Built-in Civics Education

National Governance, Opinions 2 Comments blue book, councils, delegate, democratic process, governance, gsg, gsusa, leadership, national board, national delegate, volunteers

GSUSA has recently put a focus on bringing civics education to the forefront. On June 3rd, they hosted a webcast that was livestreamed entitled Civics Education: Preparing the Next Generation of Informed and Engaged Citizens. It’s described on GSUSA’s website as such: “This nonpartisan event is an opportunity for community leaders, public officials, and education experts to consider how out-of-school civics programs can prepare the next generation to be involved citizens with a deeper understanding of their government —both now and for the rest of their lives.” It’s archived on their website and can be found here: https://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/advocacy/event-civics-education.html Continue reading

June 8 2019

Blue Ghosts and Christmas Lights

Experiences as a Leader, Hikes & Outdoors 1 Comment backpacking, cadettes, camp wabak, camping, encampment, hiking, outdoors, patches, trips, troop 2562

During the last weekend in April, our service unit held our annual encampment at Camp WaBak. In case you’re not familiar with our troop, we’ve got two levels – Cadettes and Juniors. Just the Juniors went for Encampment this year since the Cadettes were going backpacking a few weeks later. We had beautiful spring weather for Encampment. The Juniors’ behavior, not so beautiful. We won’t discuss it. Anyway, that Saturday night, I was in charge of the campfire program for the SU. Afterward, our Junior co-leader took the girls back to the cabin to get ready for bed while I put the fire out, and then I’d head back on my own.

It was about 9:30pm, and I took the (established) shortcut through the woods to get to the cabin. Right at the edge of the woods, a strange bug hovering in front of my eyes made me stop. It sort of looked like a lightning bug. Something told me to turn off my headlamp. I couldn’t see the bug anymore, but as my eyes got accustomed to the dark, I turned and looked into the woods. Continue reading

May 30 2019

Backpacking Here and Now

Experiences as a Leader, Hikes & Outdoors 3 Comments backpacking, cadettes, camping, hiking, outdoors, troop 2562, waterfalls

Back during my Troop 20 days, I was lucky enough to visit National Center West as part of a three week cross country trip that my troop took in 1987. Because of that experience, one of my goals as a leader was to take my troop backpacking at some point. I worked toward that goal and was lucky enough to join forces with a co-leader who was also willing and able. At times she claims she’s not able because she’s over 50, but I just wave my hand and say, “Nonsense! We can do this! You’re only as old as you feel!” The next day after some draining activity, I’m lying in bed feeling pretty old. Don’t tell her this. Anyway, here’s the write-up about last year’s first backpacking trip that I kept promising was coming “soon.”

When our girls moved up to Cadettes, Cheryl and I both vowed to take them backpacking by their second year, and so we started prepping early on for it. We spoke with a friend of mine named Cathy, a former backpacking trainer for our council, and asked what she suggested for a first time backpacking trip. She told us about a trail in the beautiful Mountain Bridge Wilderness which happens to be one of my favorite places to hike. It’s located about an hour from us in the Upstate of South Carolina, and it’s home to two state parks – Caesar’s Head and Jones Gap. The trail we’d be hiking is called the Jones Gap Trail which is a one-way hike between 276 and Jones Gap State Park:

May 21 2019

A Look Into the Craziness

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 3 Comments facebook

I’m recovering from four weekends in a row of activities. First, there was a Junior encampment. Next, a Junior camping trip. Then a middle school band trip to Dollywood, and last, a backpacking weekend with the Cadettes to Congaree National Park. Plus throw in some meetings here and there. Needless to say, I was in survival mode for a month. I really wasn’t sure if I was going to make it after riding the wooden roller coaster at Dollywood. It felt like someone shoved me into a blender and poured me out after the ride was over. Every fiber of my being cried out in pain, “MY GOD, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??”

Anyway, a few months ago, I created a Facebook account specifically for my Girl Scout random comments and experiences, because while I do share a lot of GS related photos and updates on my personal account, this one can be best described as a look into my Girl Scout stream of consciousness. I’ve probably now scared some of you off. I originally created it as a joke but it’s kind of taken on a life of its own. Right now, everything is set as Friend Only due to my not wanting pictures open to just anyone, but I’ll probably eventually go back and change some of the updates to Public if you don’t want to extend a friend request. (Edit: I’ve gone on and done that). But if you want to check it out, feel free to friend me. If you dare! Note: Apparently if you’re not already logged into Facebook, you’ll get a Page Not Found message.

April 21 2019

Cadette Think Like an Engineer Journey Reformat

Experiences as a Leader, Troop Leader Resources No Comments cadettes, journeys, troop 2562, troop stuff, UNOFFICIAL guides, vtk

I won’t bore you with a lengthy exposition BEFORE I provide a link to the download of the Cadette Think Like an Engineer reformat, but keep scrolling below the links if you WANT the lengthy exposition! You’ll have to read this disclaimer first though:

This is a reformat of the Cadette Think Like an Engineer Journey that’s found in the Volunteer Toolkit. Compared to the six PDFs from VTK totaling 135 pages, the reformat is 56 pages. So it’s still lengthy, but at least this will save you some paper. Nothing has been modified, except that the word “SAY” has been replaced with “Suggested conversation,” and I took out some extra spacing that I didn’t think was necessary. This reformat includes all of the handouts with the exception of the Cadette Take Action PDF, which I’ve also linked directly from the GSUSA website. Please note that I do not claim this as my own invention. Basically all I did was reformat this Journey to make it easier to read and also to keep your printer from melting down if you need to print it out (like I do). Continue reading

April 18 2019

Farthest North vs. GSUSA: The Sequel

National Governance No Comments 2020 NCS, blue book, farthest north council, governance, gsusa, membership dues, national board

They say that usually sequels aren’t as good as the original, but I guess it depends on which side of the membership dues issue you fall and what the ruling is for Part II of the Farthest North vs. GSUSA lawsuit that will determine your opinion!

In case you’re not up to speed and have no idea what I’m talking about, about two years ago, the Farthest North council out of Fairbanks, Alaska, sued GSUSA due to its decision to raise membership dues from $15 to $25 for the 2017-2018 membership year. I was confused at the time because I had always heard that the National Council had voted to give the National Board that authority. My curiosity got the best of me, and plus, I needed a good excuse to not clean the house. So over the next couple of months, I delved into this issue and found that the National Council had NEVER given this authority over to the National Board. Additionally, I read through the Blue Book of Basic Documents to see if I personally thought the National Board had authority in the first place as they claimed. This was a long drawn out saga that’s still going on today with my recent post about a Membership Dues proposal that’s out there for the taking for the 2020 National Council Session. Recently, the Chicago council released a proposal that’s sort of a compromise where the National Board can raise dues, but no more than 15% over the triennium without approval from the National Council. Continue reading

April 13 2019

Five Years of GSWAC (Not a Council)!

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 1 Comment core business strategy, farthest north council, OFFICIAL scarf, samona

A snapshot from 2015 and right after the White Paper summary was published.

On April 13th, 2014, the GSWAC (Not a Council) blog debuted on the interwebs. I had been rolling the idea around in my head for a couple of months at that point but finally set the site up and published something. My intention was to document random Girl Scout related topics which were mostly related to my memories from GS growing up and current leader experiences. I really had no long term goals or plans for it other than to share my thoughts with whomever was unlucky enough to come across it. And here we are five years later!

I’ve pretty much gone through all of my major memories of Troop 20, so at this point I’m attempting to document major trips and events from my current leader experience and whatever else may come my way. I’m way behind, in case you were wondering. Continue reading

March 12 2019

Happy 107th Birthday Girl Scouts!

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 3 Comments history, j-low

I almost let this day go by because I am in the middle of putting something special together, but I thought it was a sacrilege if I didn’t acknowledge today’s special day. My goal was to finish it by today as a birthday present to you, the reader, but it has been a stressful cookie season (and it’s still not over 😥 ). So I’m not sure when it will be completed, but my hope is soon.

Instead, I leave you with a random picture of early Girl Scouts and J-Low looking very happy and proud in her GS uniform. Sometimes I like to look at a picture and guess what the person was thinking at the time based on her facial expression. Continue reading

February 22 2019

Death Spiral: Governance Edition

National Governance, Opinions 10 Comments board of directors, core business strategy, councils, delegate, democratic process, governance, gsg, gsle, gsusa, national board, national delegate, volunteers

Last June, I wrote a post called Death Spiral which discussed signs pointing to a council that could potentially fail – or one that’s already on its way. The signs included the disintegration of the service unit structure leading to isolation of troops and volunteers.

There is another sign of a failing council, and it’s one that comes from the governance side of things. It’s the failing of the democratic process. This unfortunately probably speaks for a great many councils these days, and it isn’t a good sign for the long term health of the Girl Scout Movement. Continue reading

February 19 2019

Junior Think Like an Engineer Rewrite

Troop Leader Resources 4 Comments farthest north council, journeys, juniors, printers, stem, troop stuff, UNOFFICIAL guides, vtk

I finally got around to finishing the Junior Think Like A … Journey Trilogy series by completing the Junior Think Like an Engineer Journey. Like the others, I took the set of 6 sessions from Volunteer Toolkit and slimmed it down by reformatting and removing any duplicate material. You can also find the original set from the Farthest North council’s website. This UNOFFICIAL rewrite includes all of the additional handouts and GSUSA survey in an appendix. It’s been consolidated from 125 to 35 pages! Your printer will thank you.

And so, without further ado, here it is! Please let me know if there are any type-os or missing information in it. Junior Think Like an Engineer Journey Rewrite

Looking for the other two Junior Think Like A … Journeys in the series?

I’ll be creating other UNOFFICIAL guides in the future, and you’ll be able to find them here. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing any other Journey rewrites, but never say never!