TONKA WATERS WEST

Fast Track Training

Tried and True Tips

For Adult Members Girl Scout

Heather Durenberger

Fast Start Coach

WELCOME

Use the Girl Scout quiet sign to begin. Explain its

purpose.

Thank you for attending, some of the 45,000 girls

in River Valleys.

Introduce yourself and my Girl Scout story.

Call attention to restrooms, cell phone

Ask the leaders to begin introductions, name,

scouts, school, your Scouting experience

Encourage leaders take a few moments to look

through the Volunteer Resource Kit contents that

they brought (Guidebook, Journey books).

Did you know that 65 percent of the women

listed in Who’s Who of American Women are

Girl Scout alumnae?

The explorer: Sally Ride

The diplomat: Hillary

Rodham Clinton

The pop star: Taylor Swift

The journalist: Katie Couric

The athlete: Venus Williams

The judge: Sandra Day

O’Connor

The princess: Grace Kelly

The comic: Lucille Ball

The firecracker: Bette Davis

The advice-giver: Abigail Van

Buren

The labor leader: Linda

Chavez-Thompson

The psychologist: Dr. Joyce

Brothers

The humorist: Erma Bombeck

The songstress: Sheryl Crow

Purpose, Process & Payoff

Purpose

Clarify information about programs, policies and procedures that affect new troops

Share helpful how-to techniques for the new troops

Share information specific to your local service unit

Process

Tell, Show, Try

Payoff

Strong start for your Scouting year

Stand upon the shoulders of other adult members – solid foundation, confidence, knowing

Permission

The Girl Scout

Mission/Promise

The Girl Scout Mission

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:

To serve God* and my country,

To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

* When making the Girl Scout Promise, individuals may substitute wording appropriate to their own spiritual beliefs for the word “God.”

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be honest and fair,

friendly and helpful, considerate and

caring, courageous and strong, and

responsible for what I say and do,

and to

respect myself and others, respect

authority, use resources wisely, make the

world a better place, and be a sister to

every Girl Scout.

Strong Foundation – program

is outcomes based

Transformational

Leadership:

Focusing on

Outcomes of the

New Girl Scout

Leadership

Experience

Strong Foundation – programming

reinforces in Maslow’s basic needs

The Girl Scout program engages girls

in three key types of leadership

experiences:

discovering themselves and their values

while learning practical life skills

connecting with others and building

positive relationships

taking action to create a better future

for themselves and to uplift their

communities

It is not simply what girls do in Girl

Scouting, but how they engage that

creates a high-quality experience.

Leadership matters

Through these three Girl Scout

processes, girls are empowered

to make decisions, share

knowledge and skills in a

supportive environment, and

actively engage in meaningful

learning and development.

The Girl Scout processes,

particularly cooperative and

experiential learning, are

associated with creating active,

engaged participants and

learners in and beyond Girl

Scouts.

Girl Scout factors influence

girls’ academic success

The research indicates:

Girl Scout participation has a positive impact on girls’

leadership.

Girls who gain experience solving problems and seeking

challenges in Girl Scouting are more successful in school

than girls who have fewer experiences in these areas.

Specific Girl Scout experiences, such as those involving

cooperative learning and girls leading, are more

beneficial than others in promoting Girl Scout outcomes

that influence academic success.

Service Unit Information –

hopes and dreams

Build community

Communication

Scouting Families

Support

Families/Leaders

Which schools in Tonka Waters West?

Clear Springs Elementary

Excelsior Elementary

Minnewashta Elementary

Minnetonka Middle School

Minnetonka High School

11 troops –

middle +

5th

4th

4th

4th

3rd

2nd

2nd

1st

1st

Clear Springs Troops

n = 130

9 troops

5th

5th

4th

4th

3rd

3rd

2nd

2nd

1st

1st

Excelsior Troops

n = 114

10 troops

5th

4th

4th

3rd

3rd

3rd

2nd

1st

Minnewashta Troops

n = 83

8 troops

Tonka Waters West is the local

presences for Girl Scouts

What happens at this level:

Coordinates fun events for Scouts like Bowling, Daisy

Tea, Girl Scout Birthday Party, Thinking Day

Build communication among adult members,

Train adult members,

Host adult member meetings,

Adult Members are all included on the Service Unit

Shutterfly site

Service Unit Communication &

Information

Girl Scouts of MN & WI River Valley

Volunteer Planning Resources

Volunteer Planning Resources

Volunteer Planning Resources

Training That Really Help

Two adult

members

need to

complete

each of these

2-3 mins

online

training

Troop Meetings

Co-op model

Tools: Sign Up Genius 101 &

Shutterfly 101

Meeting sites (Minnetonka School

usage form)

Holding a Scout Year Planning

Meeting

Uniforms – Scout store

Troop Bank Account

Troop Meetings

Co-op model

Tools: Google docs/sheets, Sign

Up Genius & Shutterfly

Meeting sites (Minnetonka School

usage form)

Holding a Scout Year Planning

Meeting

Uniforms – Scout store

Troop Bank Account

Tools: Google doc, SignUp Genius

& Shutterfly

Think about using Goggle, SignUp Genius, Shutterfly

Sharing program picks & community service picks

Share calendar: subscribe vs calendar invite

Share what is working with other leaders

Email members

Troop availability/participation

Share troop photos

Store important forms/documents in one place

Easy starts: Goggle doc/sheet (easy) VS SignUp Genius (fellow adult members can supply template) VS Shutterfly (need to design)

Co-op model – working together

Even though this troop has just one

coordinator, it is a co-op troop

because all or most of the other

adults are involved.

The traditional troop model consists

of two unrelated adults serving as

troop leaders.

We use the term co-op to describe

the group of supporting adult

members.

Co-op model – working together

• On field trips, overnights, and

other extra program occasions, the

coordinator recruits one or more of

the adult members to lead.

• All other adults are asked to

attend a meeting every two or

three months to set up the

schedule and to discuss current

troop issues.

• The coordinator plans year

planning with the girls and parent

support.

• Scout and parent plan the

individual meeting when age

appropriate.

Family Involvement

Have one parent from each family register as adult member

Plan year calendar together

Ask each family to volunteer twice year minimum

Ask one parent to lead activity/craft at each meeting

Ask one parent to lead song/game at each meeting

Ask one parent to bring snack/drink

Ask parent/grandparent to lead something they love to do ex. Yoga, Tree planting, Gardening, Caroling with seniors, Crafts, Leadership, or Singing.

Co-op model – working together

Be a good role model:

• Confidentiality (girls and parents)

• No tobacco or alcohol at Girl Scouting activities

• Not what you say, what you do – girls and parents

are watching

General tips:

• Before the first meeting program the Scouts

parent cell phone into your cell

• Have a sign in and sign out sheet. Assign someone

to help with release

• Have troop planning meeting early, families

schedules are busy, earlier helps

• You can schedule community service as a meeting

– one less meeting to plan

Troop Meetings cont.

Be a Great Guest

Ask a teacher if you can use room and have list of dates when asking, remember the school calendar (be mindful of spring breaks & school closures).

Fill out form or email Trisha.Sorenson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us with the Minnetonka School District facilities department to reserve room.

Share your meeting dates with the front office and grade level teachers

Ask parents to send notes to teachers to help remind our busy teachers

When meeting in teacher classroom make sure you leave room as you found it.

Take a photo with your cell phone before you move furniture

Council-Sponsored Program Events

Other event/badge earning ideas

Minnetonka

Trash to

Treasure

Local businesses:

Cub Foods, Joey

Novas, Tonkadale

Nursery, Wells

Fargo

October 11th – Spookamaga at Camp Lakamaga, Marine on St. Croix

1:30 - 8PM Cost is $5 per person More info: www.spookamaga.com

October 13th - Adult Member 6:30 PM at MMW in the Media Centers

November 7th/8th - Kids Against Hunger packathon, Mt Calvary in

Excelsior http://tinyurl.com/2015KAHpackathon

January 10th - Cookie Rally

3:30 - 5:00 at Mount Calvary Church in Excelsior

Other Events that will happen this year:

Daisy Tea Party in the Spring

She N Me in a tent in May or June

Loveable Llamas

Girl Scout Sunday at Mount Calvary Church will be March 8th

Memorial Day Parade

If your troop is interested in hosting an event – other ideas…

Daisy Blast - satisfies bridging requirements and is a ton of fun

Frosty Fun

Sock Hop / Valentine’s Dance

Girl Scout Birthday party

Thinking Day events

Bowling

Events

Let’s Have You Try It Now

Go to Tonka Waters West Family Shutterfly site to find

when the xyz event details.

Go to Tonka Waters West Family Shutterfly site to find

the form to reserve your room at your school

Go to Girl Scouts River Valley and find meeting planner.

Go to Girl Scouts River Valley and find a badge earning

event for your troop.

For SignUp Genius and Shutterfly 101: Look for coffee

house dates from Tonka Waters West Shutterfly.

Volunteer Responsibilities-Outlined

in the River Valleys Orientation-

S.M.I.L.E.

Safety

Membership

Inclusion

Leadership Resources

Essentials

Volunteer Responsibilities

Knowing Your Responsibilities

Learn the key responsibilities of all adult Girl Scouts,

parents/guardians and girls.

Get the Safety Activity Checkpoints.

Find parent/guardian permission forms and other health

and safety documents.

Use Safety Activity Checkpoints to plan safe activities.

Use the inclusion resources for assistance in including

all members.

Take the Girl Scouts Online Safety Pledge.

How Many Volunteers?

Knowing How Many Volunteers You Need

Learn background check information.

Fill out the volunteer application.

Girl Scouts regulates specific minimum adult-to-girl

ratios for all activities. Learn the rules and which adults

can help you meet the minimum requirements.

Transporting Responsibilities

Transporting Girls

Learn which adults can drive girls to trips and activities,

and the use of private (owned or rented) and River

Valleys’ vehicles. Also included is a checklist for all

drivers to ensure passenger safety.

Review Minnesota and Wisconsin child safety seat laws

Volunteer Essentials

Tips for Managing Funds

Online trainings

How to open account

Managing Girl Scout money

Open an account

Head to any Wells Fargo location

Need two adult (non related) members

Track expenses

Keep envelopes

Write down what it was for

Year End Finance Report

Money Earning

The primary way to earn

money for programs and

activities:

The Cookie

Fall Product Program

How to get started?

Dues – Priming the troop

account.

Other way to support Scouting:

Family Giving Program Family Giving Program

Launching is like taking a

road trip

There is some of this nitty gritty stuff but it is like taking a road trip...

You have to tune up the car, fill it with gas, pack it up

But once it is all done the fun of the road trip begins, and the more prep work you've done, the less stressful the bumps in the road will be....because there will be some.

And no matter what happens with the car along the way, the point isn't to have a fancy car, just one that works, and allows you to enjoy the road trip.

The road trip is the point.

Council Troop Support Team

Additional Resources

Caribou Coffee House Hwy 7/41 Drop In this Thursday 10/9 from 9-11am

Adult Member Meeting, 10/13 at 6:30 pm, MMW Media Center

Girl Scouts Volunteer Online Support

Future deep dives: SignUp Genius and Shutterfly

Three Rivers Park activities

River Valley Equipment checkout: from cooperative games, intro to nature, program kits (astronomy, fitness challenge, girl sports kit, math fun kit, safety program kit, zink the zebra kit, building and architecture)

Closing Activities – Friendship

Circle