Outdoor Overnight Training

I recently complete two training modules for Girl Scout leaders.  The first was a two hour 'Day Trip' session, and the second was the two-day 'Outdoor Overnight' session.  I wanted to write up some of my thoughts, and this is my more meta analysis.  (There will be more information about the actual camping experience, as it pertains to what we are doing in the troop.)

Girl Scouts is an interesting  organization.  It is not just a loosely organized set of fun activities, but rather an organization that has done deep research and thought about how to make a difference in our society, and how to support girls, in particular, in becoming all the can be.  Girl Scouts is actually very serious about their mission:  Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.  It sounds cheesy, but when you get into it and see how well thought out and research the program is, and how study after study show results, its hard not to drink the cool-aid.

So, there is part of every training module that I've done that addresses these issues.  We talk about the goals, and how to help the girls achieve the goals.  Over last weekend I learned, for example, that 70% of all female US congressional representatives were/are Girl Scouts.  All female Secretaries of State are Girl Scouts.  The average Girl Scout is in the top 10% of high school graduates nation wide.  Girl Scouts is an organization that crosses divides, state divides, social divides, race divides, etc.  The organization is deliberately very inclusive (Be a Sister To Every Girl Scout!), and the goal is to help every member achieve and succeed.  Part of every training module that I have done emphasizes that it is my job, as a leader, to give the girls space to do all of these things, EVERY girl.  Its a lot of pressure.  Its also inspiring, and I'm grateful that they at least give us some tips on how to do it.

These posters look exactly like the ones on the walls of my Girl Scout Camp 30 years ago, and the material is probably as timeless.  I particularly enjoyed the 'Troop Garden'.  

Another part of the training includes talking about what things we do to help the girls achieve their goals.  For example, we say the Girl Scout Promise:
On my honor, I will try:To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

And the Law:
I will do my best to behonest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and torespect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

And then we discuss how we enable the girls to live up to the promise, and in doing so, achieve those ideals of having Courage, Confidence, and Character.  The theory of Girl Scouts is that we do this by first creating a Safe Space.  In that space the girls Discover, Connect, and Take Action, and, if we do it right, we do it by letting the scouts be Girl Led, Learn by Doing, and engage in Cooperative Learning.

I suppose that one of the things that I am struck by is exactly how much being a Girl Scout leader encourages me to grow, and do better, and basically be a better human being.  It is interesting to me how much this resonates with everything I'm doing in my life - I can apply this theory and this skill every time I teach, or parent, or otherwise volunteer.    How can I challenge myself to reach the Girl Scout ideal?

It is only within the context of all of that theory that we engage in the specifics of the training.  Every thing we learn has the over tone of  how do we make it Girl Led, Learn by Doing, and engage in Cooperative Learning.  But, it does bring us to the next part of training.  Every training session I've been to covers basics, and details, and the mundane - what paper work do we need?  What are the safety guidelines, and where can we find them?  Where are the camps associated with our council, and how do we reserve them?  What types of supplies do we need to bring on a trip?  How do we know if our girls are ready for this?  And since, ideally, we will be stretching their comfort zone at least a little, how do we make sure that it is a Safe Space and a pleasant ushering into the next skill?

More posters, more of the applied theory this time.

Of course, as a last note, some of it is fun.  I really had a great time on my weekend training.  The camp was beautiful (I can't wait for our girls to go to camp!  They will love it!).  We we blessed with good weather, so we could enjoy it a little.  Camping is fun!  I enjoyed all of the people engaged in the training with me (not exclusively female, by the way, since Girl Scouts is inclusive), if not in terms of expecting long term friendships, at least in terms of respecting their skills and their passion for the work they do.  I got great advice from folks all over the map, and sometimes from unexpected directions.  We also participated as the 'troop', with our teachers as the 'leaders', so we got to do the things - sleep in Adirondack shelters, cook breakfast for 20, make S'Mores, learn some new songs, take a hike.

As much as Scouting may have some high falutin' ideals for goals, an awful lot of scouting should be just that; enjoyment in taking an active part in the world.  When I feel at sea about whether I can do a good job for 'our girls', I fall back on that - my goal is that every girl in my troop goes home and feels joy about her participation, is excited to come back on Monday, and is inspired for more activity.  A real measure of my success is how many girls come back, and better, come back with smiles on their faces.

Early Saturday Morning, waiting for the bus with my backpacking pack on.  (I didn't use most of the stuff, but was prepared for 40 degrees and raining all weekend.  I did use the mess kit that I carried to camp when I was 8.)  I am embarrassingly bad at selfies, but I'll pretend this was an artistic attempt to capture the trepidation I felt embarking not only on the training, but on a journey to lead our girls in something I hope they love.