The GSSA Weekly from Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama

April 28, 2016 

 


Welcome to GSSA Weekly, the council's e-newsletter. 
 
At right, Girl Scouts of Troop 7047 display their flower arrangements.  They learned about the art of flower arranging while earning their Junior Flowers badge.

Excellent (and artistic) work, Girl Scouts!
 
Click on the image or here to see a larger version. 

Want to see your Girl Scouts featured in GSSA Weekly?  
E-mail the photo with event information to communications@girlscoutssa.org.
  
Nicole Nobles Gold Award Take Action Project Combines Her Love of Reading and Dogs

Nicole's Take Action Project brought together elementary school students who were struggling in reading with a patient, kind, and nonjudgmental listener -- a dog named Hoss.  This positive, encouraging (and fun) environment helped these students improve their reading scores by up to 50%.

Nicole has been a Girl Scout for 13 years, and has gone from attending programs and events to organizing several for her sister Girl Scouts. She has earned her Bronze and Silver Awards.  
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Junior Horsemanship Session June 19-24 has More Spaces! 

More spaces are available for our Junior Horsemanship Camp Session (June 19-24).  Many other sessions are still open, as well.  

Camp is about so much more than vacation.  Girls grow in confidence when they try new activities away from home, under the guidance of trained camp staff.  They even find out they can happily survive without technology for a few days! 

Visit our Summer Camp page, or download the 2016 Camp Guide for more information.  Give your girl the gift of the outdoors!
Please RSVP for our Gold Award Celebration! 

Reservations are REQUIRED for our Gold Award celebration: this is because we need to let the hotel know about meals in advance.

Please join us in Mobile (May 14) or Montgomery (May 21) for a celebration of all our past and current Gold Award recipients.

We will also be honoring recent Bronze and Silver Awardees.  Come celebrate the awards (and the awardees!) that help create young women of courage, confidence and character.

Cookie Recognitions Are Coming! 

We are expecting recognitions from the Cookie program to arrive within the next two weeks.

They will be distributed to the Troop Cookie Chairs, who will sort them out for individual Girl Scouts who participated in recognitions during the sale.  Your patience is appreciated!

Work at Camp this Summer

We're looking for an Equestrian Counselor and a Camp Nurse for Summer Camp.  Enjoy our beautiful camp properties while helping to provide a positive experience to our enthusiastic
campers and staff.  

Equestrian Counselor Position Description

We offer room, board, and a weekly stipend.  Plus the biggest intangible -- CAMP LIFE! If you have a daughter who wants to attend camp, we can make accommodations.  

A Camp Staff Application is required.  

See you at camp! 

Camp Nurse Position Description

Please contact Amanda Abercrombie at aabercrombie@girlscoutssa.org for more information.

Girls...That's Who We are All About      

   
I'm writing this on a Monday morning, following events at most of our camp properties all weekend.   We had girls doing all sorts of things this weekend, but mostly they were learning while having fun.
It is simply amazing to see so many people outdoors, working with girls to learn about their environment and their world.   They honed their skills that will serve them for a lifetime and and got to experience new things.    There was zip lining, canoeing, archery, horseback riding, sailing, tie-die, starting fires, making a meal over an open campfire, s'mores, and a campfire to round out the evening.   The weather wasn't quite perfect. Although the sun was warm, the wind was brisk and the evenings chilly.   But the girls and their mentors integrated that into their weekend experience.
As we have talked to girls who shared this experience, whether it was Camp Scoutshire Woods, Camp Sid, or Kamp Kiwanis, everyone reported they had a great time.   In fact, some that we talked to were wildly enthusiastic about the weekend they had.   This is what fond memories are made of, and I have to think it was not only the girls who had a memorable weekend.
Thank you to all who went to a lot of work and effort to make that weekend so fantastic for so many.   We appreciate all you do to make the world a better place.
Continue reading on our Virtual Volunteer Blog. 

New Programs & Updates
 
With the excitement of summer camp upon us, we are working to get both resident camps ready for our ACA accreditation visits! Thank you to our Camp Rangers Jesse Malone and Mike Breshears for getting our camps ready for the girls to enjoy this summer! 

If you are at Camp Kiwanis and are in need of assistance, contact Mike Breshears at 334-239-5160 and for Camp Scoutshire Woods, contact Jesse Malone at 251-680-3344. 

Upcoming Deadlines 

Event
Location
Date
Deadline
Montgomery
4/28
online study
Kamp Kiwanis
5/6-8
4/29
Mobile
5/14
4/29
Montgomery
5/21
4/29
 
 
5/1
 
  
5/1
 
 
5/1
 Mobile
6/12, 6/16, 6/22  
5/1
webinar
5/5 & as needed
RSVP 
FA/CPR/AED Certification (Volunteers)  
 Montgomery
5/14 
online study
 
Other Opportunities
Because we want our girls to have many learning (and fun!) opportunities, we offer this additional calendar for programs that are not presented by our council. Some of these programs are presented by our volunteer Troops and Service Units, others are put on by groups in the communities we serve. Calendar listings do not imply endorsement by the council.  This calendar is available on our Events & Programs page 
Please contact the volunteer listed in the program for more information and program status. 
Newly Listed Events: