Welcome Back Troop 2348

Hello Girls and Parents -

We are excited to get back into the swing of things with Brownies! Everyone is back in school and getting used to the hustle and bustle that comes with a new school year. Below is important information as we gear up for the 2012-13 Brownie year:

First Meeting. Make sure you add our first meeting to your already busy schedule - Tuesday, September 25th. If you are like me and like to plan ahead, the entire fall schedule can be found here. Snack mom assignments will be added after our first meeting. Please make sure you pay attention to the schedule and note we meet every 2nd and 4th Tuesday - not every other week.
*Moms/Dads - Please make sure you are present for the first meeting to fill out the annual paperwork and to discuss important details about plans for the troop.

Attendance. Much of what we do in our meetings builds on several different levels - for the meeting itself, as well as the badges we are working towards.We will continue to meet at 5:15, and I ask that everyone be prompt. We get right down to business and do not want anyone to miss something valuable that lends to the discussion for that meeting. It is also important to be present so that any valuable building aspect is not missed. However, please do not send your child if they are sick. If your scout has missed school they should also miss scouts. Though attendance becomes more important this year, we can always work together to get important information that helps keep your scout on track if she is ill. Your cooperation with punctuality and attendance is so greatly appreciated. Mrs. Mary and I are pretty laid back, but ask that you help us with these two very important issues.

Program and Focus. Mrs. Mary and I are working on many exciting things for this year in Brownies. We will continue focusing on core issues that are important to our girls such as community, anti-bullying, and working to create that awesome self-esteem that comes along with being a Girl Scout. We have witnessed the positive lessons we started last year come alive in your girls! Troop 2348 will be working toward MANY badges this year - traditional and Journeys. Our Journeys are a big part of learning to be quality and significant contributors to society. Girls begin with small, personal acts and then move out to purposeful teamwork that engages the larger community and influences its members in significant ways. All of this is done with FUN and learning! I can't wait to tackle the next two Journeys in Brownies and to see all the badges added to the vests.

Commitment. As we work on planning for this year, I need for you as parents to follow up with me ASAP regarding your scout. I need to know about your commitment for the year as we have girls who are on a waiting list to join our troop. Please respond back to me with your intentions of staying, or let me know if you have decided to move on to other things. I need to know your decision either way.

I have made a commitment to these wonderful girls to be as strong of a leader as I can possibly be. My promise stands to help them see it through to the Gold as long as they are willing. Your girls are so important to both me and Mrs. Mary. We thank you for sharing your daughters with us and look forward to a fantastic year!

Important Meeting Change

I am sorry to say we will NOT be having Brownies this week (Tuesday, May 22). Many of you know I had to go back to Winston for more extensive surgery. I am now home, but too weak to handle the final meeting we had planned.
We WILL meet on Tuesday, June 5th for our final meeting and to complete our book project. I will send detailed information about the project later this week (when I am much more lucid hahahaha).

Sally

Sunday, April 29th

I have just learned that First Presbyterian would like to celebrate Girl Scouts on April 29th with Girl Scout Sunday. Each year the church designates this day and this year they are doing it around the Senior Girl Scouts receiving their Gold Award.

What this means is we all go to church together as a troop and are recognized during worship. We will sit together along with the Senior Scouts. It is a BIG day in their lives and it will also be a great way for our girls to see what is to come.

Please let us know if you will be able to make it:

Sunday, April 29th

11:00 am Worship

First Presbyterian Church

* The girls are REQUIRED to wear their vests at this function!

Next Meeting 4/24 - Important information

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful and relaxing spring break! It is hard to believe summer is just around the corner. Since we were off our schedule just a bit I want to send a little reminder about the upcoming meeting on April 24th.

Since I will be 3 weeks post surgery, Mrs. Mary will be leading the girls on the next portion of our Journey (I hope to at least be present for the meeting while staying seated ;) ). Our timing is actually perfect because Mrs. Mary would have been the lead in this next discussion anyway! We will be talking about ways to care for others through healthy living. If you know anything about Mrs. Mary this is right up her alley.

Each Journey has some form of way to address ways to live healthy and how to take care of yourself and others. It is a great way to teach the girls the importace of health through fun activities. Last meeting your girls came home with an 'Commitment Card' where they were to work on caring for their family in a health focused way. They need to come to the meeting with this card ready to discuss the activity. The home activity is a big part of getting the next badge in this Journey as is returning with the commitment card. If your daughter has not completed the exercise this weekend is perfect!

We will look forward to seeing everyone on the 24th!

Discover Key

The Discover Key! It's all about me: What I believe and my family.

Congratulations to our girls! They have earned their very first badge in Brownies. We earned the Discover Key which is part of the Brownie Quest Journey set. We have two more keys before we can unlock the Journey and get all the patches.
Each key is a mystery of sorts to solve. We discovered traits about ourselves, we discovered ways we are alike and celebrated differences, and we discovered ways our families valued the Girl Scout Law. Last week each girl discussed the line of the Law that means the most in their family and why. The girls also talked about things that each member of their family does well. All of their answers were meaningful and well-developed. We even shared a few laughs.
I began talking to them about the concept of a mosaic - how when you are right up on it you see the little pieces, and when you back away you can see the entire picture. Our next step is to explore how the circles of our lives grow outward and how we connect on a much larger level. They will begin talking about ways to care for one another as well as other people as we begin to look at the big picture.
On Tuesday we are going to begin making our "Brownie Team Agreement" which is essentially a contract regarding the ways we work together. They will also bring something home with them to work on for our April meeting that begins their caring for others commitment.
Our girls are working so very hard, and they do not even realize it. One thing that is awesome about Brownies is that leadership is being born through fun activities and what may seem like games. Everything we do has a much greater purpose and works to develop strong, girls with a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Housekeeping Items

There are a few housekeeping items I'd like to talk about briefly:

1. We all know sickness is an issue with school aged kids and I am very grateful that you keep your child out if she is ill. In the event your daughter cannot come to Brownies you can always call me or email me about what she may have missed. The tasks we work on together can also be done at home. I try to keep the site up-to-date and you well informed about what we have done.We are moving much quicker with the Journey than I anticipated! Remember - this is girl driven and they are working extremely hard and tackling the Journey well.
2. As a parent I know all to well how pushed we can be with our schedules. I would just like to offer a friendly reminder about how important it is to have your child at the meetings on-time. We cover a great many things in the beginning that have to be repeated over and over if girls stream in late. I do not want anyone to miss anything by having to get the condensed version. If you can help with this we would all be appreciative.
3. Lastly, please remember the schedule of meetings is on this site. One of the great benefits about having a place on the web dedicated to our troop is that you can refer to it any time. If it helps - print the schedule so there is no confusion. If there is ever anything dire you need to know right away, you will receive a phone call from me or Mrs. Mary. If you have not done so - sign up to have these post delivered to your inbox (sign up found on the right of the page) so that you know when a new item has been posted.

Thank you so much for your help. I say this all the time, but will say it again - I am grateful to have this time with your girls. They are full of life and so much fun.

Happy Birthday Girl Scouts! - Meeting Reminder

Happy 100th birthday to Girl Scouts! Today is the official birthday and Girl Scouts of all ages have been proud to celebrate this milestone. We will celebrate as a troop tomorrow!


Don't forget to wear your Brownie Vest!

Tomorrow we will be in our regular meeting room and will continue our work on the Brownie Quest Journey. Last regular meeting we ELF'd (Explore, Link Arms, Fly into Action) our way into discovering our special talents and qualities.

Reminder - Our Brownies were to look at the Girl Scout Law and talk to her family about the different parts of the law. Tomorrow the Brownies will need to know what line from the Law is most important in her family and WHY? We will be discussing families and making a 'Family Star.'

We will see you at 5:15 3/13!