Celebrate Leadership!

 

Celebrate Leadership!

Nominate a Girl Scout in K-12th grade to serve as a representative of GSOC.  The Celebrate Leadership event and program are designed to illustrate to the community who we are, what they do, and why it matters.
  

Nomination Information
·         Tell us about a Girl Scout that you know who has developed specific leadership qualities in Girl Scouts and how these qualities have helped them to achieve a dream, change the world, or take action to make the world a better place.
·         Girls in K-12th grade may be nominated by a parent, troop leader, or other adult or may choose to self-nominate.
·         Selected girls will have various opportunities to represent GSOC and share their story with our community, including being paired with 12 women Honorees who will be recognized as leaders in our community.
·         Girls will be expected to participate in 2-3 rehearsals, a special event with women honorees, and the Celebrate Leadership event on October 26, 2012 at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach.
·         Nomination forms are available now on the Volunteer Network.
·         Nominations include 1 complete nomination form, 2 reference forms,  and 1 essay and/or picture.
·         The deadline for girl nominations is May 22, 2012.
·         Please contact Lesley Finch with questions: lfinch@girlscoutsoc.org.

What a great way to recognize the accomplishments of our girls....

 

100th Anniversary Art Quilt

 
Is this a great art quilt, or what?  A Girl Scout, good friend and fiber quilt artist, Jamie Fingal just finished this quilt for the 100th Anniversary.  I just love it!  

I asked her why it resonates so much with me?  And she responded, that it's the happy colors!  I think it's also that my First Class Pin is in it (top left corner) as well as my original GS pin.  Good memories from my youth.

Jamie has donated this art quilt to our Adult Recognition Lunch event as an Opportunity Prize.  If you're there, you can buy a special ticket, and have a chance to win. There will only be one winner, and we will announce that person at the event.

Put the date on your calendar (if it isn't already) and send in a reservation ASAP!  
June 3, 2012. Disneyland Hotel.

PA Training success!

It was a FUN PA Training Session on Saturday!  We only had 16 girls (one whole group of 7 from a troop didn't show, darn!) and while they were mighty quiet when they entered, they were engaged and energetic as the day progressed.

One of the activities we ask the girls to do, is to work with a table group of 4, and draw a Junior, Daisy or Brownie Girl Scout.  Then, write some words to describe who she is.  I took a picture of one of this Junior girl because Chloe, Hannah, Kately and Hailey did such a GREAT job!   Each team shared "their girl" with the group, and we had good discussion about the characteristics of each level of girls.  Our PA girls know that these are the girls they will be leading in the their Day Camps, and the PA skills they learn will help them lead.

There's a real focus on leadership in this training, which is great for the girls. Many have not heard the GSLE mantra of Discover, Connect and Take Action on a regular basis, and we were able to weave that thread throughout the day.  We also put an emphasis on the the three processes:  girl led, learn by doing and cooperative learning.  I think the girls heard the message, but we'll keep telling them in Session II as well. 

These girls make me proud! I truly hope they will take these new skills and use them not only for Day Camp but for their Leadership in Action (LIA) and life experiences as well.

PA Training on Cince de Mayo

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Ole!

It's a PA Session I Training Day.  As I'm writing this the day before, I can't really talk about how great a time we had, or how great the girls were.  

But I'm optimistic!  The last two trainings have had girls with eager minds accompanied by squirrely bodies. It's been fun!

We're about half way thru the training series, and the feedback from girls and parents has been great.  If your girl has interest in the PA program, be sure to look for the training schedule in 2013.  

This is yet another opportunity for Cadette Girl Scouts to take advantage of!  Partnered with the LIA (Leadership in Action) Cadette aged girls and older can really use their leadership skills to work with younger girls. What great experience!  Girl led program means giving these girls the opportunities.  We put all the options out there, and let them suss out how they would want to participate.

If you still have leader-led program, you may be short-changing your girls! Sure, it's easier for you, but it's better for them to learn how to do it all.  They need the opportunity to grow, to be a leader, to be led by other girls and to work cooperatively with others.  It's the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE).


As we say in Leadership Essentials Training, the GSLE won't necessarily create the next President of the United States, but it will help to create a girl who is  leader in her own life. She can stand on her own two feet and make good choices for herself.  She knows who she is, and what she stands for. Hopefully, with all the great experiences she's had in Scouting, she'll be a leader of others as well.


Yes, a very good thing for this Day of Celebration!  The General in Puebla led a defeat against the more powerful and well-armed French army.  And won.  He found his passion, discovered what needed to be done, connected with the Mexican militia and people to TAKE ACTION and win. Truly, GSLE:  leadership in action!  Vive!

Cadette Essentials Training

Okay, it's true, I LOVE training!  I love delivering it, and I love receiving it!!!

Being an adult trainer is it's own LIA opportunity, just for adults! It's a chance for me to use the leadership tools and knowledge  that I've developed over these many years, as well as to talk about Scouting which is near and dear to my heart.  

But as much as I like standing in front of the class, delivering the message, I think the most fun really comes from hearing the leaders in the room talk with each other.  We had a great session the other night with a small group of 7 leaders for Cadette Essentials.  One woman was a brand new leader! First time ever, and she'll be taking over the bridging Juniors as they become first year Cadettes.  I applaud her, and so did everyone in the class. 

She had great questions, some of which were better directed to the more experienced leaders, and they all chimed in.  Each of those leaders had gems of wisdom to share with her and with each other.  A couple questions really took me aback, as I was a bit appalled at some abysmal behavior of parents and leaders that was being told.  But every leader was nodding in agreement, offering their support and potential solutions. Each of them had a sense of fairness that they shared.  No one was thrown under a bus!

And each of them was looking forward to more Girl-Led experiences with the Cadettes.  No more "birthday party" meetings!  These leaders are ready to move the meeting place, create a group agreement at their first meeting, let the girls vote on whether they want ledger accounting, offer a new form of troop government, and encourage the girls to take advantage of the many opportunities they now have as Cadettes.  Their girls are going to have a GREAT Cadette experience, because they are going to lead their own experience.

Hats off to all you leaders who work so hard to make the experience as robust and fulfilling for the girls as possible!  You rock!

PA Training is fun

PA Training is fun! Gee (Chris Grisey) has been delivering this training for many years along with a dedicated team of girl and adult volunteers. I am so happy to have a part in it this year!

We had our first session a couple weeks ago, and the 20 girls came ready to learn, make new friends, work together and have fun.

The training really works well and shakes up the day. There is some sitting at the table, taking notes and participating in a group discussion, but there's also a really strong interactive component that keeps the girls moving.  Plenty of different group participation.

One of the things we talk about in Cadette Essentials training is how important it is to let the girls who are in a troop/group with their BFF have time with her at the meetings. But at the same time, for the working part of the meeting, it's best to shake it up and not always pair up the BFFs.  That's something that Gee really takes to heart in the training:  girls have a chance to work with every girl during the day.  Sometimes with a simple count-off, and sometimes by type of name tag, or favorite color.  All the girls worked cooperatively.

They also received their own binder of information to keep, along with handouts and notes that they could add.  Personal expression was encouraged, and those crayola markers got a work out!  Each girl was able to personalize her own experience.

The only part that felt a little flat to me, was the GSLE piece.  It was my job to deliver that, and I didn't connect with the girls about it!  At all!  Very frustrating!  We moved on, but it's been bugging me that this very key element of the Girl Scout program didn't resonate with the girls.  I'm still working out how to address it better for next time.

These girls are a product of GSLE!  And by taking PA training, they truly are stepping up to the leadership part of their journey, by leading younger girls in Day Camp.  We're training these girls to be leaders, so key!  But when I talked about it, and handed out the outcomes page, it just died.

If your girls are coming to the next PA Training sessions, rest assured, they will have a GREAT time, a wonderful experience, and they will learn somethings.  They will also have a better connection to the GSLE Outcomes page, or my name isn't Sneetch!

Why is Girl Planning sometimes SO HARD?

It sure seems easy, when I say in training, "let the girl lead" or "let the girl decide".  In actuality, I bet many of you want to throw tomatoes at me, since it's not always easy to let the girl do it.

I think about how easy it is for me to make an agenda, create a list, organize my thoughts and then do the follow thru.  Well, it had better be! Partly because I've had many, many years of practice, but also because I do it for a living!!!

I know, middle school girls CAN plan, and they CAN make good choices, and they CAN take the lead.  We adults just have to let them, and facilitate their learning how to do it. In the meantime, make sure we maintain a safe environment for the girl, in case she fails.  Support her, even when "we know" it's not a good plan/decision, and reward her for her successes.

I think that's why I'm liking the Breathe Journey that Rizzy and I are, okay I"ll say it, planning for the summer.  We are working to create a Breathe Journey series, and we are doing our best to have girl-planned pieces.  To that end, we have a pre-Journey meeting for girls to attend if they want to help plan. Not required, not a cost, just an opportunity to come in ahead of time and help plan their Journey.

We have also put together some opportunities for the girls to choose from, so that they can pick a topic from the Journey book, prepare at home with some parental help, and then come back and lead on their date.  We are providing a framework, and we're truly hoping that these girls step up and take their leadership piece seriously.

Guess we'll find out.... we're going to let them lead, even if it kills me!  
A facilitator I will be! A leader, the girl will be! (Sounds like a song....)