Service Unit Leader Meeting Talking Points

November 2012

Service Unit Leader Meeting Talking Points

March 2013

Alumnae/Family Giving
(RV CONTACT: Stephanie Klenk, 651-379-4773 or stephanie.klenk@girlscoutsrv.org)

Women of Distinction
Thursday, April 18, 2013 Hilton Minneapolis 1001 Marquette Avenue South Minneapolis, MN x 10:30 am Reception and Jewelry Silent Auction x 11:301:30 pm Luncheon and Program Reserve your tickets today by visiting GirlScoutsRV.org or calling 800-845-0787 x $75/person ($40 tax-deductible) x $750/individual table ($400 tax-deductible) x $2,500/corporate sponsor table ($2,150 tax-deductible) All proceeds from the Women of Distinction event will be used to provide financial assistance to girls who are unable to pay for Girl Scout programs due to financial hardship. River Valleys grants to girls and volunteers have almost doubled since the economic downturn of 2008 to over $760,000 in 2012.

Family Giving
Is your service units family giving event being held soon? Do you need envelopes or displays? Contact Stephanie Klenk at 800-845-0787 X 1266 or Stephanie.klenk@girlscoutsrv.org

Alumnae Mission: RECONNECT for Troops

x x x x Find unregistered Girl Scout alumnaefamily, friends, cookie buyers! An unregistered alumna means they do not currently receive information from the council. Have them sign up as a Girl Scout alumna through the website, http://www.girlscoutsrv.org/getinvolved/alumnae/reconnect/ Make sure they put your troop number on the form. For every alumna you refer, your troop will be entered for a troop prize. The troop who finds the most alumnae by March 20 wins! Winning troop will get to help customize the prize, a special free troop overnight activity.

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Girl Scout Leadership Experience

(RV CONTACT: girlprogram@girlscoutsrv.org)

Planning Guides Share Your Activity Plan Ideas and Earn $50
Our activity plans are best when they come from youour expert Girl Scouts River Valleys troop leaders. Share your knowledge and help us build a database to empower leaders locally and nationwide. All completed and approved activity plans will earn you a $50 credit to River Valleys Girl Scout Shops, program events and camp. Visit GirlScoutsRV.org for more information.

Robotics Day Camp

Looking for a summer camp opportunity for your Girl Scouts? Girls in grades 4-12 can become an ace engineer by designing, building, and programming robots. No experience is necessary. Program fee includes snacks, lunch and swimming. Fee: Girl $105; Adult $0. Visit GirlScoutRV.org or contact Lawren Graf, 800-845-0787 ext. 1523 or Lawren.graf@girlscoutsrv.org for more information. Level 1 Dates July 911, 2013; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm Location: TBA (Minneapolis, MN) July 1618, 2013; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm Location: TBA (Burnsville, MN) July 31 August 1, 2013; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm Location: St Catherine University (St. Paul, MN) August 79, 2013; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm Location: Camp Singing Hills (Waterville, MN) August 1315, 2013; 9:30 am - 3:30 pm Location: Edith Mayo Program Center (Rochester, MN)

Robotics Day Camp Volunteer Opportunities No Experience Needed

Help girls learn about engineering, building and programming robots! Adult volunteers are needed for part or all of the day for small group activities, overall supervision, leading activities, helping with lunch and swimming supervision. Volunteers dont need technical background or experience. There are three positions available with varying time commitments: Robotics Lead Instructor run the curriculum portion of the Robotics day camps including robotics and other activities. Lead instructors must commit to training and at least one three-day camp. Robotics Assistant assist girls in completing their projects and other activities. Volunteers can commit to various time-slots and days during a session. Robotics Camp Assistants assist with the non-robotics portions of the camps including preparing/serving food, cleaning, and other duties as needed. You can volunteer one, two, or all three days of camp. For more details and camp dates/locations, email lawren.graf@girlscoutsrv.org

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Intro Events for Daisies, Brownies and Juniors

All new and bridging Daisy, Brownie and Junior troops are encouraged to attend an upcoming introductory event to learn more about the next level of Girl Scouting. Each session offers a fun crash course for girls and an educational opportunity for volunteers though the Extra! Extra training. Join us for a leap into the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and see what being a Girl Scout is all about. Visit GirlScoutsRV.org for more information. Upcoming events are: Intro to Brownies - Growing up Girl Scouts (Grades 1-2) Intro to Juniors - Enchanted Fantasy Adventure (Grades 3-4) Intro to Cadettes - Where Can Girl Scouts Take You? (Grades 5-6)

Membership
Get Ready for 2014 Early Registration
(RV CONTACT: Janis Reidlinger, 651-251-1224, or Janis.reidlinger@girlscoutsrv.org)

Get ready for the 2014 Early Registration hummingbird to make her appearance on April 1! Early registration will run from April 1 through May 31 (note the earlier deadline). In addition to the Early Bird 2014 hummingbird patch for all girls and adults registering early, all troops re-registering at least 50% of the girls and one leader prior to May 31 will also receive a 20% River Valleys Shop Coupon. The 20% Shop Coupon will be sent to each reregistering leader within 2 weeks of the troops registrations being processed, and will be good through September 30, 2013, can be used by each troop only once, and will apply to the entire single purchase. Although online registration continues to be the most popular form of early registration and we want to continue encouraging this efficient registration process, there are additional options. River Valleys will continue to provide traditional triplicate paper forms, and new for 2014 early registration, troop leaders can contact RV and request a Troop Roster Invoice sent to them via email. The Troop leader then prints the Troop Roster Invoice form, checks the girls/adults re-registering, and submits to any service center with payment. All details, including applicable forms, will be on the River Valleys website on April 1. So think spring and get ready for the Early Bird!

Celebrate Girl Scout Week March 10-16

Girl Scout Week is celebrated each March to commemorate the Girl Scout birthday, March 12. This year, Girl Scout Week starts with Girl Scout Sunday on March 10 and ends with Girl Scout Sabbath on March 16. In the United States, Girl Scouting grew from the friendship between Juliette Gordon Low and Lord Baden-Powell and his sister, Agnes, who founded Girl Guiding in Europe. The Girl Scout birthday, March 12, commemorates the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organizations first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia. Girl Scout Sunday and Girl Scout Sabbath give girls an opportunity to attend their local place of worship and be recognized as a Girl Scout. Girls may wear their uniforms and perform a service such as

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greeting, ushering or doing a flag ceremony. This week can also be a time when girls learn more about other faiths. River Valleys would like to recognize the volunteers and members in our communities and houses of worship for their time, talent and commitment, providing the best leadership experience for girls. Please print and share the Worship Bulletin found at GirlScoutsRV.org, keyword search Girl Scout week, with your local house of worship during Girl Scout Week and thank them for their continued support.

Shop Grants
Please remember that there is a new shop/program grant form on the website. In order to ensure that we are able to provide Financial Assistance to as many girls as possible, we ask that parents now fill the form out, which helps protect the privacy of families who are seeking Financial Assistance. We also ask if the family has anything to contribute towards the cost of the uniform/books, which they often do. Paying even a small portion of the uniform/book cost allows our funds to reach even more girls. The new form must be filled out by parents in order to receive a grant.

PGL Connections
Weve heard from troop leaders that it would be helpful to connect with other troops leaders in the same program grade level to share ideas, plan activities together, etc. Troop leaders (especially Daisy and Brownie leaders) interested in connecting or collaborating with other leaders in their PGL should talk to their membership specialist about making those connections.

Outdoor Program
2013 Summer Camp Service Unit Incentive
(RV CONTACT: camps@girlscoutsrv.org)

All camp sessions are online and registration is open. If you have not yet requested a camp team member to share summer camp information with your service unit at leader meetings, events, parent meetings or other similar venues, contact us to set up your summer camp promo between now and May. So what can be better than attending camp? Thats easy attending camp after winning a 2013 summer camp service unit incentive! One lucky service unit from River Valleys northern quadrants and one from the southern quadrants with the highest percentage of 4th and 5th grade girls attending camp during the summer of 2013 will receive one of the following choices: x Saturday Fun Day at one of our camps (from 2 8 hours). All programming and meals provided by River Valleys at no cost to the service unit. Numbers are limited based on facility capacity. Scheduling is based on availability up to 18 months in advance and will be coordinated with the camp director and service unit manager. Day-long Outdoor Awareness program brought to the service unit if coming to one of our camps is not an option (4 8 hours in length).

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If you already have a service unit encampment booked/planned or day camp scheduled at one of our sites, your rental is 50% off for that weekend and/or half off your day camp rental fees for one summer.

Product Program
Preparing for the end of the Cookie Program
(RV CONTACT: productprogram@girlscoutsrv.org)

1. The Buy 12 Give 12 promotion is back by popular demand. For each customer who purchases 12 packages of cookies from February 25March 17, River Valleys will donate 12 packages of cookies to Second Harvest Heartland food shelf network. Instructions, the form and a poster are available on our website. 2. As a reminder, troops can exchange full, bakery-sealed, unopened cases for an equal amount of cookies of different varieties. For example, a troop can bring in a full, bakery-sealed, unopened case of Thin Mints and take home a case of Savannah Smiles. 3. Cookies returns of full, bakery-sealed, unopened cases will be accepted at council cookie cupboards on March 18 and March 19 from noon6:30 p.m. Non-metro service unit cookie cupboard return dates and hours are published on the Dashboard in eBudde. Returned cases will be inspected for tampering. 4. Be sure to allocate cookies to girls in eBudde so they will receive their hard-earned rewards. The reward order is due in eBudde Friday, March 22 at 8 p.m. 5. Final cookie deposits are due April 4. Use the Sales Report tab in eBudde to determine the amount due. 6. Read pages 4750 of the Troop Cookie Manager Guidebook!

Volunteer Services
(RV CONTACT: training@girlscoutsrv.org)

Bridging Webinars
(handout accompanies talking points) Join us at a bridging webinar, where you can learn about the steps to earning the bridging patches, ideas for bridging ceremonies and ask questions of a River Valleys staff member regarding bridging. Webinars include a 15-20 minute presentation followed by time for questions. Webinar log in information is available on the website and on the flier. March 5: 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. OR March 11: 7 p.m.

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New Leader Webinars

(handout accompanies talking points) All new volunteers are encouraged to participate in the March New Leader webinar on Tuesday, March 26, noon 1 pm or 8 9 pm. The focus topic is ceremonies. New leaders will learn about Girl Scout Ceremonies and options for new troops. All volunteers are encouraged to participate. This webinar includes a 30 minute presentation with opportunities to ask questions following the presentation.

Plan Now to Attend the 2013 Lakamaga Conference

(handouts accompany talking points) Spring will officially arrive this month, which means summer is approaching as well! Plan now to attend the 2013 Lakamaga Adult Education Conference on August 16 18. Use the attached flyer to share the general information with volunteers and service units and watch for additional details to come. Do you know some great volunteers that have fun ideas and would be great enrichment workshop facilitators? Encourage these volunteers to complete the attached Workshop Proposal and submit to Heather Succio at heather.succio@girlscoutsrv.org by April 17.

River Valleys Got Talent

River Valleys has many talented and dedicated volunteers. Consider nominating an outstanding volunteer for a formal award. All Girl Scout volunteers, River Valleys staff, girl members and/or their families can submit a nomination. To find nomination forms, endorsement questionnaires and specific award information, check out the Saying Thanks page on GirlScoutsRV.org. River Valleys awards review committee reviews nominations for the Appreciation Pin, Honor Pin, and Thanks badges twice per year. Nominations should be submitted by June 30 for mid-year review. Do you have questions about formal awards that are not answered on the River Valleys website? Email volunteerawards@girlscoutsrv.org. The Amazing Face (of a great volunteer) The Thanks Badge is GSUSAs highest Honor for a Volunteer whose ongoing service goes above and beyond in making an impact for the Girl Scout movement or the council. At the annual meeting in January River Valleys honored 6 recipients of this highest award. The X(-tra Special) Factor A volunteers exceptional service to a single geographic area would make her/him a great candidate for the Appreciation Pin. Did you know that awards may be given more than once if the volunteers continued impact meets the specific award criteria? Awards are based on exemplary service and River Valleys volunteer committee reviews each nomination carefully. Nominating a dedicated volunteer for the Honor Pin would be a great way to acknowledge exemplary service benefitting multiple geographic areas.

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