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 TRIPTIONARY
Help us spread the word about this great resource for leaders. If they are looking for field trips to take with their troops or having a hard time meeting some of the requirements for the Journeys or Girls Guides then the Triptionary is here to help. The Triptionary is a resource guide for leaders, parents and other volunteers. The places in the Triptionary have agreed to offer discounted rates to Girl Scouts! You can check them out here.
Remember, the Triptionary is always under construction, and new collaborators are added frequently, so keep checking back. If you know of other collaborators / volunteers that should be included, please contact amyg@gsgcf.org
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We're here to help
you make it happen.
Check out our website for important dates and information
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We Wish to Thank Our Following Community Partners:
Partner Agency
Girl Scouts of
Gulfcoast Florida, Inc.
4780 Cattlemen Road
Sarasota, FL 34233
941-921-5358
800-232-4475
www.gsgcf.org
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February / 2013 | |
Dear Service Unit Leadership Volunteers.
Welcome to TEAM TALK (formerly Cybernews) - the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida's online newsletter keeping administrative volunteers informed of all the great things being done by and for Girl Scouts.
Go Green! While there may be some sections of this email you need to email or share, save paper and avoid printing. Have you checked out our website lately, we made enhancements and we are featuring a new activity calendar and other great features - take a peek! Don't forget to stay in touch via social media - fan or like us at  . |
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2013-2014 Girl Scout
Membership Dues Increase
Help us spread the word of the change to membership dues for the new Girl Scout calendar year. Effective October 1, 2013, the annual membership dues (which goes directly to Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and which provides secondary insurance to registered members) will increase by $3.00 to $15.00.
A Customer Focus Forward initiative has clearly identified the need for GSUSA to provide higher-quality services and resources to our members via more efficient learning and support tools towards the delivery of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, as well as technology that makes joining Girl Scouts fast and easy.
At $15.00, membership remains a great value! We encourage all troops to set aside the first $15.00 of cookie sale profits, per girl, to ensure her the gift of membership!
More information about the early bird program will follow. Service Unit leadership teams can start making plans for successful early bird efforts now. Consider some of these ideas:
- pool party at camp for troops that get registered early
- special incentives for leaders who have 100% of their troop return or if bridging register to transfer into new troop
- $1.00 discount for all girls who register early bird when attending the service unit camp out or other event.
- Early bird troop leaders can enter a drawing for a gift.
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Summer Camp Update
GSGCF believes that every girl should to have an outdoor leadership experience. We believe outdoor program should be quality experiences utilizing our Girl Scout Leadership Experience Program Portfolio and help girls achieve many of our 15 outcomes. While girls are having fun and enjoying new friendships in safe environments, we want to provide them with opportunities to learn about themselves and their world, and how they can make a difference.
This year as in every year, we reviewed the feasibility of providing summer camp opportunities for our girls, our reality is that not enough girls and families have supported the program in the past several years or expressed interest moving forward (via survey sent to every registered member) to allow us to be positioned for success. Without the ability to meet attendance standards we would be unable to support the budget necessary to hire qualified staff and provide quality program.
To help ensure that girls do receive a quality outdoor experience we have turned our attention to getting Girl Scout families introduced to our properties, and increasing volunteers skills in delivering outdoor experiences through troop and service unit campouts. We are providing quality adult learning courses and planning some fun adult and family outings on our properties.
While some girls have been able to bank cookie dough to help offset camp we are making those credits available for girls to use for service unit camp outs or other Girl Scout council's summer camp opportunities. Please contact the council staff for assistance with this request. Banked cookie dough are subject to procedures already in place.
We have plans repeat last year's Leadership weekend for our older girls and are exploring some other short term camp opportunities that will post on the website and be emailed to families as appropriate.
We continue to welcome your thoughts and suggestions as we look for ways to introduce our girls to the wonderful world of outdoor and camp experiences.
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Why Highest Awards?
As a Service Unit Manager, Coach, or even Trainer you often probably hear leaders complain about how hard it is to keep older girls involved in Girl Scouts.
One of the keys to keeping girls involved is through our Highest Awards. Feel free to share the top 10 list below.
Top 10 reasons to earn the Girl Scout Silver and Gold Award:
- Older girls often need a required amount of volunteer hours if they are going for the Bright Futures scholarship. Working towards their Gold Award can count towards those required hours.
- Girls who earn the Gold Award enter the military at a higher rank.
- Contacting people for these awards helps girls connect with their communities on a professional level. This will in turn place them on the radar of companies and could lead to a job or references for college applications.
- Highest Awards open the doors for more college scholarships.
- Earning Highest Awards teaches girls important life lessons like how to network, work as a team, and manage a project.
- Many women business professionals have earned the Gold Award so having that in common could put their resume on the top of the stack.
- Paperwork required for these awards is great practice for filling out job or college applications.
- The process of earning these awards allows a girl to learn her career strengths and weaknesses. For example a girl who thought she wanted to be a teacher changed her mind after a summer project working with children.
- Working towards these awards allows girls to make a lasting change in their communities.
- The feeling girls get from helping others.
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Tips & Tricks for Boosting Cookie Sales
The 2013 Girl Scout Cookie Program is off to a great start! Thanks to all the girls, families, volunteers, and supporters who are helping make this Cookie Season a success. Below are a few tips and tricks you can share with troops to help boost their sales.
- Ask everyone you know if they'd like to purchase cookies. Up to 90% of customers would buy cookies, but nearly 35% are never asked.
- At Cookie booths, bundle 3-5 packages of cookies together with a gift tag and ribbon. Ask customers to buy a bundle instead of just 1 or 2 packages. OR keep supplies on hand to help customers build their own bundle!
- Promote your goals. Tell customers what you're working toward and how many packages you need to reach your goal.
- Re-visit customers who ordered cookies early on. Chances are good that they will need more cookies before the sale ends.
- Consider a walkabout or a "red wagon" sale to help supplement your booth sales.
- Visit businesses and ask them to consider purchasing Cookies by the case as appreciation gifts for their clients or employees.
- Go online! Use the Cookie Club or social networking sites (with parental supervision) to reach out to even more customers. Consider making a YouTube video to make your pitch more visible, too. Just be sure to follow all Girl Scout safety guidelines.
- Remind everyone that Girl Scout Cookies are available for a limited time only, and they freeze well. It's a good idea for customers to stock up while they can.
Don't Miss Our Cookie Chat!
Finishing Strong - Tuesday, February 26, 2013
This webinar will cover everything you need to know to end the Cookie Program on a high note and finish strong, helping girls reach their goals. We'll also include information on record-keeping in eBudde and wrapping up the sale. To register for this webinar, click here.
This Cookie Chat webinar is a great tool to share with new troops (or anyone who needs a refresher) to help them have a successful Girl Scout Cookie season. Be sure to share this opportunity with all the troops in your Service Unit! |
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NEW AWARDS FOR 2013
Please share these awards with troops! There are two new awards girls may earn; World Thinking Day Award and Girl Scout Global Action Award. While these events are not new, the awards are updated and have 2013 on them. GSUSA now considers both awards official earned awards, so they may be worn on the front of the official uniform sash, vest, or tunic and placed where other earned badges are worn. Both patches are available for purchase in the council shops.
2013 WORLD THINKING DAY AWARD
 Each year on February 22, girls participate in activities and projects with global themes to honor their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries. It is a special day in the Girl Scout year when we remember we are part of a worldwide movement.
World Thinking Day is part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Global Action Theme, based on the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)), which aim to improve the lives of the world's poorest people. The theme for World Thinking Day 2013 is girls worldwide say "together we can save children's lives, focused on reducing child mortality rates around the globe.
2013 GIRL SCOUTS GLOBAL ACTION AWARD
The Girl Scouts Global Action award, developed in partnership with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), is an exciting and enriching way for Girl Scout Daisies to Ambassadors to participate in realizing the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which aim to reduce extreme poverty and impact major world concerns by 2015.
The alliance between WAGGGS and the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals embraces WAGGGS mission of empowering girls and young women to develop to their fullest potential as engaged and responsible global citizens. Around the world there are 145 WAGGGS member organizations, of which GSUSA is one, serving girls and young women in wide-ranging "Scouting" endeavors.
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Girl Scouting builds girls of Courage, Confidence and Character who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. is chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA and serves over 10,000 girls in ten counties including: Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Sarasota, DeSoto, Charlotte, Glades, Lee, Hendry, and Collier. For more information about the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida visit www.gsgcf.org.
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