/26, 10/10, 10/24, 11/14, 11/28, 12/12   I'm working on the meeting location - TBA

We typically meet from about 3:15pm until 4:30pm.

Hope to see you on 9/12!               Karin

June 2011: