ORGANIZING A TROOP
Review & Questions
- You will receive a list of girls for your Troop from either a School Organizer or the Neighborhood Organizer
All interested girls must go through an Organizer to make sure girls on the waitlist are placed first.
- Encourage parent/guardian(s) to take an active interest in the Troop by getting to know the girl and her parent/guardian. Maybe try holding an event soon after the Troop is formed that involves the parent/guardian and family.
You may be most successful when you request help for a specific task and indicate what the time commitment will be.
Have all supplies and forms ready to go.
Have parents bring health records and be prepared to pay registration fee and/or dues.
Refer back to the Parent Meeting suggested agenda for a list of topics to discuss.
Have a Question and Answer Time
Consider serving refreshments
Have each parent fill out a Registration form for their daughter. See sample.
Encourage parents to fill out an Adult Registration form for themselves. See sample.
Collect all forms and $10.00 for each registration.
Fill out a Dues Summary based on the completed registrations. See sample.
Bring completed Registration Forms, Checks and Dues Summary to the next Leader Meeting or drop them off at the home of our Neighborhood Registrar.
At the Leader Meeting following the turn in of your paperwork and checks, you will find copies of the paperwork in your Troop "Mailbox".
If you haven't already received your Troop number, you will shortly. The Registrar will let you know what the Troop Number is!
Everyone who registers will eventually receive a membership card. The turn around time on those is pretty long!
The membership registration form allows a girl to participate in a Girl Scout troop at the place, day and time designated by the Girl Scout leader. It is recommended that registration forms be with the person who is leading the troop at every meeting. If the regular meeting place, day and/or time is changed on a permanent basis, please notify the Neighborhood Registrar and the girls’ parents/guardians. Girls may attend no more than one regular troop meeting without providing the Girl Scout leader with a signed registration form and paying Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. membership dues — $10 (financial assistance is available).
Opportunity Fund is the financial assistance program that ensures that Every Girl, Everywhere has the opportunity to participate in Girl Scouts. Opportunity Fund application is for individual girls based on financial need. Funds are made available to Opportunity Fund out of our council's budget, part of which is from Family Giving donations.
Opportunity Fund will pay for all or part of the following:
Membership Dues
Age Level Books
It will supply vests or sashes and insignia as needed. Opportunity Fund does not supply uniform shirts and bottoms.
Opportunity Fund will assist in paying for one camp experience per qualifying girl.
Opportunity Fund will assist in paying for one G.R.E.A.T. Guide event per qualifying girl. Only one event per year may be applied for. Requests for an entire troop will not be considered.
Troop Dues will only be approved up to $10 per half year. Half years are September 1 - January 31 and February 1 - June 30. Application for dues assistance is made for one half year at a time.
Get an Opportunity Fund Application from your Troop Leader or on-line at: www.girlscoutscrc.org/forms/pdf/114_OPPORTUNITY_FUND_APPLICATION.pdf
When applying for Opportunity Funds the form must be completely filled out and signed by the parent/guardian and Girl Scout leader or sponsoring adult.
The Girl Scout leader or sponsoring adult will be required to complete the "comments" section. This will include a description of the family's circumstances and needs. There is a "special needs" section for leaders to describe specifics.
"Opportunity Fund Applications" need to be complete to be processed.
Finally, Opportunity Fund is based on financial need and is to be used as a last resort.
Every registered girl and adult member of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. is covered by accident insurance for any authorized and supervised Girl Scout activity. This includes travel directly to and from the activity. The cost of this coverage is included in the $10.00 annual membership dues.
Be sure to take an insurance claim form and Parent Permission Slips with you on any outing.
Special “Non-Member” insurance is available at low-cost for any Girl Scout troop or Neighborhood activities where non-members will be present (such as bridging, family events). Contact the Membership Registrar at the Girl Scout office for information and to purchase insurance at least four weeks prior to the event.
For any event lasting more than two nights, additional insurance is required and available at a very reasonable cost. Contact Administration Services for information and to purchase insurance at least four weeks prior to the event.
Please refer to Safety-Wise when determining if a meeting place meets requirements. Consider accessibility and location when deciding on a place to meet.
If your meeting place wants to see our Certificate of Insurance, contact the council registrar to request they supply it to the meeting place. The following information is required:
Complete name and address of organization making the request
To whom the Certificate of Insurance should be sent
Which Girl Scout troop, Neighborhood or event is making the request.
Upon approval, the Certificate of Insurance is mailed directly to the organization.
As the Leader, the final say on the day and time of the meetings is yours. Whether you choose to meet weekly or every other week, it must fit your schedule.
Depending on the age of the girls and the frequency of meetings, meetings can run from 1 to 3 hours. You will learn more about this in your age level training.
You must to have a signed permission slip for all troop meetings that take place outside of the regularly scheduled day, time and/or place. For example, if your troop rotates meeting places between parent homes, you must have a permission slip for each location.
Following Safety-Wise, written parental consent is required for every girl wishing to participate in an activity that is scheduled to happen anytime or anyplace outside of the regular meeting time. Girl Scouts - Columbia River Council provides Parent Permission Slips for this purpose.
A separate permission slip is required for every activity.
The permission slips stay with the adult who is in charge of the girls. Example: Each driver holds the permission slips for those girls who are riding in her/his car. If a girl changes to a different car, her permission slip needs to go with her.
A signed permission slip is also needed anytime the troop leaves the regular meeting place during the meeting. You may ask parents to sign a year-long permission for walking trips that occur during regular meeting times.
You need to have a signed permission slip for all troop meetings too in case of any emergency. A blanket form for the year is acceptable if your troop meets at the same time and place over the year. If the emergency contact that a parents supplies changes, it is the parent's responsibility to let the troop leader know about the change.
In the case of troops that rotate meeting places and know in advance where they will be for the year, they can do just one slip and attach the information of places for the whole year. If your troop rotates meeting places but doesn't know in advance, a permission slip will have to be prepared and signed for each meeting as you go.
For meetings:
TWO adults to every: 10 Daisy Girl Scouts - 20 Brownie Girl Scouts - 25 Junior Girl Scouts - 25 Cadette Girl Scouts - 30 Senior Girl Scouts
Plus one adult to each additional: 5 Daisy Girl Scouts - 8 Brownie Girl Scouts - 10 Junior Girl Scouts - 12 Cadette Girl Scouts - 15 Senior Girl Scouts
For events, trips and outings:
TWO adults to every: 5 Daisy Girl Scouts - 12 Brownie Girl Scouts - 16 Junior Girl Scouts - 20 Cadette Girl Scouts - 24 Senior Girl Scouts
Plus one adult to each additional: 3 Daisy Girl Scouts - 6 Brownie Girl Scouts - 8 Junior Girl Scouts - 10 Cadette Girl Scouts - 12 Senior Girl Scouts
During all group meetings and related small-group activities, the leader, assistant leader, or other responsible adult designated by the leader or by the council is present, and at least one of these must be an adult female not related to the other adults.
There may be trips when fathers or male leaders are part of the group. It is not appropriate for males to sleep in the same space with girl members. They may participate only if separate sleeping quarters and bathrooms are available for their use. In some circumstances, such as a museum or mall overnight with hundreds of girls, this type of accommodation may not be possible. If this is the case, men should not be part of the adults supervising girls in the sleeping area at the event. The adult-to- girl ratio for the trip will need to be adjusted accordingly.
As stated before, uniforms are not required to be a Girl Scout. Though, most girls do want a vest or sash to display their earned recognitions and fun patches!
Download a handout that has information about basic uniform pieces, required insignia, books and the cost of each. Be sure to give one to each parent - or tell them where they can download it!
Important Note: Awards (Try-Its, Badges, IPAs, signs, certain pins) are only to be purchased by Leaders.
There are many uniform options for adults. You can see them in the Council Store or in the Girl Scout catalogue. A new option for adults can be found at Land's End. Too see the options and ordering information, click here
Progression is a common sense principle. We do it in all areas of our life. For example, skiing. You don't just jump on to the most dangerous slope. You start slow and progress as your skills and confidence grow. Eventually, you reach the big slope. All that training and practice (progression) pays off! You are confident and ready to take on the challenge.
An example of progression in Girl Scouting can be found in camping. You would never take a group of young girls camping their first week of Girl Scouts! You might follow the progressive steps below:
Neighborhood outings and walks
A group overnight at a Leader's house.
Working on age level camping and outdoor awards.
A "campout" in a Leader's backyard
A one night overnight at a Neighborhood campout.
Refer to Safety-wise whenever you are planning an activity. It will help insure you are following the guidelines of progression.
"As the leader, your goal should be to act increasingly as a facilitator, enabling girls to experience more opportunities for planning, decision-making, leadership, and yes, even failure. Adults who understand and make a conscious effort to facilitate these experiences help build Girl Scouts. Where Girls Grow Strong."
The Role of the Adult in Girl Planning is different at each level as the girls mature and gain new skills. It can not be emphasized enough how important the concepts of progression and Girl Planning
Daisy Girl Scouts
Give 2-3 choices.
Hold mom and me events.
Hold family and me events.
Have direct adult supervision.
Match each girl's ability to activities.
Ask girls and parents what they do at home.
Brownie Girl Scouts
Screen choices before voting.
Discuss implications before voting.
Facilitate "Guided failures."
Have guided budgeting.
Take into account the physical and mental differences between first and third graders.
Have guided group evaluations.
Oversee simple tasks.
Junior Girl Scouts
Take into account the developmental differences between 4th and 6th graders.
Step back; guide.
Input 50 percent of the time when girls are at the 6th-grade level.
Encourage girl/adult partnership.
Cadette Girl Scouts
Use role modeling (very important).
Act as a facilitator; give guidance.
Let girls make mistakes and learn from them.
Allow girls and adults to function on an almost equal level.
Senior Girl Scouts
Let girls make mistakes and learn from them.
Mentor girls.
Be a facilitator and partner.
Download this more detailed sheet on the Girl/Adult Partnership.
Progression
A general first-aid kit should be avail able at the meeting place and accompany the girls on any activity, including transportation to and from an event. In addition to the standard materials, all first-aid kits should contain:
£ a copy of a recognized first-aid book
£ coins or calling cards for telephone calls
£ the Girl Scout council and emergency telephone numbers.
* Girl Scout activity insurance forms, parent consent forms, and health histories should also be included.
Before all activities, check the kit to verify that all previously used or expired materials have been replaced.
Click here for a First Aid Kit Shopping List
Health and Safety in Girl Scouts
Safeguarding the health and safety of the girls during Girl Scout activities is your primary responsibility. This is to be accomplished by:
Registering yourself, your troop assistants and the girls with Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. annually.
Adhering to the policies of Girl Scouts - Columbia River Council, Inc.
Adhering to the guidelines in Safety-Wise for girl-adult ratios and activity standards
Teaching the girls safety awareness, first aid skills and how to make activity decisions based on Safety-Wise checkpoints.
Teaching the girls self-government skills so that they learn to work as a team and become responsible for their own well-being.
Informing parents of troop activities and involving them in troop support.
Using required permission forms for activities away from your regular meeting place.
Obtaining required permission for overnight or money earning troop activities.
Major Emergency Procedures for Girl Scout Leaders is on the back of the Parent Permission Form. Review it periodically!
At your Council Trainings you will learn about facilitating meetings for your age level Troop. Your Leader Guide should have ideas as well.
Go back to the First Troop Meetings page to get Program Jump Starts for Daisy through Junior Girl Scouts and a first meeting outline for Cadettes/Seniors
Questions??
No Questions? Then we're ready to move on!
Next Up: Forms & Finances!!