It’s Our Birthday, Let’s Celebrate!

     March 12, 1912. What does that date mean to you? Well, as a member of Girl Scouts of the USA it means you get to celebrate the birthday of our organization. It was on March 12, 1912 that Juliette Gordon Low came home to Savannah, Georgia to her house on Abercorn Street and made the famous phone call that began the Girl Scouting movement in the United States.
Since that first troop began in Savannah, Girl Scouts of the USA has grown from 18 members to almost 4 million girls, and is the largest organization for girls in the world.
     As a member of this sisterhood, you have every right to go out and celebrate. So, have a party and be sure to tell your girls about Juliette Low and her dream and how each and every girl from the smallest Daisy Girl Scout to that Senior Girl Scout with her new Gold Award is a part of this wonderful sisterhood. For more information, visit www.girlscouts.org.

Money Matters
     This issue comes up every year, particularly around cookie time. I know it’s a constant source of confusion, because I get at least one call a week from leaders or parents that do not understand troop finances. As every leader is told in Basic Leadership Training, all money raised by a Girl Scout troop belongs equally to every girl member of that troop. This includes any money raised by that troop through dues, money earning opportunities and council sponsored product sales (Fall Product Sales and Cookie Sales). Troop money is never portioned out to individual girls. All money belongs to the entire troop equally. So, that means, if a girl and/or her family members work at a troop garage sale (only Junior Girl Scouts and older may hold extra money raising activities) and another girl is unable to work that event, both girls have equal share in the money earned. Same holds true for product sales. If one girl sells 300 boxes of cookies and another girl can only sell 40, it does not matter. Both girls share equally in the resulting funds. Troops may not use troop funds in a “percentage earned” manner, all girls must have the same share. A troop may not keep separate books on each girl’s cookie sales and show any preference when it comes to events, camping or any other activity.
Yes, I know it does not seem fair at times, but as members of GSUSA and GSSJC, we agree, as leaders, that we will follow the policies and guidelines when it comes to all aspects of troop leadership, and money allocation is one of those aspects. For

further information, refer to your copy of Safety-Wise, and the GSSJC Resource Guide.

New Terms for Program Goals
      With the advent of STUDIO 2B, I asked Linda Loop, chair of the STUDIO 2B task force, to explain the new “4B’s” and the new terminology. She has provided the descriptions below. I hope they are helpful to you.
    Having trouble identifying the four Girl Scout program goals? You’re not alone! GSUSA has come up with simple, one-word descriptions for each: Become (learning new skills); Belong (being part of a group); Believe (developing personal values); Build (service in the community). The new terminology was created for Girl Scouts 11 to 17. The words make it very simple to evaluate if your troop is experiencing a balanced program: if you find that your troop calendar centers around crafts and badge work (“Become”), consider incorporating some “just plain fun” time for the girls to sing, play games together, or enjoy a movie or play together (“Belong”). Saying the Girl Scout Promise and Law plus the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting is a good way to address the “Believe” goal (along with your excellent role modeling, of course!), and completing service projects gives the girls the sense of helping to “Build” strong community bonds. Commit these four little words to memory, and you’ll always have the foundation of Girl Scouting on the tip of your tongue!