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#547901 09/11/09 01:10 AM
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Today was the first meeting of our new year and we had a blast, and I'm really discouraged about what national is doing to our organization. Last year I had 29 scouts -- 3 daisies, 8 brownies, 9 juniors, 9 cadettes, with 3 adults (2 leaders, one troop volunteer) and one juliette ambassador who was able to help out for 3 or 4 meetings. I was the only one able to go to journeys training. From the training, I hated it. Of course there is no way that we could actually DO the journeys even if it wasn't aweful -- you need an adult teacher to drag each level of girls through their totally separate [s]schoolwork[/s] journeys work. And with 4 age levels and 3 adults it's simply impossible. I get so sick of national and council who think that every troop is a single grade level (all bridging together each time) and all from a single school. I'm the SU cookie manager, and for years I couldn't get council to give me a list of troop numbers, leaders and numbers of girls for each troop in my service unit. First of all, they seemed shocked that I expected them to know the information, and secondly, they seemed bewildered as to why I would need it to run a cookie sale! And I was constantly dealing with staff people saying, "oh what school is that troop?" In my service unit virtually all of the troops (except mine, in fact) meet in the evenings and have girls from multiple schools. And what the heck, we are scouts, and scouts are organized into [i]troops[/i] and troops have [i]numbers[/i]! I've read other leaders' discussions of why they hate Journeys, and I agree with all that -- it's "edu-babble", the same [censored] that has eaten out the intellectual foundations of our teacher education system in the US. My troop is after school, and the last thing that girls (especially the littlest ones) need after 7 hours of school is another hour-and-a-half of school. But a factor I haven't seen mentioned -- have any of the people who wrote this [censored] ever [i]been[/i] to a girl scout meeting?!? We have a great time and get a lot done, but we are loud, rowdy, and always on the edge of complete chaos. The only thing that keeps us together and focused is [i]doing[/i] stuff! When we do have to discuss something, we quickly decay -- off-topic digressions, multiple people talking at once, etc. When my juniors and cadettes chose a troop crest, it was 45 minutes of spirited politicking and 4 ballots! We are doing [url=http://www.arrl.org/scouts/jota/]JOTA[/url] this year with the Boy Scouts, and I'm embarrassed to be a Girl Scout. The ham operators are doing badge workshops for both the Boy Scout ham radio badge and the Boy Scout electronics badge. There is a whole chapter on "Communications" badges in the CSA badge book, and nothing at all about radio or electronics. I'm thinking that we will put the girls through the Boy Scout badge workshops, and then I will get them radio and electronics patches of some kind, even if they have to wear them on the backs of their uniforms. And it's not the first time I've been embarrassed to be a girl scout. My daughter and I went to the Scout mass at our cathedral last February. All of the girl scouts getting awards were either brownies or juniors, no older girls. There were a couple of older girls (in CSA khaki) who processed in with the flags, and they were in proper uniform, but other than them, my daughter (a junior) was the only girl scout of the juniors and brownies who was in a proper girl scout uniform. Half of the girls had no sash or vest at all. And what is it with adult "uniforms"? Nothing in my "uniform" in any way connects me to my troop or my council. And the whole sweater set or suit jacket [censored] -- that's totally inappropriate attire for any of the activities (camping, horseback riding, hiking, cooking, messy crafts) that girl scouts DO! Compared this to Boy Scout leaders, who have uniforms appropriate for scouting activities, with council insignia and troop number patches on them. What someone on one of these threads said about the Journeys program -- if this is the future of Girl Scouts then Girl Scouts has no future -- Amen, sister!

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If you really want to do scouting for girls, which includes merit badges, dedication to service, leadership and advancements with concrete outcomes, check out the American Heritage Girls. They just signed a Memorandum of Mutual Support with the Boy Scouts of America. That speaks volumes, I think. Girl Scouts barely represents scouting anymore and with the Journeys obviously here to stay, they have watered down the program to the degree it is barely recognizable. I loved my scouting experience and have chosen AHG for my kiddos.

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I trust you've read some of my articles on the Journeys ? You are not alone!

Diana
GS Editor for Bella Online

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I agree about the journeys and meetings. We went from 8 girls to 10-12 this year. And even with a quiet girl or two- our meetings are loud and active. We try to do active things- keeps their attention and more focused. We do have meetings within a hour after school- but another issue is that they like to be together and do more stuff. Keep up the girl works and let the girls do want they want to do.

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It also makes me mad that they obviously spent a huge amount of money on Journeys. My husband always says that the problem with girl scouts is that there is too much money -- if we didn't sell cookies, there wouldn't be this huge staff deciding that it is their job to "revolutionize" the program. If they REALLY wanted to help leaders and scouts, they could put ALL of the badges online at the girl scout central web site. I count 14 out of the 88 CSA badges online, 12 out of 117 for juniors, 5 out of 60 for brownies. We're not talking about a hard job -- especially since they own the typeset originals to the books, it should be fairly straightforward to get the text and spend some time reformatting each badge for the web site. Just a fraction of the effort that went into Journeys. Of course then they couldn't sell us the books, like they are selling us the journeys materials. That's another gripe -- they take enough of a cut from our cookie sales that they should be able to put these materials online for us.

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Hi, I am a new Scout Leader. I started in September 2009- I have only Daisys- 4 first grade and 5 kindergarten. I actually started requesting to become a leader in February 2009. I wasn't approved until early September. I was given 7 girls scout names and phone numbers from returning Daisys in mid October!. In the end only four joined. There was no sign up night. No flyers submitted to schools to send home. Nothing- I even requested to do my own flyer- nothing. The 5 new girls- word of mouth- I volunteered at the school. I don't think there is even any GS groups at the other Elem. school in my city. At the moment(January 2010) there are no other active GS groups in my city of any age. Possibly the Brownie Troop starting this month. When I was young I was in scouting from Brownies to Cadettes. My mother was a GS leader for my older sisters. I was involved with scouting and camping before I was old enough to be one. My best memory was spending my fifth birthday at GS camp with my mom, sisters and about 30 other GS. When my son was in first grade- as a single parent I though he would do good to be a Boy Scout. My journey began there I was a Boy Scout/Cub Scout Leader for over 10 years. I took almost every training the BSA offered. I have more training than most male BSA leaders this included the survival training ect.. I am now with the Girl Scouts trying to stay excited to teach my five year old daughter "scouting" I hate it! I am lost for words. I want to run- quit. My husband thinks I'm crazy to waste my time. I now feel responsible to try to bring real scouting to this small group of girls. This program that is now called Girl Scouting sucks! If this year or next they take away the badges and leave only the Journeys I will leave. I am teaching Petals to K(first year daisy) and will start the Garden Journey to first graders( second year daisy). I can't believe this is what GS have become. I feel the need to protest. Is there anyone at national listening? What can we do?

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All I know, is I'm so happy it's Girl Scout cookie time. :)

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Please read the following letter that I wrote to Girl Scouts of America yesterday. If you view the link (including the comments which will give you some additional information)you will understand my outrage. I have been a member of Girl Scouts for most of my life and a leader for the past 8 years - for all three of my daughter's troops. I am really at the end of my rope and have told my youngest daughter that we will not be selling cookies this year - or ever again - unless some serious changes are made. If, after reading this you are inspired to take a stand against this issue please write a letter to the Girl Scouts of America. They need to hear from each and every one of us if we truly expect them to make a change. [i]I ask you to please read this entry written by Dr. Susan Rubin: [/url] http://www.drsusanrubin.com/girl-scout-cookies-epic-fail/. You will then understand why I can no longer encourage my daughter, my troop, or my friends and family to buy or sell Girl Scout cookies ever again. I am horrified by this information and appalled at the thought that Girl Scouts of America knowingly markets such a potentially hazardous product. The GSA must show integrity, and like Toyota, must inform the public of the health and environmental hazards of its product, admit wrongdoing, and make amends by withdrawing this product from the market. I understand that cookie sales are a critical funding source for each troop and to the organization at large, but at what cost? I am only one voice, but with the advent of social networking it does not take long for one voice to become the voice of many. I implore you to do the right thing. As an organization built upon the Girl Scout Law it is imperative that this issue is revealed. It is no longer a high fructose corn syrup, trans-fat issue, but one that is much larger and far more important. The issues of toxicity and overall existence of our planet as we know it requires an organization such as GSA to take a stand against these atrocities. If you choose to continue to sell these cookies the onus is on you to demand that Little Brownie Bakers use healthier ingredients. Until then, it is with regret that I will inform buyers that we are not selling this year. [/i]


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