Looking forward to 3rd grade!

Dear parents, and potential parents,

We are putting together our details for next year.  Returning parents may like this information, and new parents can look here to get an idea of what will be going on.

The basics:

*This troop is serving the 2015-2016 third grade class at APP at Lincoln.

*We will be meeting every Monday after school.  (There will be no meetings on weeks that there is no school.)  Meetings will start immediately after school, and end at 5:30pm.

Our leaders (Martha and Megan) meet the girls after school, and walk them to our meeting location (the Wallingford Presbyterian Church).  Parents can pick girls up at the church.  Some weeks we may arrange for a different pick up location, which will always be recorded on this blog.

*We will also be meeting some additional times.  This past year we had approximately five weekend meetings, including one two-night camping trip.  We will have more or less depending on the girls' interest.

Our Goals:

One of the major tenants of Girl Scouts is that it is Girl Led.  As such, our year next year will unfold as the girls in the troop desire.  They will be able to choose what projects they work on, and have some control over how those projects are accomplished.

That said, we have some goals for the year:

1.  Go camping.  The Girls had such a great time at this year's encamporee, it was unanimously requested as a repeat.  It seems like the girls would like more time outside in general.
2.  Do more 'big' things, like field trips or more involved projects.  The girls really enjoy this type of thing.
3.  Cookie sales.  We will sell cookies this year - it is part of the Girl Scout program to foster financial literacy, AND, it can cover many expenses for the troop activities.
4.  Badges - we'll work on some badges.  And learn some songs.
5.  I'd like to get the girls started thinking about how we exist in our community, and specifically how we can be good scouts by giving back to our community and being leaders.

To enroll (new girls only):

(Interesting fact:  'enroll' is spelled with two 'l's in the US, but only one in England, explaining why I appear to have spelled it incorrectly when I move to a new web browser....)

You can enroll your girl here:  https://gsusa.ebiz.uapps.net/vp/default.aspx?pid=9
I believe that, after you have enrolled, you can specify a troop to join.  You'll want to specify 44401.  (If you have difficulty, please let me know.)

It would be a good idea to let me know - comment here or send me email.

Adults may also wish to sign up as adult volunteers.  You can do that on the same web page.

Please ask any questions you have - either in comments on this web page or by emailing me.

For new AND returning girls: 

After your girl is enrolled this is not much to do until we start up again in the fall.  However, I strongly urge all new and returning parents to subscribe to this page with their favorite RSS reader, or by signing up for the email digest (on the right hand side of the blog).  Our primary communication will be through this blog, and it will be the place where you can see weekly plans.

We'd also like all girls to have some uniform - you can choose a sash or a vest (I recommend the vest, although many of our girls have sashes).   You do not need to get a full uniform, but, examples of all the pieces are shown here: http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/for_volunteers/where_to_place/brownie/

Each girl should have a guide book:  http://www.girlscoutshop.com/THE-BROWNIE-GIRLS-GUIDE-TO-GIRL-SCOUTING

You can buy these items on-line, or at the Girl Scout store in Bellevue.  Some people like to go with the starter kit, which bundles many of the necessary items together.

We are still trying to figure out snack and dues arrangements for next year.  Check back.

For more information:

Please feel free to ask any questions here, or to email meganursula@gmail.com directly.  You can find out more about Girl Scouts at http://www.girlscouts.org/.