We are launching a new and exciting summer environmental leadership experience at Camp Honi Hanta this summer.

Why:Through Strategic Learning we learned:

• The number of girls participating was declining for resident camp
• The cost to many families was prohibitive in our current economy
• The cost to run the camp had increased
• Girls did not enjoy the heat in summer and did not want to attend
• Most girls attending were Brownies and Juniors
• Programs offered were not consistent with the new Girl Scout National Program Portfolio- Girls Guide to Girl Scouting and Journey Series

Focus for summer 2012:

• It's Your Planet- Love It Journey activities led by girls, college age girls, and adult volunteers- including community collaborators
• Cost friendly weekend, evening, and day experiences at Camp Honi Hanta (able to be replicated at Camp Caloosa fall and winter 2012)
• Swimming pool activites, adventure challenge course, canoe and kayaking, archery
• Star gazing, nature, environmental take action projects
• Camp fires, s'mores, songs, and traditions
• Forever Green and Leave No Trace components
• Community Service and Take Action Projects
• Focused priority for girls grades 4-8 (Strategic Learning)-weekend overnights and trips. Event and Series pathway focus for this grade level.
• Weekend day and evening events for Brownies
• Weekend day and evening events for Daisy and family members
• Opportunities for troop camping......and more

Other summer leadership experiences to include: mystery trips and neighborhood events.

Ability to use cookie points.  Schedule and Rates coming soon, visit our website periodically for updates.  Ability to use Cookie Points

Email questions, comments, suggestions: annmariem@gsgcf.org or amyg@gsgcf.org.

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Cookie Program - Final Days

There are just a few days left of the 2012 Girl Scout Cookie Program. We're off to a great start on reaching our council goals for 2012, and there's still plenty of time to finish the sale strong. Below are a few tips to help all girls reach their goals.

• Ask everyone you know if they'd like to purchase cookies. 90% of customers would buy cookies if they were asked!
• Re-visit customers who ordered cookies early on and see if they're ready for more.
• Remind all customers that cookies freeze well and make great gifts. It's a good idea to stock up while they're available.
• Visit businesses and ask them to consider purchasing Cookies by the case as appreciation gifts for their clients and/or employees.
• Consider a walkabout or red wagon sale to help supplement your booth sales.
• Post a "Going Out of Business" sign on your booth for the final weekend of sales.

Cookie Locator

Help us spread the word about Cookie Locator - the tastiest app ever! Using Cookie Locator, customers can enter their zip code to find a cookie booth near them, get Girl Scout Cookie recipes, and even take a quiz to find their Cookie Personality. Cookie Locator is a free app for iPhones and Android smart phones. No smart phone? No problem! You can also visit the Cookie Locator website at http://cookielocator.littlebrownie.com.

It's that time of year again - time to recognize our girls for all of their outstanding accomplishments over the past year! The annual Girl Scout Recognition Ceremony will be held this year on May 20, 2012.  

Recognition is an important part of Girl Scouting and we want to make sure every girl receives the recognition she deserves. Girl Recognition Forms are on our webpage and need to be filled out and emailed with the names of girls in your troop or individual girls who will be receiving recognitions this year.

Accomplishments  that will be recognized can be found in the Program Book under the Girl Recognition Ceremony on the last page of the program book.   You must have the current address of each girl and the correct spelling of each girl's name. If we do not have the correct addresses, we cannot send invitations to the ceremony.

Be sure to include leader and co- leader information and phone numbers on the roster so we can send invitations to them as well. This form and the roster must be emailed no later than April 10, 2012. We want to recognize all girls, but forms turned in after the deadline will have to wait until 2013.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ann-Marie Mathews, Pathways Specialist, at annmariem@gsgcf.org.

As we celebrate "The Year of the Girl" we challenge all troops to extend an invitation to girls not yet benefiting from the amazing girl leadership program that is Girl Scouts.  Help spread the word on what Girl Scouts has meant to you and what it can mean for others!

Ways to recruit girls:

• Host a troop "bring a friend" activity.
• Invite girls to join Girl Scouts at cookie booths.
• Ask your service unit team if there are any girls on a waitlist.

Limited time incentive (February 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012):

• Register 1 to 2 new girls into the troop and all girls will receive a free patch.
• Register 3 or more girls into the troop and all girls will receive a free patch and the troop leader will receive a $10.00 discount from the Girl Scout shop in Sarasota or Fort Myers.

To qualify for this incentive program, the troop most complete the Add A Girl form and submit it to the council headquarters in Sarasota no later than March 31, 2012.  Forms received after the deadline date will not be honored.  Forms can be found on our website here.

Let us all be inspired by the profound words of

Anna Maria Chávez the new GSUSA Chief Executive Officer  who said:

"The Year of the Girl is only a beginning," said GSUSA Chief Executive Officer Anna Maria Chávez. "We can't transform American leadership in a year, but we can transform expectations in a year. We can transform awareness in a year. We can set in motion a generational change, and make certain that a baby girl born in 2012 will experience her life in a new and vastly different world. Only Girl Scouts, with its scale and time-honored place in society, can launch this initiative. If not us, who? If not now, when? When girls succeed, so does society. We know that together, we can get her there."

Girl Scouts Sleepover at the Game

Charlotte Stone Crabs - May 12 - 13    

All girl scouts and their families are welcome to come out and celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts with the Charlotte Stone Crabs! This will be a great event with a pre-game festivities, Girl Scout Flag Bearers, stand on the field with the players in front of all the fans for the National Anthem, post game events including a movie and camping out on the field. You can sleep out on the field, have the chance to complete challenges, and work towards badges.

Download an event flyer for additional information here, or contact Amy Gainey at amyg@gsgcf.org.

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Exciting news! Girl Scouts of the USA has the opportunity to participate in Doodle 4 Google, a contest where students in the United States are invited to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google's homepage logo for millions to see. This year, students are asked to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit..." One lucky student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some cool prizes-and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!

The Doodle 4 Google competition is now open to all K-12 students in U.S. schools (including homeschoolers). Parents, teachers, or after school programs may submit doodles on behalf of their child or student as long as they are accompanied by a completed and signed entry form. Completed entry forms must be received by March 23rd and can be found here http://www.google.com/doodle4google/request.html for download or regular mail.

We encourage all Girl Scouts to get creative and apply for Doodle 4 Google right away! There are exciting prizes, including the opportunity to win a $30,000 college scholarship, and much more!

Girl Scouts of the USA is encouraging councils to submit troop videos of girls engaged in Doodle 4 Google. In order to maintain consistency, all videos need to be shot on an iPhone and the video files uploaded to dropbox. Dropbox.com accounts are free up 2gigs. Instructions can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhIW207wqms.Once done, send us the download link and we'll take it from there! To submit video, email doodle4google@girlscouts.org and gsgcf@gsgcf.org.

Remember to keep clips short and the camera as stable as possible. Please don't forget to have everyone sign release forms, which
for girls can be found here  and for adults can be found here.   

If you have any questions please contact gsgcf@gsgcf.org.         

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