Scout Ready

GSCCC introduced nearly 100 families to Girl Scouts during Scout Ready, hosted on September 23 at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach and Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News. The "Be Prepared" event was designed to help families learn about safety and emergency preparedness, while offering them the chance to become Girl Scouts!

During Scout Ready, families visited booths where they learned about sand safety from a Gold Award Girl Scout, boating safety from the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, CPR from EMTA Enterprises, online safety from the Office of the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney and more. Families also had the chance to tour an ambulance and police vehicle while meeting local first responders. Members of Girl Scout Troop 302 from Chesapeake helped children make their own mini first aid kits, and, with the help of children at the event, put together a bullying prevention quilt. Many families also took the time to have their children fingerprinted for the Virginia Child Identification Program.

WAVY-TV 10 Meteorologist Deitra Tate met families at Scout Ready in Virginia Beach, where she shared information about preparing for hurricanes and other weather events. She also handed out hurricane preparedness guides and signed autographs for fans.

Miss Scout Ready but still want to join Girl Scouts? Attend a sign-up event near you, or register online.

Join Us to Do S’more with Girl Scouts!

Families interested in learning more about Girl Scouts are invited to celebrate National S’mores Day with Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast at the events listed below. Make your own delicious s’mores, try your hand at cool science and engineering activities and sign up to become a Girl Scout! Register to attend an event here.

Friday, August 4
6 to 7 p.m.
A Place for Girls
912 Cedar Road, Chesapeake

Thursday, August 10
6 to 7 p.m.
Camp Skimino
448 Fenton Mill Road, Williamsburg

Thursday, August 10
6 to 7 p.m.
Courthouse Community United Methodist Church
2708 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach

Sunday, August 20
6 to 7 p.m.
Camp Apasus
8420 Granby Street, Norfolk

Sign up for Girl Scouts, and you are in for a year of opportunity, excitement and new experiences! Staff will be on hand at each event to help you register. Girl Scouts is open to all girls in grades K-12, and parents and caregivers are invited to join the fun as volunteers.

Take part in your first Girl Scout community service project by bringing school supplies that will be donated to local schools through WAVY-TV’s Operation School Supplies.

For more information about Girl Scouts, visit www.gsccc.org or call 757-547-4405.

Prepare Your Girl Scout Troop for Another Year of Fun!

It’s that time of the year again— spring renewal! Troop leaders, check out these tips for preparing the girls in your troop for another year of fun and adventure in Girl Scouts.

Plan ahead. Encourage the girls to talk about their plans for the future—what activities to spend their cookie money on, what badges they would like to earn, what trips they would like to take.

Make it girl-led. Engage girls in planning a celebration for the end of the year or a bridging ceremony. When girls get to take the lead, they are happier with their Girl Scout experience.

Calm their nerves. Are the girls in your troops bridging to a new level? Invite a few older girls to a troop meeting for them to share the adventures and opportunities they have had as Girl Scouts.

Get girls involved in recruitment. Schedule a time to talk to the girls about how to grow your troop. Draft a plan and include how girls will help welcome and include the new girls.

Get outside! Research shows that girls love outdoor activities more than any other. Engage your troop in monthly outdoor activities to keep them coming back. From scavengers hunts to a campfire with s’mores, possibilities in the outdoors are endless!

You can register for the next Girl Scout membership year starting April 1. All girls who renew before May 15 will receive a free Power of G.I.R.L. patch!

Spread the Scouting Word

On April 1, we are hosting an event in conjunction with Boy Scouts to introduce families to all of the fun and adventure that scouting has to offer. If you know someone who is interested in joining, please share this event with them!

Family Scouting Sampler Day is a free event that will take place on Saturday, April 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Thalia United Methodist Church in Virginia Beach.

Girls and boys will get to visit stations to complete activities and learn about scouting. At each station, they will receive a stamp in their “passport.” After they earn all of the stamps, they will receive their first patch! Stations will include pottery painting with Color Me Mine, building a mini first aid kit, making an edible campfire, learning about community service opportunities, finding out about outdoor activities in scouts and more!

Girls who register to be Girl Scouts during the event will receive a free ticket to Girl Fest on April 29 at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach!

Currently registered Girl Scouts can participate by sharing this event with their friends. Spreading the word about Family Scouting Sampler Day can count as one activity towards earning the Girl Scout Recruiter patch!

Scout Ready

Instilling safety and emergency preparedness in the nation’s youth has been a growing priority. To help make emergency planning and safety education part of people’s everyday habits, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts have teamed up to host Scout Ready, a safety education and awareness event, on Saturday, September 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach. This free event is open to all families to learn about emergency preparedness and sign up for scouts. Current scouts can participate if they bring a friend to join.

Being prepared has been part of Girl Scouting since the organization was founded in 1912. In fact, “Be prepared.” is the Girl Scout motto. While being prepared today has changed from those earlier years, it is still just as important. Girl Scouts are called upon to be role models for their peers and practice good safety habits. It is essential for them to know how to do a job well, even in an emergency.

A 2012 survey conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) found that only 39 percent of individuals reported having a household emergency plan. Preparation for a potential emergency or disaster makes a real difference for people to make quick and informed decisions in the face of emergency situations. At Scout Ready, families can visit with local first responders and law enforcement to come up with their own emergency plans, have their child fingerprinted as part of the Child Identification Program and learn about natural disaster preparedness from WAVY TV 10 Meteorologist Deitra Tate. Other exhibitors, including the American Red Cross, Bon Secours, GEICO, the Office of the Commonwealth Attorney, Spectrum Puppets and Tidewater Family Magazine will also be on site with fun and informational activities for families.

For more information about attending Scout Ready or joining Girl Scouts, visit www.gsccc.org.

Invite a Friend!

Think about your favorite memory as a Girl Scout volunteer. Maybe it was when a girl in your troop overcame her fear of heights and conquered the high ropes course. Maybe it was the proud moment you saw your troop bringing smiles to the faces of others through community service. Or, maybe, it was when you took a step back and realized that without you, those moments might have never happened.

Now is your chance to invite a friend to have memorable moments in Girl Scouts too!

During the month of November, current volunteers who invite a friend who starts a new Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie or Junior troop will get $50 to spend in the official Girl Scout online store. And, the new troop leader will get a free Volunteer Resource Pack to help get them started.

Once your friend joins Girl Scouts as a troop leader, completes the volunteer application and starts a new Daisy, Brownie or Junior troop, visit girlscouts.org/inviteafriend to claim your prize.

As a Girl Scout volunteer, you introduce girls to fun and new experiences that show them they’re capable of more than they ever imagined. You’re a cheerleader, a guide and a mentor who helps girls develop skills and confidence that will last long after the meeting is over. Girls need more heroes like you—fun, courageous and always there—to help them shine like never before. Invite a friend to be a Girl Scout volunteer because two heroes are better than one!

Join the Fun!

As families start thinking about children returning to school, we are inviting girls to join the fun and register for Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts provides girls with countless opportunities to make new friends, try new things and exercise leadership skills through activities such as building robots, playing sports and participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

National studies from the Girl Scout Research Institute show that it’s not just what girls do, but how they do it that makes Girl Scouts so beneficial. Girl Scouts is unique because girls get to learn by doing, and they do so in a girl-led environment. That means that in addition to girls learning in a hands-on and active way, they are encouraged to choose their activities, decide which topics to explore and determine how they want to go about exploring them.

The Girl Scout Research Institute reports that at least 75 percent of girls who experience the fun of learning by doing and are part of a girl-led program become better at conflict resolution, problem solving, team building and developing self-confidence. These girls say that because of Girl Scouts, they’ve become a leader in more activities with their friends and classmates, as well as in their community.

“In Girl Scouts, we make sure that girls are taking charge of their own future,” Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast CEO Tracy Keller said. “Girls benefit greatly from opportunities to delve into their interests. When girls are participating in activities that interest them, they are engaged in the topic and determined to learn more.”

Hands-on learning opportunities and girl-led experiences within Girl Scouts supplement the academic learning girls receive in school. These fun and empowering experiences have been shown to boost girls’ social and emotional skills, which are not generally part of a school curriculum, as well as improve academic performance. Girls who experience learning by doing and who are part of a girl-led program learn not to avoid things that are hard for them, but rather to take these challenges head on, practice creative problem solving and learn from mistakes— all skills that will help girls succeed throughout school and life.

For more information, visit www.girlscouts.org/join.

Volunteer Invite-a-Friend

The Volunteer Invite-a-Friend offer ends THIS Monday, so make sure you submit information for any new volunteer you recruited RIGHT HERE by December 1, 2014!

Remember, if you recruit any new troop leader for a Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie, or Junior troop, YOU will receive a $50 coupon code to the Girl Scout Official Online Store and your new volunteer will receive a Volunteer Resource Pack that includes a Girl’s Guide, a Journey set, a badge pack a tote and pins.

Imagine what you could do with $50 to the Girl Scout Official Online Store. You could buy…

• Eight Brownie sashes for your girls to wear as they show their Girl Scout pride!
• An awesome Girl Scout fleece, scarf, and gloves for those cold winter days.
• Six Journey books for your girls to use as they grow into wonderful leaders.
• Two mini-microscope sets for all the exploring your girls love to do. 

But even more importantly… inviting just one more troop leader to start a K­–5 troop enables us to serve at least five more girls!

Have questions? Contact joinus@gsccc.org.

Top Ten Reasons to Invite a Friend to Volunteer

Here are the top ten reasons to invite a friend to volunteer with Girl Scouts TODAY…

10. There are 19 days left to take advantage of the Volunteer Invite-a-Friend offer.

9. We’re trying to set a new record for onboarding volunteers in a single month! Help us recruit over 25 new volunteers this month!

8. Who doesn't love SHOPPING FOR GIRL SCOUT GEAR?! During the Volunteer Invite-a-Friend offer, when you invite a friend to volunteer with us, you’ll get a $50 coupon code to use at Girl Scouts’ Official Online Store.

7. Wouldn't it be nice to have ONE MORE Girl Scout sister to share that box of Thin Mints with? As you count cookie money, of course…

6. There are 200 girls at the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast and another 30,000 girls nationwide who CAN’T WAIT to be Girl Scouts. Let’s get these girls involved in the amazing activities we offer today!

5. Remember that time you sang silly Girl Scout songs until your girls got the giggles? EVERYONE could use some more giggles in their lives!

4. Picture your favorite Girl Scout memory. Maybe it was when you were a girl at your first camping trip, maybe it was when you volunteered to take your troop on its first camping trip, or maybe when you realized that without YOU, those moments may not have happened. Don’t you want to invite a friend to make even more of these moments happen?

3. “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other’s gold…” Need we say more?

2. Volunteering with girls is like discovering the FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH! Girl giggles, silly stories, new experiences, and breaking out of your comfort zone keep you forever young!

1. Before you came along, your girls were waiting for someone to be their role model. There are girls still waiting for that role model to come along. Invite a friend to make a difference in these girls’ lives today!

Once you’ve invited a friend to start a new troop, let us know RIGHT HERE!

Have a question? Contact joinus@gsccc.org.

Add a Friend, Add some Fun!

At Girl Scouts, girls are always counting down to the next adventure they'll go on together. Maybe it's artistic, maybe it's an experiment. Maybe it's getting outside or helping the community. With us, you'll make a bunch of new friends and have a ton of new experiences that show you how exciting the world is, and how awesome you are, over and over again. We think that every girl should have a chance to experience Girl Scouting. You can help make that happen!

This year's Add-a-Member campaign is here! Between now and December 15, 2014, every Girl Scout who invites a new girl to join Girl Scouts is eligible to receive the “Discover the Universe” patch. The new Girl Scout will also receive the patch. Add three or more girls to the troop and all the girls in the troop (including the new girls) will receive the “Discover the Universe” patch. 

Once the friend registers to be a Girl Scout, the troop leader submits this form to their service unit registration coordinator, who will forward it to GSCCC, and we'll take care of the rest!

Thinking of a friend who may like to learn more about Girl Scouts? We've created this invitation for you to print, fill out and share with a friend!

Let's Read, Let's Move!

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast welcomed new Girl Scouts to the organization during Let’s Read, Let’s Move, a family fun event held on September 28 at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library in Virginia Beach. Girls and their families were invited to learn more about Girl Scouts, as well as participate in activities to teach girls about healthy living and the fun of reading.

Newly-registered Girl Scout Daisy Mia
with WAVY-TV Anchor Lex Gray

During the afternoon, girls had the opportunity to meet WAVY-TV Anchor Lex Gray, who read The Adventures of Rowena and Carrot Jam The Rabbit to girls and gave them copies of the book. They also made crafts, including friendship bracelets and bookmarks, and made their own spinner wheels with activities for staying active. The Virginia Beach Reading Council attended and allowed children to choose a book to take with them to help build their home library.

Studies show that addressing both the needs of mind and body are part of the healthy development of children. Academic success is more likely to happen when a child maintains good health through exercise and diet, along with adding reading as a routine activity. Girl Scouts is committed to providing fun, dynamic and interactive experience for girls to attain practical life skills related to healthy living, reading, writing and communicating through national proficiency badges and resources.

View more photos from the day here.

Tell Your Friends About Girl Scouts!

Help us spread the word about the amazing journey girls (and adults!) will find in Girl Scouts! Send this invitation to a friend to volunteer or sign their special girl up for Girl Scouts. Don't keep it a secret. With us at their side, girls can explore every dream, discover what they love, and learn the skills that will set them up for life! Share this post with your friends by using one of the buttons below.

Be Your Own Kind of Star in Girl Scouts!

Sing! Dance! Perform! You can be your own kind of star in Girl Scouts! On Saturday, April 5 from 1 to 4 p.m., Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast will be hosting talent showcases at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach, Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News and Southgate Mall in Elizabeth City. No matter what your talent is, all girls are invited to come out and join the fun.

This event is designed for girls and their families to learn more about becoming a member of Girl Scouts. Currently registered members of Girl Scouts may attend and participate by bringing a friend who registers to become a Girl Scout. Girl Scouts who add a member are eligible to receive a Power of One patch. The new Girl Scout will also be eligible to receive the patch. Learn more here.

At the event, there will be entertainment from Young Audiences of Virginia, including Atumpan, The Talking Drums and North Carolina Marionette Theatre. Girls can enjoy fun, hands-on activities and explore booths to learn about opportunities with Girl Scouts and community partners. There will also be meet and greets with talents from WAVY-TV 10 and FOX 43 at each location.

In Girl Scouts, there are always new opportunities for girls to have new experiences, where they make new friends, challenge themselves to try new things and have fun! These talent showcases are an opportunity for girls to build and show their courage and confidence as they take center stage and shine.

Girls of all ages may participate in the talent showcases in individual or group performances. Register to be a part of the show by filling out this form. Everyone is invited to come join the fun and learn more about becoming a member of the nation’s premier organization for girls.

This event is being generously sponsored by FOX43, WAVY-TV 10, Young Audiences of Virginia and Tidewater Family Magazine.