February 8 is National Girl Scout Cookie Day!     

Girl Scouts of the USA has declared February 8 as National Girl Scout Cookie Day. Why? To increase national awareness of what the Girl Scout Cookie Program does for girls and their communities, of course!

Registration Gets Easier with the Arrival of Online Registration!     

There's something new and exciting coming to Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland that will revolutionize membership registration and make it faster, and more accurate! It's called eBusiness, or "eBiz," and it will make your life as a volunteer a lot easier--allowing you to spend more time providing a rewarding experience for your girls and less time doing paperwork!

In brief, eBiz is a collection of online tools that allows girls, guardians, and volunteers to take advantage of online registration. Troop leaders will be able to complete troop maintenance, membership renewals for troop members, register new members, and more. Read our latest post at blog.girlscoutsmoheartland.org for the additional functionality available when we release eBiz and the features we will be implementing later this year.  

It takes a lot of work to bring online registration to our council, and the job isn't done. We need your help. Please make sure that you have collected the correct email addresses of everyone in your troop who has one, adult and girl alike, and send them to your membership marketing specialist. An email address is the key to accessing the online registration system! (Make sure to let your adults know that having their email address for eBiz is to allow them to use the upcoming online registration tool and not for marketing purposes.)

Keep an eye out for more information about online registration in the weeks to come, along with specific dates for its official release. There will be incentives to girls and troops to encourage online registration and re-registration for the 2014 membership year!

Trainings Offered on Request

We try to schedule a variety of training dates and locations, but we know that volunteers may need other options. If training is needed in your area, please contact us! We can set up an "on request" training. To find out how, go to girlscoutsmoheartland.org/training .

Many trainings are available upon request, including:

• Orientation: 1 ½ hours / No Fee / No Minimum
• Basic Outdoor Skills: 4 hrs / $6 per person / Minimum 5
• CPR/First Aid: 5 ½ hours (varies by facilitator)/ $35 per person / Minimum varies per facilitator
• CPR/First Aid Recertification: 3 hours / $19 per person / Minimum varies per facilitator
• Basic Troop Camping: $15 per person / Minimum 8-10 (Pre-Requisite: Basic Outdoor Skills with sufficient time to practice camping skills.)
• National Program Portfolio-Girl Scout Leadership Experience: 1 ½ hours / No Fee / Minimum 5
• Path to Silver / Path to Gold (for GS Cadettes and older): 2 hours / No Fee / Minimum 10
• Program Aid (for Girl Scout Cadettes and older): 6 hours / No Fee / Minimum 10

For the 2013-2014 membership year, GSUSA has increased national dues to $15.00 per year. This increase will be effective for all 2013-2014 membership dues, including those that are processed as a result of "Early Bird" and are turned into the council prior to the official start of the new membership year on October 1, 2013. As always, Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is committed to assisting girls and adults who want to participate in Girl Scouting and we will be granting financial assistance as needed.

Troop Pathway:

Are you looking for ideas of activities to do with your troop? Are you baffled by the Journey books or new badge requirements? Would you like to know how to hold an event in your area?

The National Program Portfolio (NPP) is the curriculum that we use in Girl Scouting. Look for NPP training coming in 2013 to your service unit or you can always contact Leadership and Learning Specialist-GSLE Karen Lawrence at klawrence@girlscoutsmoheartland.org or 877-312-4764 x1329 with questions. She also likes to hear activity and program ideas from you, so feel free to reach out just to share! 

Travel Pathway:

Chaperones Needed for DC Trip 

GSMH is excited to host a council-sponsored trip for girls to Washington, DC in July 2013. We are opening the travel application process for adult chaperones on this multi-day trip to all volunteers and exempt staff. At this time, we anticipate needing two adult chaperones, as well as one nurse (Level II First Aid or higher). This may change based on the final number of participants.

If you are interested in applying to be a chaperone, please complete the Trip/Event Application-Adults and return it to Anne Hyde at ahyde@girlscoutsmoheartland.org by January 30, 2013. Your skill set, background experience, and other qualifications will be considered during the chaperone selection process. Chaperones are expected to assist with the planning process, and will be responsible for ensuring that all girls have a safe and fun experience from departure to return.

Event Pathway:

Purplicious is Coming to a Location Near You 

One of our most popular programs for Girl Scout Daisies and Brownies last year was Pinkalicious, based on the popular book of the same name by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann. This year's sequel program, Purplicious, could be just as big!