issue 8
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| the latest Girl Scout news for GSMH volunteers | november 15, 2011 |
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THE SCOOP |
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A Record Year for Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland As we begin a new membership year, Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is buoyed by two exciting accomplishments that came at the end of the 2010-2011 year. In September 2011, GSMH was awarded a three-year charter by the Girl Scouts of the USA national board of directors. In addition, GSMH was one of only eight Girl Scout councils in the country that experienced double-digit growth in its girl membership numbers in 2011-2012. Out of 112 councils in the country, GSMH ranked third, with nearly 18% growth in girl members and 1.4% increase in adult members. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped recruit, serve, and support our girls last year! We look forward to continued success together as we approach Girl Scouts' historical 100th year!
Recognizing Outstanding Adults Do you know an outstanding adult in Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland who has gone above and beyond expectations, and had a definite impact on service unit(s) and/or council? Nominate them for a council award! Candidates will be recognized at the 100th Anniversary Celebration and GSMH Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 31, 2012, to which all volunteers are invited. Submit completed forms to the Senior Manager for Volunteer Development, either:
The nominating individual will be notified whether the candidate was approved by February 1, 2012. In mid-February, approved candidates will receive a special invitation to attend (with one guest) the 100th Anniversary Celebration and GSMH Annual Meeting to be held on March 31, 2012. They will not, however, be notified of the specific recognition with which they will be honored. For more information, descriptions of the possible recognition categories, and nomination forms and endorsement forms, visit the GSMH Recognitions page:
Joplin Satellite Office Opening Soon We are very excited to announce that the Joplin Satellite Office will be open for business starting Friday, December 9! The Joplin Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting ceremony which will take place at 10:00 am that morning. Additionally, on Saturday, December 10 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm, we will be conducting an open house for volunteers, girls and community members to come see the building, take advantage of shop specials, and enjoy refreshments. Everyone is invited to attend both events. Hope to see you there!
Property Committee Update
The GSMH Property Committee met on October 15 to continue its work of developing a long range property plan for the council. This plan will include recommendations for both the council service centers and program properties. The committee approved a project plan and timeline for its work, which is available here: http://blog.girlscoutsmoheartland.org/2011/10/27/a-long-range-property-plan/. The plan will result in a property recommendation being submitted to the council Board of Directors in September 2012. The Property Committee will be using three sub-groups to conduct research and make recommendations to the committee for the overall long range property plan. The three sub-groups are made up of volunteers and staff members and are: program, marketing and property. The sub-group chairs are recruiting a limited number of volunteers for their groups. If you are interested in volunteering on a sub-group, please contact Anne Soots, COO, at asoots@girlscoutsmoheartland.org.
New Online Training Available! Girl Scouting 101 Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is happy to announce a new training opportunity available online. Girl Scouting 101 is a 45-minute, self-paced online orientation to Girl Scouting. This training should be utilized by new Girl Scout volunteers/leaders or returning volunteers/leaders who want to brush up on areas of interest. Just visit the website training.girlscouts.org and click on Girl Scouting 101. The password for this training is aboutGS101. You will be prompted to enter your contact information along with selecting our council name, Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland. Your information will be sent to us so we will know you have completed the course. Girl Scouting 101 will cover Girl Scout basics, Girl Scout Safety, the National Program Portfolio, the Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting and much more. Girl Scouting 101 training is replacing Orientation Part 1 and the Leadership Essentials Trainings since all components are now included in the Girl Scouting 101. Coming soon, look for information regarding a DVD version of this training for those without internet access.
Ceremony Kits Available for Check-Out
New this year! Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is offering Ceremony Training Check-Out Kits, which can be checked out for up to two weeks at a time. You can contact your local service center for availability:
AT&T Announces Special Matching Gifts Initiative AT&T has announced a special matching gifts initiative just for AT&T employees. If employees make a gift to a local Girl Scout council or to GSUSA between now and Dec. 31, 2011, AT&T will match their gifts dollar for dollar up to $500,000. Employee gifts made to Girl Scouts through the 2012 United Way/Employee Giving campaign will also be matched. If you are an AT&T employee, or know one, please check with the company on how to participate.
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Girl Scouts Forever Green 100th Anniversary
Join a nationwide effort to protect our environment! All Girl Scouts are encouraged to participate in a Girl Scouts Forever Green Take Action project:
For more information about these initiatives, please visit www.girlscouts.org/gsforevergreen, where you can also take a Girl Scouts Forever Green Pledge. Troops or individual girls can "Register and Share" the results of their efforts, which will be tallied as part of the nationwide action! Participation patches will be sold at all GSMH retail shops.
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Troop 70291 from Jefferson City (Green Berry Acres) Troop 30435 from Columbia (Silver Meadows) Because these troops left a program center better than they found it, they will receive a voucher for a free overnight stay at any council Program Center.
Program Center Winter Closings
The following Program Centers will be closed for the winter and will reopen in the spring.
The following Program Centers will have limited availability:
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Save the Date! SU Cookie Manager Training Dates
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Join the Fun! 2012 Basket Auction All service units are invited to put together a "basket" of items for a silent auction to be held on March 31, 2012 as part of our 100th Anniversary Celebration. All funds raised from the auction will be used to support the financial assistance program in Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland. To ensure variety for our bidders, basket ideas must be submitted to the resource development department by January 31, 2012. More details are available here: Basket Auction 2012 Flyer.
100th Anniversary History Exhibits - As part of the year-long celebration of Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary, GSMH is developing exhibits throughout the council area that will focus on the history of Girl Scouts in our regions. The dates and locations for these exhibits vary widely and last through much of 2012. In order to make these exhibits happen, the council is seeking loaner Girl Scout memorabilia -- such as uniforms and badges, books and materials, photos and stories -- primarily from the council area. This is also a perfect opportunity for a troop near an exhibit location to take on the planning and building of an exhibit as a project (in conjunction and with the assistance of the council and the exhibit's host)! Some of the currently planned history exhibits we have scheduled include:
We will be updating this list in future Volunteer Connections as more hosts are confirmed. If your troop would be interested in adopting one of these exhibits, or if you have loaner items that you feel would be a valuable addition to any of our exhibits, or you would like more information, please contact Joan Gibson at 877-312-4764 x1118 or jgibson@girlscoutsmoheartland.org.
Let's Celebrate!
Don't miss our 100th Anniversary Celebration on March 31, 2012! It starts with a 5K race in the morning, followed by our annual meeting and a Believe in Girls Expo featuring 29,000 square feet of fun activities, great entertainment, a Girl Scout Shop and much more! The fun will continue into the night, with an alumnae gathering for adults, a One Hundred FUN Hundred party for younger girls (Daises - Juniors), and a 100 Years of Dreams Dance Party for older girls (Cadettes - Ambasasdors). All events will be held in Springfield; lodging discounts will be available for Girl Scout members.
Please note that times and prices are tentative. Look for more details on our website soon: www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org/100th.
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Media Journey - Angi Frizell
Girl Scout Cadette Troop 10412 recently worked on the MEdia journey from the It's Your Story – Tell It! series. They spent time looking at media ads and influence, and thinking critically about how to influence media and cultivate positive change. One activity that really challenged them to learn new skills and grow their confidence was writing and recording their own public service announcement, where they focused on breast cancer awareness.
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Leadership Program Specialists: Southwest Region Each year, Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland offers hundreds of fun program events that girls can attend to learn new skills, explore interests, and broaden their leadership skills. It is our leadership program specialists (LPSs) who plan and implement those programs for girls. "Our goal is to make sure each program we are part of lives up to the girls' expectations," says Lori Enyart. The LPSs are busy in the fall and spring, because the nice weather is more conducive to holding programs. That's not to say they aren't busy year-round! The LPSs also help deliver the Girl Scout Leadership Experience through the camp and travel pathways. This summer, they each spent time at summer camp, facilitating programs in feature areas such as ropes, astronomy, and robotics. Deborah will be taking a group of girls to the Girl Scout Leadership Institute and National Convention in Houston, TX this month; Lori and Stefanie are taking a group of girls to Europe in summer 2012. Those travel experiences are, for some girls, first-in-a-lifetime. "One of my best memories will always be taking girls to the 2008 National Girl Scout Convention in Indianapolis," says Stefanie McCall, "Several of the girls had never been to a big city before . . . Twenty years from now they might not remember me, but they will always remember that experience."
L to R: Deborah Oglesby, Stefanie McCall, Lori Enyart
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Holiday Open House Come to our Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 3 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in all GSMH shop locations (except for Joplin, which will have a grand opening event on December 10th)! Check out our new holiday and 100th Anniversary merchandise. Refreshments will be served. Selected merchandise will be 25% off (varies by location), and we'll have drawings for great prizes!
Discontinued Badges Update If you are still looking for the discontinued Brownie Try-Its, Junior badges and Interest Project patches, our inventory is now limited. All remaining stock has been transferred to our Springfield location. You can check to see what is still available by going to www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org and clicking the on-line shop or by calling the Springfield shop (ext. 1120). If the Springfield location doesn't have what you are looking for, we will no longer be ordering the discontinued items.
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TO DO THIS MONTH
VOLUNTEER WEB PORTAL Do you need something from the Volunteer Resources CD? A product program order form? The tax exempt certificate? Get what you need from the Volunteer Web Portal. Access it from the council Web site, or the link above, and use the following username & password for the 2011-2012 year:
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GSMH SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest changes and information, read our blog for news and stories from around the council, and see great Girl Scouts-related videos on YouTube .
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NOVEMBER & DECEMBER HOURS Service Centers & Retail Shops Holiday Open House! All Service Centers/Shops Closed:
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© 2011, Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland. All Rights Reserved
Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland, Inc.
877-312-4764
gscouts@girlscoutsmoheartland.org
www.girlscoutsmoheartland.org