April 5 2025

Badge Booklets are Now in VTK!

National Operations    7 Comments    , , , , ,

As I’ve documented before, our national badge programming’s organizational system needs some work. I’m a mentor for new leaders in our service unit, and they usually come in very confused and often ask one simple question: “Isn’t there a badge book that I can buy somewhere?” Unfortunately, the answer is no. At one point, I put together a matrix pointing leaders as to where they could find requirements for certain badges. As much as I love spreadsheets, it’s never really a good thing when you have to create one just to help others find the building blocks of your organization.

After the Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting binders were retired, each badge has to be purchased separately either via a $2.50 PDF download from the GSUSA store or a $3 hard copy from your council store or the online GSUSA shop. As you can imagine, that gets pretty pricey, especially if you are a new leader attempting to build your own badge book. Back in 2023, I estimated that it would cost a Junior leader $176 dollars to put together a badge book with all of the booklets, the handbook, and a large enough 3 ring binder to fit. Continue reading

March 4 2025

Thank You!

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    2 Comments   

Thanks to everyone for your input and comments after my post the other day. I also had people reach out to me via phone calls and texts and even had lunch with friends today which helped. I am very blessed to have such a supportive community of friends and colleagues that I can lean on when things are overwhelming. A friend pointed out that within the past year, I have lost the communities that were grounding me, so it’s no wonder I feel disconnected and disengaged. This was very obvious once she pointed it out, but when you’re mired in the muck, the mud gets in your eyes and it’s hard to see. Once I realized this, a lot of things made sense, and it helped me reorient my way of thinking. I just need to readjust some priorities and be more patient. Thanks again for your support and comments. You are all very special to me.

March 2 2025

I Have a Dilemma

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me    8 Comments    , , , , , ,

So, dear reader, I wanted to share some of my recent thoughts with you and get your input. The reality is that I’ve been struggling with this for quite some time now, and it’s reached a point where it’s completely maddening to me. So instead of me continuing to wrestle with this alone, I’m going to share my innermost thoughts with you. If blogs could go through a mid-life crisis, this would be it.

Perhaps it would be helpful for me to share what I’m doing in GS now. Last year, my co-leader and I made the decision to “reboot” my troop with my co-leader taking over as the primary leader, and I would serve in a secondary role. Frankly, I’m burned out when it comes to troop business and badge programming. My youngest daughter is a 10th grader, so assuming she continues, I’ve still got two more years to go. I’m in my 15th year as a GS volunteer. I realize compared to a lot of folks, that’s young when it comes to GS years, but I feel like I’ve been through a lifetime in my GS career that I won’t rehash here. Continue reading

February 16 2025

Thinking About World Thinking Day

Opinions    2 Comments    , , , , , ,

In case you’re new to Girl Scouting, let’s revisit February 22 – one of the most important Girl Scout holidays – and known to everyone as World Thinking Day. To summarize from GSUSA:

World Thinking Day was first created in 1926 at the fourth Girl Guide/Girl Scout International Conference, held at Girl Scouts of the USA’s Camp Edith Macy (now called Edith Macy Conference Center). Conference attendees decided that there should be a special day when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all around the world think of each other and give thanks and appreciation to their “sister” Girl Scouts. The delegates chose February 22 as the date for Thinking Day because it was the mutual birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement, and his wife Olave, who served as World Chief Guide.

In 1932, at the seventh World Conference, held in Poland, a Belgian delegate suggested that since birthdays usually involve presents, girls could show their appreciation and friendship on Thinking Day not only by extending warm wishes but by offering a voluntary contribution to the World Association. This is how the World Association’s Thinking Day Fund began. The fund helps offer Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting to more girls and young women worldwide. Girl Scouts of the USA, through its Juliette Low World Friendship Fund, gives to the Thinking Day Fund.

Continue reading

December 22 2024

We’re in the Money

National Operations    No Comments    , ,

We’re in the money!
We’re in the money!
We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along!

GSUSA didn’t quite get what it wanted when it came to a membership dues raise back in October, but any disappointment  should have been short lived when it was announced that the Lilly Endowment recently awarded a grant of $30 million to GSUSA to “create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in the young people they serve.” There’s been no word on whether councils will receive any of these funds. What will this grant support? Don’t know about that either. Hopefully something more than a hastily developed patch program.

This isn’t the first time Girl Scouts has received a grant from the Lilly Endowment. In 2022, six councils that serve Indiana girls received a total of $15 million to “find creative solutions to reach and better support Hoosier girls and families in all 92 counties with a particular focus on girls and families who have historically not engaged with Girl Scouts.”  Continue reading

December 13 2024

In Search of… Badges

National Operations    5 Comments    , , , , ,

Recently, I checked my blog’s stats to find that for 2024, I’ve broken my previous record of yearly page views even though I published fewer posts this year comparatively. But the upward trend started before this year. I noticed in 2023 that daily page views had doubled, and after looking into it, I finally found the reason. It’s due to hits from Google searches to two specific blog posts: one being my badge and award summary from 2023 and the other of the same topic from 2024.

According to Google, here are the top 10 keyword searches for my blog in 2024:

The results for 11-20 are more of the same with a few “journey” keywords mixed in. Continue reading