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

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!

February 9 2019

Mystery Solved

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me No Comments badges we don't need no stinkin badges, juniors, the 80s

This blog post is more dramatic if you read it while playing the Unsolved Mysteries theme song. I guess though EVERYTHING is more dramatic with the Unsolved Mysteries theme song playing as the soundtrack. It’s too bad I don’t have Robert Stack narrating this. He died back in 2003, in case you were wondering.

January 30 2019

The Membership Dues Authority Proposal: There Can Be Only One

National Governance, Opinions 7 Comments 2020 NCS, farthest north council, gsg, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national convention, national council, national delegate

The series of Highlander movies features a famous line: “There can be only one.” I’ve personally never seen any of the Highlander movies because I’ve heard they involve heads getting chopped off, and I’m not one for gore. It makes me queasy. But moving on from decapitation – put on your reading glasses, because this is a long one! And it involves discussion about national governance, so go get some coffee, too! You also might need to whip out your copy of the Blue Book of Basic Documents, since I know you all carry one around in your back pocket. You never know when there might be a governance emergency!

At one time in our organization’s history, there was only one that decided how much membership dues should be – and that was the National Council. The National Board would put forth a proposal and a rationale as to why dues should increase, and National Delegates took that back to their council’s membership, discussed it, and then met at the triennial National Council Session (NCS) to debate and vote on it. But that changed in 2012 when the National Board declared it was raising dues from $12 to $15 – and didn’t consult the National Council. The same thing happened in 2016, but instead of $3, it was raised $10. Annual dues are currently $25.

So how did this come about, and why the change from the National Council to the National Board? Continue reading

January 5 2019

Holy National Governance, Batman!

National Governance No Comments 2020 NCS, delegate, governance, gsg, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national convention, national council, national delegate, sylvia acevedo

Happy New Year! 2019 is here – and that means this blog will be five years old in April. We’ve come a long way, baby. I noticed one of the posts from the first month is about my first meeting as a service unit delegate. I knew absolutely nothing about governance at that time – and look at me now! There are two categories dedicated to National Governance and Delegates!

Along these same lines, I received an email from Marty Woelfel from the Kentuckiana council here recently about a new website called Girl Scout Governance that’s dedicated to our Movement’s national governance system. Here’s what she has to say about it:

I wanted to send you information about a new Girl Scout Governance website. I’ve posted links on several Facebook pages, including Girl Scout Convention Chat, Greenblood Gab, and some others–so perhaps you’ve already seen them. If you care to take a look, here is the website: www.girlscoutgovernance.com.

As you will see, we are interested in trying to slowly bend GSUSA back toward more responsiveness to the voice of members. We are very encouraged by a lot that has happened under Sylvia Acevedo, so now seems to be the time to “make permanent” the idea that GSUSA must consult with National Delegates on a regular basis. I was a national delegate twice and a national alternate twice in the period 1999-2011 (counting my full term that began in 2008), and during that entire time, I remember only once that GSUSA contacted national delegates and alternates about anything at all. In my opinion, they are really missing out on “using resources wisely.” You will see at the website that I have other ideas, too, and we are hearing now from others about things like girl representation, membership dues, and so forth.

December 30 2018

Orienteering Ho!

Experiences as a Leader, Troop Leader Resources 3 Comments cadettes, camp wabak, city slickers, journeys, outdoors, stem, troop 20, troop 2562, university of georgia, UNOFFICIAL guides

We’re still plodding along with the Cadette Outdoor Journey. I thought we’d be done by now, but we’re soooooooo close. Just one more step in the Night Owl badge! But even though we went on a backpacking trip this past June (which I will be highlighting in a future post), technically we didn’t cover all of the steps for the Trailblazing badge, which is part of the Outdoor Journey. One of the choices for Step 4 is “practice navigating with a map and compass or GPS unit.” Continue reading

December 25 2018

Merry Christmas from 1942!

Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me, Traditional Stuff 3 Comments history, holidays

It’s Christmas Day, and I’ve just woken up from a nap and eaten a leftover turkey sandwich. I normally wouldn’t have written a blog post on Christmas, but I noticed something very special in one of my presents and wanted to share it today.

I collect Girl Scout handbooks (imagine that!), and my husband gave me a 1942 handbook as a Christmas gift:

Girl Scout with a Cause

Five Years of GSWAC (Not a Council)!