Back to School, Back to Troop

By Shirley Bergstrom, guest blogger

Shirley with her daughters, Marcelina and Gabriella

I have two daughters. One is a first year Junior and the other is a first year Cadette, and they have both been a Girl Scout since kindergarten. Girl Scouts has been such a great experience for them and maybe even more so for me because I have been able to help not just my girls, but a whole troop of girls, grow and expand their horizons. Some of my daughters' most memorable experiences wouldn’t have happened if they weren't Girl Scouts... camping, friendships, learning about conserving resources, serving their local community and who could forget about igniting their entrepreneurship fire!

We’ve only been in Girl Scouts for a few years but here are a few tidbits for getting back into the swing of things with Girl Scouts and school I’ve learned along the way…

• Renew your membership! It will make things easier for your troop leader to get ready for Fall product sales.

• Stay in touch with your troop’s co-leader(s). Ask for a schedule of meetings for the year, at least up to Christmas. My daughters are in the same troop with girls from Daisies to Cadettes. I keep in touch with each level’s co-leader.

• Get Girl Scout bag to carry your daughter’s Journey books and Guides to Girl Scouting.

• For newly bridged girls, have the vest ready to go with all your patches and troop numbers and patches earned during the summer. The GSCCC shop staff is very knowledgeable with handling all our vest/sash and uniform needs. And, if you’re new and can’t remember your troop number, the shop staff can look it up for you!

• I could go on and on about ideas for organizing everything, but having your Girl Scout meetings and events scheduled into your calendar (paper or electronic) with location is important! I like to color code my calendars to distinguish work, personal, Girl Scout and family events.

• Sign up as a troop helper or driver! This gives co-leaders extra helping hands to make meetings and events run more smoothly… it takes a village!

• Read all publications and emails from Council. I'm always sure to keep up with the monthly enews, Volunteer Connection and the GSCCC blog.