Getting help from the Service Unit

The seventeenth century English poet John Donne said, “No man is an island.”  As an adult leader in Girl Scouting it can be said that no leader is an island.  Every leader is connected; part of a system of support, a network of paid and volunteer staff striving to provide the best service to leaders so that girls achieve the Goals for Girls and the Girl Scout mission.   As a Girl Scout leader, do you understand the support available to you through your service unit?  Below is a glimpse of the service team positions and how they support the leader in achieving success with girls. 

Getting girls to give you input is not an “easy” task. Involving the girls in every aspect is vital to your success. Girls are more likely to give input if they feel it is being valued and followed. Make sure your girls know that their input is important. Troop government is an excellent way to begin.

HELPFUL TIPS TO GET YOUR GIRLS TALKING
Do you find yourself continually asking your girls for input and them telling you nothing? If so, following some of these tips to get them to “take the lead” may be helpful.

1. Brainstorm ideas with your troop. Get them in a circle and have one girl be the scribe. Have the girls choose either badges or activities they want to do for the year. Make sure not to put limits on their brainstorming.

2. Then have the girls vote on the items listed. Give the girls markers, stickers, etc. to use as voting tools and let them vote for a set number of events. (e.g. Each girl can only vote for three items.)

3. Discuss the most popular ones. Are some of them not possible? This could be because of money and or time. If some of the items are not possible right now, can they be tabled to another time of year? (i.e. If they want to go to the beach and it is winter, can you wait until spring to discuss it further?)

4. Ask all the girls if everyone got an activity they voted for on the list. If not, everyone may not feel included, so you may want to discuss how to make sure your troop activities reflect the interests of all the girls.

If your girls still do not want to do anything and just want to hang out, establish some rules for your meeting. Maybe you let them have 30 minutes at the beginning of each meeting to catch up and just hang out and then get them focused on the meeting. Know that your girls want to do things, but they also want time to just be friends and hang out.

Setting Goals With Your Girls
Getting your girls to set goals for what they want to do is a great starting place. If your girls know they need $200 to do all the activities they have planned, they then need to come up with a plan to earn that $200. Girls are a lot more likely to want to earn the money if they know where it is going.

By setting goals with your girls, you help them to feel a sense of accomplishment when they reach those goals. For example, if they achieve their goal to have completed three community service projects, they could have a celebration of their accomplishment. By celebrating their accomplishments, girls can reflect back on what they have achieved and through your evaluation/discussion they will take away meaning from the activities they have done.

Goals do not have to be hard. In fact they are often best when they are simple and attainable. If your troop has never been camping, the troop’s goal might be an overnight in someone’s backyard. Make your goals feasible & fun!