Information for New Families

How does my daughter join Troop 1379?
Our troop is currently composed of Cadette Girl Scouts, who are ages 11-14 or grades 7-9. Most of our girls attend Friends Central School in Wynnewood, PA, but live in a wide surrounding area of West Philadelphia and the Main Line.

Girls can join at any time by coming to a meeting with a parent. Please contact us to find out the dates of meetings and to make sure there have been no last minute changes in schedule. Bring any medical information (e.g., shot records and phone numbers for emergency contacts). There is a small yearly registration fee, currently $20 ($10 to our troop, $10 to the council).

Parents will also need to register and complete background check applications this year (at troop expense) in order to be covered by council insurance for chaperoning and driving.

 

What do Girl Scouts do?
Weekly meetings may be for planning trips and activities,
working on Interest Project requirements, or having fun and socializing. Cadette Girl Scouts (now part of the Girl Scouts 11-17/Studio 2B program) is much more girl-directed than Junior Girl Scouts. Scouts can travel farther from home as a troop; anywhere in the continental US -- but they do the planning and raise the funding. Leaders are now called "advisors." It is expected that much of what they accomplish will take more than one year of planning and execution. But it is up to them how much they will focus on earning Interest Patches and awards, camping and traveling, doing service projects, gathering together for meetings and overnights, and just having fun.

Some of the activities we did as Junior Girl Scouts:
Cabin camping at Camp Laughing Waters (during Hurricane Henri!)
Tent camping, white water rafting, and mountain biking in the Lehigh River Valley (twice -- and good thing we didn't let Tropical Storm Cindy discourage us; the weather was beautiful once we go there!)
Healthy Philadelphia Day at the Franklin Institute Museum
Theater workshop at the Arden Theater with a performance of A Year with Frog and Toad
Overnight Camp-In at the Franklin Institute
Snow tubing at Bear Mountain
Baking cookies for Meals on Wheels
Walk and Wok tour of Chinatown with chef Joseph Poon of Asian Fusion Restaurant
Putting on talent shows
Horseback riding weekend at Malibu Dude Ranch
Mid-Atlantic Scout Orienteering Championship
(and we took home some trophies both times),
Bowling with our dads
Spooky Ridge (haunted houses in the dark in the woods at Shelly Ridge)
Learning about fashion and textiles from the students at Philadelphia
University (formerly the College of Textile and Science)
Selling and eating Girl Scout Cookies
Sharing food and facts about countries around the world at the Girl Scout
Thinking Day celebration (hosted by the Bryn Mawr College Campus Girl Scouts)
Collecting baby gifts for the Baby Bundles program
Learning about rock climbing supplies and kayaks at an outdoor specialty store
Earning the Junior badges "Yarn and Fabric Arts," "Art in 3D," "Drama," "Making it Matter," "Plants and Animals," "Jeweler," "Let's Get Cooking," "Your Outdoor Surroundings," "World Neighbors," "Theater," "Girl Scouts Around the World," "Caring for Children," "Stress Less," "Lead On," "Fun AndFit," "Aerospace," "Wildlife," "Camera Shots," "Horse Lover," "Sky Search," "Girl Scouting in the USA," "Cookie Connections," "Becoming a Teen," "Across Generations," and "Puzzler"
as well as designing and earning our own badge, "Chocolate Lover"
earning the Sign of the Star and Sign of the Rainbosw awards
We also had lots of fun, food and parties!
Several of our girls attended Girl Scout summer camps
Five scouts earned the Bronze Award,
the highest award in Junior Girl Scouting

Besides all the fun stuff, Girl Scouts provides a structure for girls to set long term goals, work on team projects, learn commitment to the community, and develop leadership skills. It encourages girls to try new things and avoid being restricted to stereotyped roles. It is an excellent program for girls as they develop into women.

 

Where do I buy uniforms, manuals, and other Girl Scout items?

1. Cadette/Senior Insignia Tab 2. World Trefoil Pin 3. Leader in Training Pin 4. Counselor in Training Pin 5. Counselor in Training II Pin 6. Girl Scout Gold Award 7. Girl Scout Pin (contemporary or traditional) 8. Membership Numeral Guards 9. Leader in Training Award 10. Counselor in Training Award 11. Senior Girl Scout Program Aide Award 12. Cadette Girl Scout Program Aide Award 13. Cookie Sale Activity Pin 14. From Dreams to Reality Award 15. Interest Project Awards 16. Cadette Girl Scout Leadership Pin 17. Senior Girl Scout Leadership Pin 18. Girl Scout Silver Award 19. Career Exploration Pin 20. Senior Girl Scout Troop Assistant Pin 21. Community Service Bar 22. Senior Girl Scout Challenge Pin 23. Cadette Girl Scout Challenge Pin 24. Bridge to Cadette Girl Scouts Award 25. Bridge to Senior Girl Scouts Award 26. Brownie Wings 27. Cadette Girl Scout Program Aide Pin 28. Senior Girl Scout Program Aide Pin 29. Personalized ID Pin 30. Membership Star 31. Disc for Membership Star-white 32. Disc for Membership Star-red 33. Troop Numerals 34. Troop Crest 35. Girl Scout Council Identification Set 36. Safety Award 37. Patrol Leader's Cord

There are three Scout shops in our area. Summer and weekend hours vary, so check before you go. If you already know what you need, you can also order on-line locally and from the Girl Scouts national catalog.

Uniforms are optional for Girl Scouts 11-17; however, some events are only open to scouts in uniform. The girls will be deciding on their uniform during their first meetings, but a girl always has the option of getting a full uniform herself. Those who do will need a vest or sash, council patches ("Girl Scouts USA" and "Southeastern PA"), and the numerals 1,3,7, and 9. If your daughter will be collecting patches for activities (and you're up for sewing them on!), the vest has the advantage of having room on the back for them. Cadette vests are longer than Junior vests and come down to the hips.

Patches are available plain and as iron-ons, but the patches are bulky and the iron on adhesive may not hold up as well as sewing them on. To sew, use thread that matches the vest. Pin the patch in place with two pins stuck through the side stitching. Come up from underneath the vest with your needle and thread next to the patch and pull the thread until your knot is in place. Catch a few threads from the stitching around the edge of the patch and pull the thread through. Then take a bite of the vest and come back up to the front side of the vest in one stitch and pull through. Then get a few more threads. You can work entirely from the front of the vest this way except for the final knot. (For patches without side stitching, use the hot glue method, take my word for it.)

An option for those who don't find it relaxing to sit and sew badges while helping with homework in the evening is to use hot glue. Apply a thin layer of hot glue to the back of the edge stitching of a patch, using the hot nozzle to spread it thinly and evenly. Then arrange on the vest and iron at "cotton" temperature for twenty seconds of firm pressure. Allow to cool before moving. When washing, hang to dry.

Other insignia, such as the pins, stars, and badges, are provided by the troop at special awards ceremonies and do not need to be purchased.

 

Publications

There is a large variety of books published for Girl Scouts 11-17. These are in two general groups: Traditional Cadette/Senior Girl Scouts, and the new Studio 2B.

The traditional program includes a handbook for the Cadette level and an Interest Project book that lasts through Cadette and Senior

.

The Studio 2B includes books for ages 11-13, 13-15, and 15-17 levels, a binder with inserts for topics like the silver and gold awards, the cookie awards, and a day planner, and Focus Books which each cover a single topic (instead of all earned awards being in a single Interest Project book). The Studio 2B program is only a couple years old and there are only a few books available so far.

Girls who plan to obtain advanced awards will have to do at least part of the Studio 2B program to qualify for Silver or Gold awards. (These are like earning Eagle Scout for Boy Scouts). All girls should purchase an Interest Project book and a Studio 2B 11-13 level book. Other books may be made available through a troop library to reduce expenses.

What is the Program Source book?
The Program Source is a booklet published by the local council, Girl Scouts of Southeast PA, each year. It is a listing of programs offered for scouts, Brownie through Senior, that troops or individual girls can sign up for. Some programs are just for fun together; some fulfill some or all of the requirements of a badge.

 

What responsibilities do parents have?
We ask that each family have a parent attend two meetings or activities a year. If you have special interests or skills, we can often set up an activity around them.

At least one parent will need to attend the first meeting their daughter attends to complete and sign paperwork and get acquainted. You can get a head start on the paperwork here.

 

What other responsibilities do girls have?
Girl Scouts divide planning, set up and cleanup tasks. We ask that parents support this by allowing time for their daughters to arrive early or stay late when it is necessary.

 

My daughter has special needs. Can she participate?
Contact us for information about your particular situation to see what we can do. It is usually no problem for your daughter to get medications/inhalers/dietary restrictions on our trips. Wheelchairs need to enter the Girl Scout Room through the front door.

As far as the Girl Scout program itself, it is very challenging for all girls. Studio 2B, in particular, is based on girls setting goals to improve on their current skills (even if they are already knowledgeable in a particular subject) so the requirements for each girl depend on where she is starting. It is usually not difficult to adapt to any limitations an individual girl has.

We are proud of the sensitivity our girls often show to other scouts with special needs. The Girls Scouts of America does not discriminate.

 

Why are your meetings on Friday evenings?
We found it was often difficult for parents to attend afternoon meetings. Our Monday evening meetings got plenty of parental participation, but the girls were pressured by school work and bedtimes. We hope to have more time for fun and chitchat on Fridays. Since Girl Scouts 11-17 is
girl-run, there may be on line messaging or other meeting times/places in addition or instead of some Friday meetings.

 

What about Girl Scout Cookies?
The annual Girl Scout Cookie sale begins in February. Proceeds support both our troop activities and supplies as well as the local council, Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania (which in addition to paying salaried administrators and subsidizing troops of low-income scouts, also preserves large areas of open space for Girl Scout camps in this area). Participation in the cookie sale is voluntary, and other than small incentive gifts for the girls, all proceeds are pooled regardless of how many boxes each girl sells.

 

Return to Troop 1379 Main Page