Juniors - Keeping their interest for Cadettes - Part IV

(This is the last of a four-part series about keeping girls interested in Scouting as they bridge to Cadettes.  This series was inspired by a couple leaders who were looking for help with their girls, and spawned a 5-way email chain that had some great ideas.  Thanks again to Barb Christensen and Tara Offenberger for their help:  I tried to give them the credit they deserve!)


We've talked about keeping Juniors interested in Scouting as they bridge up.  We're going to end by talking about leaders and parents. 

 Tara Offenberger had a great comment:  "...what should a leader do if she feels more comfy with the younger girls than the older?  Perhaps there are teachers who are much better at teaching elementary school than middle school and for very definite reasons.  The leaders who are excellent at corralling a dozen girls who are 7, 8 or 9 years old, teaching them crafts, small service projects and the 6 out of 10 step badge work are not necessarily going to be excellent at working with older girls.  These girls are transitioning to young women - who need a real shoulder to cry on at times, who need someone to help them work out conflicts with friends, who are dealing with divorce in their family or even in choosing the right high school to attend.  Cadette thru Ambassador aged girls need ADVISORS who are comfortable with these kinds of issues and who can let go of controlling the meetings and simply GUIDE them in the right directions. If their leader can transition to a new style, those girls are very lucky." 

Well, these leaders are probably going to own a Cadette aged girl, whether they're ready or not!  And isn't Girl Scouting a safe environment for the leader to take the opportunity to learn with the girl?  How about suggesting they all take the Amaze Journey?  This is a great tool to use with 1st year Cadettes who are just starting middle school.  These girls are going to be living the peer pressure, betrayal, bullying, jealousy, cliques and frememies issues that Amaze takes up.  How about the not-comfy-as-a-Cadette-leader working with girls thru that Journey and supporting their girl-led efforts?  


This is also a transition year for girl planning, where the girls learn to run their own meetings (if they haven't already), be responsible for their own troop money, and start working on the Silver award.  As Barb says, make it look different!  Move the meeting time and place  - let the girls vote on the choices.  I'd say, make it different for you, too!  Maybe get a new co-leader?  Maybe merge with another troop and get the best Camping Mom in the council!  Learn to let go of the old and embrace the new.  Your daughter has to, and you want to support her, right?  Maybe you can do it together?!

One of the comments from before, was that the parents see Girl Scouting as a little girl activity, not an older girl one.  Time to tell the parents what the girls are learning!  Start now, in Juniors, so that when you get to Cadettes, the parents are seeing more of the changes that you're talking about.  I liked a comment in training, where a Dad watched his 7th grade daughter helped to set up a family reunion weekend.  He was amazed, and asked where she learned how to do all that organizing. Her response, (thank goodness was not a shrug of the shoulders!) "in Girl Scouts, of course!  We do this all the time."  The Dad got a refreshing glimpse into what his daughter had learned.  


We need to show this value to parents all the time!  Another leader said that in Cadettes, every quarter, one girl was responsible for taking notes of the meeting.  The leader took the girl's notes, and typed them in an email to all the parents, giving credit to the girl.  Another said she had girls doing a quarterly newsletter in powerpoint with photos and words talking about what they were doing/learning.  We need to keep that info flow moving!  It can only benefit the girls!


And to Barb's point, we need to stress to the parents (and girls) the flexibility of the program. It's not like Brownies, this is something bigger and better.  Girls can choose what to do. Girls can choose how to participate. And girls can decide what they want.  Okay, not all in one day. It's a process!


I'll end the series by saying thank you, to all you leaders out there!  What you do is so valuable to the council, the girls and the world.  You make a difference in a girl's life everyday.  I hope you want to continue to do that for your lifetime.  Old Girl Scouts never die, because what we have done for the girls who follow us, and who follow them, lives forever.