Cookies

Preparing for Cookie Season

Take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves and get ready for COOKIE SEASON! It’s time to get the girls EXCITED to sell cookies!

My first troop cookie sale was January 6, 2010. My daughter learned how to speak to her customers, take cookie orders, deliver cookies and receive payments.

These learned life skills make the largest girl-led business in the world extraordinary. As an adult volunteer you provide the girls with training, sale strategies and safety guidelines for successful cookie sales.

Be sure to ASK your service community, troop and Citrus Council for support or assistance throughout the cookie sale. Experienced Cadette/Senior/Ambassador Girl Scouts can attend your troop meetings to help teach the girls cookie basics.

We need to teach our girls to be safe and prepared during cookie season. It’s a good idea to discuss why the Girl Scout Cookie Program Safety Guidelines are important during your troop meeting…and believe me they are.

Have the girls read, accept and sign the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge and Girl Scout Digital Cookie Pledge.

Then, be sure to…

  • Buddy Up
  • Partner with Adults
  • Sell in the Daytime
  • Have a plan to Safeguard the funds generated
  • Girls Wear Uniform, its all about presentation

And always remember to…

  • Protect the Girl’s Privacy
  • Be Safe on the Road
  • Be weary of “Do Not Enter” signs
  • Be Streetwise- corners give you access to two lanes of traffic flow

Setting Goals

Before the cookie sale begins the girls need to set cookie sales goals. Girls need to know how to set and reach goals, not only for the cookie season but to succeed in school, in jobs and in life.

Setting individual girl cookie goals are important to reach your troop goals. When girls set an individual cookie goal you typically see an increase in the number of packages your troop sells overall.

Set goals that are realistic to achieve (they have to learn how to set and keep their own goals). Set mini cookie deadlines on the girls calendar to make regular progress on her goals.

Leverage Resources

Leverage the cookie incentives (patches, stuffed animal, tickets, electronics, etc) to set goals. This will give them something to work towards. You could also select the number of boxes or cases to sell. Have each girl determine their individual cookie sale goals during a troop meeting.

Parents or co-leaders can help the girl set reasonable goals by setting deadlines, “I’m going to send 25 emails to my family and friends by the end of the first week of cookie sales.” Track the goals on a spreadsheet or cookie goal chart.

Whether this is your first cookie sale or you are a cookie expert prepare your girls for the best cookie sale in Citrus Council history!

Online Cookie Resources

 

Badges and Patches

Local Troops Explore STEAM Through Slime

 

Brownie Troop 1014 and Junior Troop 4623 celebrated Halloween by creating a unique concoction – slime! It’s an innovative approach to earning their Senses and Detective badges at the same time. Troop co-leaders Erika Grabish and Lauren Pascarella take Girl Scouts’ girl-led process seriously and knew the most important projects the girls wanted to do this year. Making slime was definitely on the list for these girls. Just before Halloween, the girls were discussing options for a way to honor the spirit of Halloween traditions, while still respecting that not every girl in the troop celebrates Halloween as a holiday. How thoughtful!

Pascarella found inspiration online for cute Halloween-themed jars of slime, and the group started combining activities from badges to keep working toward their goals. Garbish describes the meeting’s activities: “We started our meeting by closing our eyes and using our other senses to observe our surroundings. Then, the girls spent the meeting making slime to learn about their sense of touch, listening to spooky music in different genres to hone their hearing, practicing with hidden object puzzles to think about their sense of sight, tasting five different foods (baking chocolate, marshmallows, Altoids, Sour Patch Kids, and Goldfish crackers), and checking out our “sniff station” where we set up witch’s sleeping potion (hot chocolate powder), Big Foot’s lotion (lemon juice), monster’s bath bomb (a slice of onion), mummy toothpaste (coffee grounds), and mummy’s powder (cinnamon) which they had to smell and and try to identify.”

Brownies used the activity to earn their Senses badge, while Juniors refined their observation skills in preparation to earn their Detective badge a few weeks later. Bonus: the girls practiced working in teams and discovered that things aren’t always as they appear. Troop co-leader, Erika Grabish, was pleasantly surprised that the girls were so eager with the tasting and sniffing activities, but also had a good laugh when each girl bit into the baking chocolate expecting a sweet treat, only to discover it wasn’t what they expected!

 

  1. The Slime Recipe:
    • 6 Oz Elmer’s Glitter Glue (You can use regular Elmer’s Clear glue instead if you like, and color with a little bit of washable paint and loose glitter, but make sure you use Elmer’s brand glue. Not all brands slime up the same way)
    • 1/2 tsp baking soda
    • Contact Lens solution (make sure it contains boric acid)
    1. Pour the glue into a bowl or container for mixing.
    2. Add the baking soda and paint if you’re using it.
    3. Stir well.
    4. Add 1 1/4 Tbsp of sensitive eyes contact solution and stir well. The slime will start to thicken and stiffen. Continue adding contact lens solution a little at a time and stirring or mixing by hand until you get the right consistency.

Erika’s advice for troop leaders who want to try similar activities: “Do it! You may want a blindfold for the sniff station, but we did fine without one. Check allergies carefully for your troop before you do any tasting-I know we have several, so I had to read labels very carefully choosing the tasting items, and it meant, for example, that I couldn’t use anything with chili peppers or strawberries, but I still had plenty of options. You do need extra hands to run the sniff station while you’ve got slime making and puzzles and tasting going on, but it was a lot of fun for adults and kids.”

Best of all, the skills girls learned and practiced while making slime and using their senses paid off weeks later, when the group had a real problem to solve. They were working on an escape room challenge for the Juniors’ Detective badge and one small group didn’t have enough mirrors in their supply stash. Instead of waiting for another group to finish using one, the girls used their observational skills to realize that they could solve the mirror puzzle by holding the paper up to the light backwards to read the words. Way to go, Innovator G.I.R.L.s!

Academics

Last Silver and Gold Award Trainings for the Year

We’re only a few weeks out from 2017 coming to a close. That means there are only a handful of Silver and Gold award training dates left. Shouldn’t your New Year’s resolution be to complete the award?

 

Silver Award:

For Cadettes, the Silver Award training will help guide you step by step through the process of earning your Silver Award. Share ideas, learn the most up to date guidelines and have all of your questions answered.

 

 

Prerequisites for Silver Award: Have completed a Cadette Journey + Take Action Project

Training Dates and Times:

December 2 – 9:00am-10:00am Osceola County

December 16 – 9:00am-10:00am Volusia County

December 16 – 9:00am-10:00am Orange County

Parents: This is a GIRL training.  Space is limited to the first 5 registered adults.  Adult questions will be answered during the Q&A session at the end of the class.

 

Gold Award:

Are you a Senior or Ambassador with big dreams and even bigger plans? Do you want to achieve the highest award in your Girl Scouting Career? Then you’re ready to take on the most prestigious honor a Girl Scout can earn, the Gold Award. This training will help girls learn all the tools and prerequisites needed to complete a Gold Award Project. Girls will have a chance to discuss money earning ideas and project ideas.

Prerequisites for Silver Award: Have completed two Senior or Ambassador Journeys OR Have earned a Silver Award and completes one Senior or Ambassador Journey

Training Dates and Times:

December 2 – 9:30am-11:30am Osceola County

December 16 – 9:30am-11:30am Volusia County

December 16 – 9:30am-11:30am Orange County

Parents: You will be allowed in training, please keep in mind this is a girl training. Adults will be allowed to ask questions at the end.

 

Cookies

Cookies: Goal Setting

Our cookies are on a mission: to help girls learn five skills that are essential to leadership, to success, and to life.

Skill #1—Goal Setting
Skill #2—Decision Making
Skill #3—Money Management
Skill #4—People Skills
Skill #5—Business Ethics

When girls have mastered the goal setting skill, they’ll be saying:
“I know I can do it!”
“We’re all about trying new things and having fun. Selling cookies is about both. My friends and I work together to set our team goal for the season; maybe we’ll donate to our local animal hospital or go on an adventure. Sure, selling the cookies is great. But what we do with the money we earn is even greater.”

Girls set cookie sales goals and, with their team, create a plan to reach them. This matters because girls need to know how to set and reach goals to succeed in school, on the job, and in life.

Go-Getter troops are preparing for cookie season now by discussing goals for the upcoming program, and determining how many boxes/cases they’d like to sell – individually, as a troop total, and at booth sales. Set the stage by encouraging girls to brainstorm what they’d like to do with their proceeds: take a trip, go to camp, pursue a community service project. A basic budget will help determine how many boxes of cookies the team needs to sell to reach their goal.

Pro tip: Experienced cookie business leaders should set a weekly or daily goal for how many boxes they intend to sell, or how many customers they will ask to purchase. By reaching small goals, they’ll be on their way to achieving BIG ones.

Because your Girl Scout sets cookie sales goals and develops a plan to reach them…

  • She won’t tell you on Sunday night that her science fair project is due tomorrow.
  • When the time comes, she’ll be ready to create a well-thought-out plan for researching colleges and applying for scholarships.

What important goals do you want your Girl Scout to set for herself, now and in the future?

 

Girl Scouts of the USA’s Cookie Pro 2018 Contest

Are you a barrier breakin,’ challenge crushin,’ lead takin’ cookie entrepreneur?

This cookie season, let’s show ‘em how the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world prepares girls to lead, learn, succeed, and shine—not only for today but also for the future—by entering our national Girl Scouts of the USA’s Cookie Pro 2018 Contest from January 2 through April 30, 2018.

Learn more at www.girlscouts.org/cookiepro

 

Leadership

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month Like a Go-Getter

November is Native American Indian Heritage Month! Throughout the month, we celebrate Native Americans’ diverse cultures and traditions and highlight the many contributions they’ve made throughout history—and at Girl Scouts, we of course especially focus on the Native American heroines. All month long, join Girl Scouts as we honor the amazing G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ spirit of Native American culture.

The Go-Getters

Sacagawea
During the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sacagawea served as a guide and interpreter whose mission was to find a water route through North America and explore the uncharted West. During this journey of more than two years, she interpreted the Mandan and Shoshone languages, found edible wild foods, cooked, and even saved valuable instruments and records from being lost overboard during a storm.

 

Sacagawea was particularly key in collaborating with the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, because her brother was the chief. The Shoshone provided the travelers with guidance, horses, and the necessary assistance to get to the navigable waters of the Clearwater and Columbia rivers. Sacagawea received no payment for her contributions to the expedition, despite William Clark’s demands that her husband give her a greater portion of the reward. However, in 2003, Sacagawea was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to American exploration and history.

 

Maria Tallchief
Long considered one of the most talented ballerinas of all time, Maria Tallchief was the first American to achieve the honor of becoming a prima ballerina. Her legendary artistic style and dedication to perfection continue to inspire dancers worldwide to this day.

Born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, on the Osage Nation Reservation, Maria started ballet and piano lessons at three years old. Her family then headed west to California, where the young Maria devoted even more time to studying dance. After she graduated from high school, she was accomplished enough to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

During the next five years, Maria attracted much attention with her memorable performances, particularly those choreographed by George Balanchine. After marrying George in 1946, the couple left Ballet Russe and moved to Paris, where Maria became the first American ballerina to debut at the Paris Opera. Soon after, Maria and George formed the Balanchine Ballet Society, now the world-renowned New York City Ballet. In 1996, Maria was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Cookies

Prepping for Cookies: Value of the 5 Skills

When girls participate in the cookie program, they “earn and learn”—they earn funds for their Girl Scout activities while learning key skills that will help them in business and life.
All they need to do to develop the 5 Skills is sell cookies with coaching from adults who
understand the 5 Skills! Here’s your how-to guide to getting started:

What are the 5 Skills and why do they matter?

1) Goal Setting: Girls set cookie sales goals and, with their team, create a plan to reach them. This matters because girls need to know how to set and reach goals to succeed in school, on the job, and in life.

2) Decision Making: Girls decide where and when to sell cookies, how to market their sale, and what to do with their earnings. This matters because girls must make many decisions, big and small, in their lives. Learning this skill helps them make good ones.

3) Money Management: Girls develop a budget, take cookie orders, and handle customers’ money. This matters because girls need to know how to handle money—from their lunch money to their allowance to (someday) their paycheck.

4) People Skills: Girls learn how to talk (and listen!) to their customers, as well as learning how to work as a team with other girls. This matters because it helps them do better in school (on group projects, on sports teams, and on the playground) and, later, at work.

5) Business Ethics: Girls act honestly and responsibly during every step of the cookie sale. This matters because employers want to hire ethical employees—and the world needs ethical leaders in every field.

Why do we focus on the 5 Skills?

Because when your Girl Scout has learned these skills, she’ll be poised for success in her
career. Think about it: When employers interview job candidates, they all look for the same things. This is true whether the employer is a bank, high-tech company, university, hospital, publishing house, car dealership, accounting firm—or even the local pet store! They want:

Someone who can set goals and meet deadlines.
Blowing a deadline can mean blowing a deal!

Someone who works well with others.
Who wants to deal with strife and complaining in the workplace? Not the boss!

Someone who understands customers.
It doesn’t matter whether the “customers” are hospital patients, TV viewers, or other companies—every business has to know its customers and what they want.

Someone who can influence others.
This doesn’t just mean selling a product. Employers want people who can sell ideas, pitch
projects, and make deals.

Someone who is honest, trustworthy, and reliable.
This kind of goes without saying—or it should!

Sound like anyone you know?
That’s your Girl Scout, using the 5 Skills she learned in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

Featured

The New Cool Girl Hangout? City Council Meetings

Cool girls change the world. And while your cool girl has dreams of making her impact as a groundbreaking artist, a business mogul, a scientist, or even as President of the United States, there’s no reason for her to wait to start affecting positive change.

Naturally, there are many ways your girl can take action in your community, but one of the most concrete ways is by attending and participating in city council meetings. After all, it’s in those meetings that local laws (sometimes called city code or ordinances) are decided, the local budget is set, and public health and safety concerns are addressed.

And while a lot of people talk about what they’d like to see happen in the world, it’s the cool girls who actually take action to make those ideas and dreams come true. So if there’s something in your town that your girl wants to see improvements on—whether it’s the local library getting more up-to-date books, the park getting cleaned up, or any other project—it might sound odd, but her city council meeting is the place to be.

That said, if you’re like a lot of Americans, there’s a good chance you’ve never been to a city council meeting yourself and might not be sure how to prepare your girl to attend. That’s why we’ve put together this handy guide to take the guesswork out of the equation and make her (and your!) experience as smooth, effective, and dare we say fun as possible.

Why Is This Such a Hot Spot
The coolest thing about City Council meetings is that anyone—yes, even teens and younger kids—can review the meeting’s agenda in advance, request a speaker card or add their name and topic to the meeting’s agenda, and then speak at the actual meeting about whatever project or issue they feel strongly about. That means your girl (Or you! Or both of you!) can have the attention of your local government to support what you think is going right or to challenge ideas and plans that you disagree with. And when your daughter has a totally new idea she wants to bring up? This is the place for that, too!

This is a big deal because when city council members help to propose new laws, vote on which ones will go into effect, and plan the budget that determines how the city will spend its money, they’re supposed to represent the people who live locally. And this can be difficult when you consider that while women and girls generally make up half of our population, only about one third of local city council members in our country’s top 100 cities are female. That means male-dominated city councils may not naturally consider issues from a girl’s point of view—and makes it even more important for your daughter to stand up, represent, and let them know how she feels about the issues that affect her.

What’s the Gift with Purchase?
Influencing major policy in your town is obviously the main reason to show up to City Council Meetings, but there are other perks that go along with attendance. The sheer experience of speaking in front of influential people—who are connected to even more influential people at the state and national levels—can give your girl a hefty dose of self-confidence. Think of it this way—if she’s speaking her mind to city council members as a teen or tween, introducing herself to new friends, speaking up in class, or even negotiating job offers will come that much easier to her in the future.

Who knows? After going to City Council meetings at a young age, perhaps your daughter will grow up and want to run for local office, helping to even up the gender gap, and making an even bigger difference in her community.

Where Do We Show Up?
All city councils across the country (in some areas, they’re called Town Council, Board of Supervisors, or the Planning Commission) are required to hold public meetings. The time and location, as well as the proposed agenda are usually posted on your city or town’s website at least a few weeks ahead of time to give everyone plenty of time to plan. While some of these meetings may be held in the afternoon, many are held in the evenings to make it easier for people to attend after work and school hours are over.

Who Runs the City Council Meetings?
City council meetings are run by council members who’ve been elected by local residents. Note that these people can also be called aldermen, selectmen, freeholders, or commissioners, depending on the term used in your area.

What’s a City Council Meeting Like?
There might be an opening prayer at the start of the meeting, then the Pledge of Allegiance will be recited just like in your girl’s school. From there, someone will likely go over the “minutes” of the previous meeting. You know how a lot of TV shows start with a recap of last week’s episode? Same idea.

After that, there may be many agenda items including updates from committees who are dedicated to certain types of issues. The truth is that because the City Council oversees a wide array of issues, their meetings can stretch to be pretty long depending on how long the council members want to discuss them. Know that ahead of time and consider bringing quiet distractions for your girl if she’s too young to focus the entire time. Coloring books or embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets can keep your child occupied and help the time fly by faster without causing much distraction.

As mentioned, City Council meetings can be pretty long, and they’re not usually very action packed—but they are one of the most direct and effective opportunities you and your girl have to make an impact on your town, city, and even state and country.

Service Community

Go-getter Daisy Troop 1635 Prepares Thanksgiving Baskets

Community Service is a primary motivator for Daisy troop 1635, who meet in Minneola. These second-year Daisies have created bags to support homeless individuals, collected items for Hurricane Harvey relief, assembled first aid kits for the homeless during Fire Safety Week, and made birthday bags for a local food bank.

In a recent brainstorm with their Daisy team, the girls decided on a canned food drive for their fall project. Troop Co-leader, Ruth Woody, encouraged the girls to take their idea one step further after seeing a Facebook post from Bennett Law Firm, encouraging groups to assemble and donate Thanksgiving dinner baskets to support Helping Hands Ministry in distributing meals to those less fortunate.

 

Co-leader, Ruth Woody, shares the impact of this project: “The girls agreed that everyone deserves to have a Thanksgiving dinner. I want these girls to learn at a young age that sharing is caring, and that Girl Scouts give back to their community every chance we have.” Woody also recognizes the support of Co-leader, Holly Jones, and the troop’s wonderful moms who gladly help with every community service project taken on by the Daisies: Alora, Allyson, Bailey, Brenna, Fae, Kathryn, Lily, Loryana, Margaret, Sonya, and Victoria.

And these Daisies aren’t slowing down any time soon. They’ve already decided on two upcoming projects. For winter, they’ll contribute to Toys for Tots, and over the summer, they’ll participate in a local Autism Awareness event in support of their sister Girl Scout, Bailey.

Woody’s advice to other Girl Scout troops: “There are many people in need out there. It just takes a small amount of time and research to find what you can do to help.”

—

Is your troop taking on a Thanksgiving-inspired community service project? Share your story.

Academics

Girl Scouts Celebrate National STEAM Day

Imagine girls taking on some of the biggest challenges and problems our planet faces—and helping solve them. Or having careers that are engaging and well paid. Imagine girls paving the way in innovation and design. And teaming up with peers to invent the future. Girls are making this dream into a reality every day, thanks to science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM).

Research shows that girls are interested in STEAM and excel at it. Yet, for a variety of reasons, girls often don’t pursue STEAM opportunities—starting as early as elementary school.

But we can change that! Let your girl see that STEAM can help her make the world a better place! Girl Scouts who participate in girl-focused STEAM programs…

  • Become better problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and inspirational leaders
  • Get better grades, earn scholarships, and follow more lucrative career paths
  • See STEAM as the foundation for a meaningful and successful future

Perhaps she’d like to…build a robot, create an app, invent a medical device, develop a video game, design a car, protect the world’s wildlife, send a spacecraft to a far galaxy, cure a disease, keep the ocean clean, study the stars… The possibilities are truly endless!

Help girls become STEAM Superstars! Access your how-to guide here.

Girls enjoy STEAM activities most when they’re hands-on and collaborating with friends or troop sisters. Girl Scouts with robotics experience consider working with others on a team (77%) and building things with their hands (73%) the most important components of STEAM activities. Girls can customize their STEAM experience with one or more of Girl Scouts’ NEW! Journeys and badges for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors (K-5th grade).

  • Engineering: Think Like an Engineer Journey. Girls discover how to think like an engineer by participating in hands-on design challenges and completing a Take Action project.
  • Computer Science: Think Like a Programmer Journey. Girls learn how programmers solve problems as they (girls) participate in interactive computational-thinking activities and complete a Take Action project.
  • Outdoor STEM: Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey. Girls practice the scientific method by undertaking a citizen science project. They make observations, collect data, and work with scientists who provide feedback on research and findings. Girls also complete a Take Action project.
  • Robotics badges: Girls design their own robots after learning how they’re built and programmed. “Unplugged” activities allow girls to earn badges without buying kits.
  • Mechanical Engineering badges: Girls complete hands-on engineering activities, such as building and testing rollercoasters, race cars, and gliders (Daisies and Brownies only).

With girls and STEAM – our future is bright!

Uncategorized

Citrus Council Launches ‘Citrus Scouterships’ as Part of a…

The month of November is widely regarded as the start of the “giving” season. Many use this time to reflect on the situation of others and donate their time, money and gifts throughout the community. The efforts are recognized globally and in social media, on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving as #GivingTuesday.

This year, Citrus Council will be making a direct investment in the development and growth of the Central Florida community. The council will be covering the membership fee of any girl looking to join or renew in the Girl Scouts, through Citrus Scouterships. The Scouterships will conclude on November 28, as part of Citrus Council’s culminating effort for #GivingTuesday.

In October, the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council launched their Hurricane Irma Relief initiative, providing Scouterships to girls in Central Florida for the month of October. Although this came about in the wake of Hurricane Irma, it quickly expanded to include those affected by Hurricane Maria. Many were able to take advantage of the Scouterships, but still many more were left out.

In an effort to include as many of the local community as possible and embrace the many families transitioning into Central Florida, Citrus Council has relaunched the Scouterships initiative, open to all girls during this month. For many girls, the Girl Scout experience provides an incredible leadership opportunity and for others a sense of normalcy during difficult times.

To apply…

New Girl Scouts:

  • Visit www.citrus-gs.org
  • Click JOIN NOW
  • Fill out your information & click Continue
  • Select a troop OR choose UNSURE, entering ‘Scouterships’ in the comment box
  • Select Financial Aid as the payment method

Renewing Girl Scouts:

  • Visit MY GS
  • Click RENEW
  • Select Financial Aid as the payment method

*Does not apply to memberships purchased prior to launch of campaign. Does not apply to adult memberships.

Girls participating in these Scouterships are encouraged to participate in the cookie program and fall product program in order to have a financially sustainable troop. This will allow them to earn enough funds to maintain their membership for years to come. Girls are also encouraged to partake in the ‘Do Anything’ program series, where they will experience and learn about a range of applicable life skills for their continued development.