Each of you have spent many hours during the past year planning, meeting, camping, giving service to others, selling cookies, and the list goes on. More than likely you often gave up more glamorous activities or left things undone because you made the commitment to be a troop leader.

First of all, thank you for your valuable time and for sharing your knowledge and skills along with the patience and flexibility to meet the demands that troop leadership requires. Secondly, have you taken the time to reflect on how important your role is today in making the difference in the life of a young girl? I hope you realize just how significant your role is whether you are leading a Daisy troop for the first time or advising a group of Senior Girl Scouts.
Recently, I attended a statewide “Partners in Education” conference. The conference focus was the “40 Developmental Assets” that a child/adolescent needs in order to have the best chance to succeed in adulthood. Dr. Peter Benson and his colleagues at the Search Institute have spent many years in practical research to identify the external and internal supports that children and youth need from their parents, extended family, faith-based institutions, educators, and the community. Research says that there are 20 internal assets and 20 external assets. Over time some startling statistics have emerged. The chart below shows statistics of high-risk behavior patterns as they relate to the 40 Developmental Assets.

Every girl who comes to your troop meeting brings her own unique set of interests, strengths, challenges, peer pressures, stresses, and family and social dynamics. Your role as a troop leader is so important in the life of every girl. You may not see the

Troop leaders can

• Support young people with caring and attention.
• Guide them toward a life based on positive values.
• Empower then in their abilities to help others.
• Set reasonable boundaries with high expectations.
• Help them develop social competencies and life skills.
• Inspire them to use their time in constructive ways.
• Spark their commitment to learning.
• Celebrate their uniqueness and affirm their positive identity.
  (used with permission from Search Institute)

On a recent errand trip, a young woman greeted me with graciousness and a warm smile. For some reason, I told her I was with the Girl Scouts. She said, “I was a Girl Scout and I had a great leader. She was so much fun.” She went on to explain, “I’m from a small town in East Texas. Girl Scouts made such a difference in my life. We got to do things in Girl Scouts that we never would have gotten to do any other way.” I left my errand walking about two feet off the ground. There’s so much more to the story, but for privacy’s sake, I’ll just tell you I knew her leader and that I probably saw the young woman as a Brownie at a day camp. So I know first hand that a special leader in this Council made a very positive and perhaps life-changing experience in this young women’s life. She’s now a wife, a mother, successful in her work, and giving back. I don’t know how many and which one of those 40 Assets Girl Scouting provided her, but her testimony says it did.

As a troop leader, you provide a wonderful support system. At this time of year, you are being asked to continue your commitment to troop leadership. Please reflect on what you have done to provide those essential “building blocks” for the girls in your troop and “Say You’ll Stay!”