what can you do to help the serv

Service Unit Support

The Girl Scouts - Great Rivers Council Inc., includes more than 23,000 girls and 8,000 adult volunteers. In order to make this number more manageable and provide a high level of support, the council is broken into more than 70 geographic areas called service units. Your service unit will contain girls and adults from your neighborhood and surrounding schools. Monthly leader meetings, called service unit meetings, are held in order to distribute important information about policies, events, and updates. The dates, locations, and times of these meetings vary, but it is very important that you or another representative from your troop attend in order to get accurate and timely information about local and council-wide events.

Within the service unit, several volunteers fill “service team positions.” These administrative positions are used to support leaders. The primary team positions include:

Service Unit Manager: The service unit manager is responsible for managing the service team members and troop leaders and provides support where needed. Your service unit manager is responsible for conducting the service unit meetings.

Program Consultant: The program consultant is responsible for coaching and supporting leaders for effective delivery of the Girl Scout program to the girls in the troops.

Recruiter/Troop Organizer: The recruiter/troop organizer assesses the community, recruits and places girls and adults in troops, assists in securing meeting sites and aids leaders in conducting parent/guardian meetings to gain support.

The Registrar: The service unit registrar ensures that all girls and adults are registered and maintains troop rosters for the service unit. He/she will have information on how to complete registration forms for both girls and adults.

The positions on a service team may vary. Other service team positions include training liaison, treasurer, and service unit cookie manager.

Troop Committee & Sponsorship

Troop Committee

Many troops have a troop committee that is made up of adults who are registered members with the troop. They perform a variety of functions: assisting with special projects, substituting for the leader when necessary, recruiting people with special skills, assisting with paper work and odd jobs, aiding in development and implementation of troop ideas, advising parent/guardians on financing and reading publications for activity ideas.

Troop Sponsorship

Many troops have relationships with community organizations or businesses that believe in and are willing to support the Girl Scout program. A troop sponsor may assist a troop by doing all or part of the following: appoint a representative to serve on the troop committee, publicize and interpret Girl Scouting through internal newsletters, provide goods and services, provide consultants or volunteer resources, provide a meeting place and provide financial assistance.

The troop has responsibilities to the sponsor. These responsibilities include: keeping the sponsor informed of troop and group activities, keeping the meeting place clean and orderly, including the sponsor in appropriate activities, recognizing and publicizing the sponsor’s contribution to the troop, actively seeking opportunities to provide services to the sponsor, and making Girl Scout membership available to the sponsor.

After a sponsor has been recruited, the sponsor and the troop should sign a sponsorship agreement. You may obtain a sponsorship agreement form from the Girl Scout Center or through your service unit manager.

Tips For Working With Parents

As a Girl Scout leader, you will be developing meaningful relationships with the girls in your troop. Since you will need help from time to time, it is also wise to develop positive relationships with the parents and guardians in your troop. Here are some tips to start the year of right and to keep it running smoothly.

ü Share the magic of the Girl Scout program. Discuss the Girl Scout Goals for Girls, Girl Scout Promise and Law. Let the parents know that while Girl Scouts is fun, it is much more than a social club.

ü Get to know the parents. Give parents interest cards at the beginning of the year. This card, in addition to containing emergency contact information, can gather information about professions, places of work, hobbies, talents, etc. Later in the year, you will have an idea of who to call when you need help with a project or trip.

ü Communicate often with the parents. Send home updates and easy to read permission forms. Talk to parents as they pick up and drop off their girls.

ü Be professional. Do not gossip about the girls or other parents. If you have an important issue to discuss, make sure that the girls are properly supervised and speak with the parent in private.

ü Parents are more likely to help when you ask them directly. Also, make sure the task is specific and short-term. People can easily get overwhelmed if you ask, “Will you be willing to help with the troop?” Instead, state, “I need a parent to assist with our Mexican craft project. Will you help us one hour a week for two weeks?”

ü Create and publish a phone tree. Instead of you calling every parent in your troop, you can make only a few calls and start a chain of information. (You can find a phone tree in the Guide for Brownie Girl Scout Leaders, p. 18)

How Parents Can Help

Lend

· Use of their house

· Use of their car

· Use of special equipment or skills

Share a hobby, interest, or skill…

· Outdoors & nature

· Sports, dance, & fitness

· Careers

· Singing, music, & drama

· Sewing & crafts

· Games

· Science & computers

· There is no limit…

Provide

· Help with trips & activities

· Snacks and drinks

· Space for storage

· A First Aider for hikes & trips

· A certified camping adult

· A babysitter for leader’s children during meeting, trips, events.