Question for any Girl Scout leader out there..

[McKelly]

Well, I just got home and checked my telephone messages and received a message from a very upset mother of one of the girls in my troop. I am planning a 4th of July party for my troop on Saturday, July 1st, and the troop will be earning a Try-It during that time. Well, this mother wants to know how her daughter is going to make up that Try-It because she is POSITIVE there are going to be other girls missing on that day because it is the 4th of July weekend and what I plan on doing to make sure her daughter and ALL the other girls who are going to be absent can do to make up the Try-It!! Ugh!!

I guess the short and the long of it all is, can I have a girl earn a Try-It on her own or does it have to be in a group setting? It is too late to call my council and I would like to call this woman back before she shows up on my doorstep! Any advice?

There are other girls in my troop that do not have every Try-It for one reason or another and they do not have a problem with it. And I knew that the 4th of July weekend would cause conflicts for some people, but so does every weekend in the summer!! Ugh! Done venting. Thanks for any info.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes, girls can do Try-Its on their own. The girl presents their work to the troop or whatever protocol you what to do personally.

Most of the time we had a girl do a short explanation and that was it.

As a mom and former Girl Scout Leader of many years, doing a meeting on a holiday weekend is not the best plan. I would not like it either. Sorry...

 

[Lady SnowElla]

All girls do not have to earn each of the try-its that the troop works on. However, if a girl misses a meeting & wants to make it up, you can make a copy of the requirements for earning the try-it from the manual. The girl could then work independently with the assistance of her Mom in accomplishing the needed requirements. You could ask the girl to write up what she did to meet the requirements or verbally go over it with you. If it is to make a craft, she should be able to bring it for you to see.
Good luck.

 

[WDWfor5]

Hi - I feel your pain. I have a soon to be 2nd grade brownie troop and it's tough when a girl misses a meeting. What I've started doing is copying the try-it from the book and handing it, along with a Brownie Try-It Affadavit that I found on line, to the parent of any girl who is missing a special event where we are working on a try-it. Some do it and some don't but then it's not my fault for picking a weekend they can't make

If you want a copy of the affadavit, I have it in word. Just PM me with your email address and I'll send it on.

Good luck

 

[McKelly]

Thanks, that is what I was hoping to hear, in fact, that is what I have been doing for the girls that had missed our after school meetings due to illness, vacation, etc. Giving them a copy of the try-it along with the supplies to do it. I haven't required a write-up or anything, I guess I just gave it to them in good faith, I just didn't know if there was any kind of official policy on it or not. This mom wants to know what the council's policy is on it.

I think she forgets I am a volunteer and doing summer meetings because I am trying to make it fun for the girls, it is not a requirement. I also think she might have forgotten that not all of the girls are fortunate enough to be going away for the weekend or doing something "fun" with family, and this provides an opportunity for them to also do something fun on the holiday weekend. At least, that is what my co-leader and I thought.

Anyway, thanks for the quick replies, I guess I have a phone call to return!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I also think she might have forgotten that not all of the girls are fortunate enough to be going away for the weekend or doing something "fun" with family, and this provides an opportunity for them to also do something fun on the holiday weekend. At least, that is what my co-leader and I thought.

Interesting thought, but no. The girls that cannot go feel excluded from the troop.

 

[roseprincess]

I'm not a Girl Scout leader, but I was going to say that my dd's Girl Scout troop doesn't even meet during the summer . My dd's troop just crossed over from Brownies to Jr. Girl Scouts last month. Unfortunately the last couple of yrs. my dd was in Brownies/ Girl Scouts, they never met during the summer. We have had leader issues with her troop, might be why we never met in the summer. Her troop seems to end the yr. in May and start up again at the end of Sept. Anyways, I agree with the other posters, if the girl scout can just show you what she did, that should be sufficient enough for a Try It badge. We have done something like this in Cub Scouts. If a Cub Scout ends up missing a Den meeting or Den activity, he just shows the Den leader real briefly what he did for the requirement that month, and then he gets that patch, etc.
Somewhat OT, having my dd in Girl Scouts and my ds in Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts isn't as totally structured as Cub Scouts is. It isn't crucial to have all the Try It patches to go on to the next level of Girl Scouts, as far as I know in the elementary school age. Maybe it is in Jr. high and high school. I don't know. This is what I have observed.

Anyways, best wishes to you.


Rosemarie

 

[roseprincess]

Hi - I feel your pain. I have a soon to be 2nd grade brownie troop and it's tough when a girl misses a meeting. What I've started doing is copying the try-it from the book and handing it, along with a Brownie Try-It Affadavit that I found on line, to the parent of any girl who is missing a special event where we are working on a try-it. Some do it and some don't but then it's not my fault for picking a weekend they can't make

If you want a copy of the affadavit, I have it in word. Just PM me with your email address and I'll send it on.

Good luck

Funny you should mention the Brownie/Girl Scout handbook . This past Brownies yr, our so called "leader" never had a handbook , as to my knowledge. A lot of the moms in our troop "team led" the troop with the "leader" mom. We practically winged it this yr in Brownies. We never had any copies of the Try Its till November. My dh and I printed out 100 some odd pages of Try Its and I brought it to my dd's November Brownie mtg. Each mom took a month and did a Try It craft/ activity with the girls. Our troop survived somehow thru the leadership mess we had this past yr. Now we will be having a new leader this yr. in Sept.

Thank you to all the Brownie/ Girl Scout leaders here that volunteered for their daughters, to make it happen!


Rosemarie

 

[lbgraves]

I think she forgets I am a volunteer and doing summer meetings because I am trying to make it fun for the girls, it is not a requirement. I also think she might have forgotten that not all of the girls are fortunate enough to be going away for the weekend or doing something "fun" with family, and this provides an opportunity for them to also do something fun on the holiday weekend. At least, that is what my co-leader and I thought.

Anyway, thanks for the quick replies, I guess I have a phone call to return!!

I think that it is fantastic that you are planning something for the girls to do during the summer! I was in scouts 12 years and don't remember ever meeting during the summer but then I was in day camp & overnight camp for 2 week sessions most of the time. It doesn't matter what time of year you plan an activity...someone could miss it. You are volunteering and have the right to set the dates & times for the activities. Don't let it ruin the day for the rest of you.

 

[Teacher03]

I think that it is fantastic that you are planning something for the girls to do during the summer! I was in scouts 12 years and don't remember ever meeting during the summer but then I was in day camp & overnight camp for 2 week sessions most of the time. It doesn't matter what time of year you plan an activity...someone could miss it. You are volunteering and have the right to set the dates & times for the activities. Don't let it ruin the day for the rest of you.

I agree 100%! You are a volunteer, and as a past Girl Scout leader I know the time and effort that you put into it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

. It doesn't matter what time of year you plan an activity...someone could miss it. You are volunteering and have the right to set the dates & times for the activities. Don't let it ruin the day for the rest of you.

Sorry..don't agree with this. Over a holiday weekend is just not fair to the troop.
It really can set up some bad feelings for the parents and the girls long term, trust me.
However if the girls and parents are cool with it then different story.
Now of course other times, if they miss it, they miss it. Believe me I understand where you are coming from OP.

 

[Buttercup26]

I have been a GS leader for years. Right now I have a Brownie and a Cadette troop. You cannot take this stuff personally, don't let parents guilt you. Schedule events, meetings, etc.. when it works for you. Give everyone plenty of advance notice so that they can try to schedule around it. If they can't make it, they can make up the badge work on their own.

I try to get all my girls to purchase their own books for that very reason. If a family can't afford books both our Service Unit and our Council have scholarships that they can apply for to get the books and uniforms. If they have their books they can do any badge work that they miss on their own. I just have them do a short presentation to the troop showing/explaining what they did.

 

[KJSJpipe]

It is fine to have girls do things out side of the troop meetings. We had one girl last year who really wanted to be a Brownie but had Hebrew school at the same time as the meetings. She did everthing on her own and came to outings when possible.
I don't know too many troops who do anything in the summer beisde the odd camping trip here or there, good for you for trying to keep them together year round! Holiday or not there will always be kids who can't make something the troop is doing I would not worry about it.