August 2016
Volunteer Spotlight ................1
Cheerleading Clinic...............2 Does a Mom Have a Girl Scout, Too ...............................2
Adult & Leader Highlights Green Grapevine ..................3 Adult Learning ........................4 Troop Camp Training............5 CEI is LIVE.................................5
Every month, we showcase a volunteer who exemplifies the Girl Scout mission and serves as a role model for other leaders.
We had a banner year for adult recognition nominations, resulting in an impressive 31% increase in National award recipients over last year (please note, Community and Family awards are not considered in this calculation).
Well done, Volunteers!
Membership Membership Update............6 Fall Membership Kick Off....6 Fall Product Sale....................7 Tax Free Shopping ................8 Back to Troop..........................8
55 19 12 2 158 3 77
TOTALS 326
Membership
Retail Store Closings ............8
2016 Award Totals
Appreciation Pin Honor Pin Thanks Badge Thanks Badge II Volunteer of Excellence Family Award Community Award
Adult & Leader Highlights
Volunteer Essentials ............4
Volunteer Spotlight
Programs at a Glance
Programs at a Glance
Spotlights
Spotlight
We’d love to hear what you’re doing with your girls! Send us an email or post on Facebook! Feel free to contact Rachel Goossens with comments, pictures or ideas at rgoossens@gssef.org. All of the Linking Leaders issues are archived on theTraining page for easy reference.
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Submit Troop or Volunteer News here!
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PROGRAM Girl Scout Cheerleading Clinic
GIRL SCOUT CLINIC VS. NEW DOLPHINS STADIUM - CHECK-IN: 2-2:30PM
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 | KICKOFF AT 6PM
Register today! You can also purchase additional game tickets to make it a family fun dayREGISTRATION at the NEW Dolphin DEADLINE: FRIDAY,Stadium! SEPT. 2 @ 5:00 P.M. Girl Scouts Clinic Fee $40 (200 Level) | $30 (300 Level) Includes: Registration closes on Friday, September 2 at 5:00 p.m. • Cheerleading clinic on sideline with the Hurricanes Cheerleaders and Sunsations • Hurricanes Girl Scouts Day Patch
For program questions, please contact Mackie Feierstein at– 200 mfeierstein@miami.edu. Additional tickets ($30 Level, $10 – 300 Level) and parking passes ($10) can be purchased along with the clinic package at: HURRICANESPORTS.COM/GIRLSCOUTS16 FOR TROOP REGISTRATION AND BLOCK SEATING PLEASE CONTACT THE HURRICANES SALES OFFICE AT 1-800-GO-CANES
Attention Daisies, Brownies and mommies too! Join us for this unique program and explore the world of camp through the books and artwork of Eric Carle. Throughout the day, enjoy activities inspired by the rich colors and exciting animals from six of the famous author’s books. Click here to get all the fun details. There are two locations and dates: September 17 from 10 a.m - 3 p.m. at Camp Nocatee or September 24 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Camp Welaka
For additional information or to register, visit www.gssef.org.
Membership
Registration cost is $30 per Girl and Mom (Couple) and $15 per additional Girl (up to two siblings.) Girls must be either a registered Girl Scout Daisy or Brownie. The program includes snack, patch and T-shirt. You’ll need to bring a bag lunch. Please note that the badge earned is sold separately at both of our retail stores.
Adult & Leader Highlights
Does a Mom Have a Girl Scout, too?
Programs at a Glance
Three cheers for this special pre-game Girl Scout Cheerleading Clinic with the Hurricanes Cheerleaders and Sunsations! The clinic is open to girls ages 5 – 17 and includes a Hurricanes Girl Scouts Day patch and (1) ticket for the Hurricanes v. FAU game for clinic participants. Click here for all the details.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email Meredith Slaymaker at mslaymaker@gssef.org. Questions? Contact Catalina Cano at ccano@gssef.org or Meredith Slaymaker at mslaymaker@gssef.org. Calendar
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Green Grapevine - CHARITY PARTICIPATION Dear Green Grapevine, My troop wants to participate in an upcoming charity 5K. I think it’s a healthy way to raise their awareness of the organization’s mission, and it’ll be fun! May we participate? SincerelySally Forth Great question, we love our girls to be civic minded, and to want to benefit their community. There are some parameters on their participation, and fortunately, both our Council Policies and Procedures and the Volunteer Essentials Manual provide guidance on this subject. According to Policy 5.7 Troop/Group Money Earning, girl members may not engage in any direct solicitation for money in an official Girl Scout capacity, including as a troop/group. Direct solicitation includes, but is not limited to, raising funds for other charities such as walk-a-thons benefiting non-profit organizations or the selling of third-party goods and services (e.g. PartyLite, AVON, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc.)
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Resource Documents 101 Volunteer Essentials is your encyclopedia for Girl Scouting. This document is produced by GSUSA with general information that covers a range of topics. It offers information about Girl Scouts as a movement and a tradition, asks volunteers to assess their skills and competencies, discusses the GSLE and journeys, highlights other program offerings, shares information about healthy development in girls, instructs volunteers in how to keep girls safe, gives information on taking trips and hosting events, and tells volunteers how to help girls manage group finances, including general details on Girl Scout Cookie sales. The manual is a reference tool. While you may not read it cover to cover, it may answer several questions you may encounter. You should save it to your computer or bookmark the page for quick and easy reference in the future.
Membership
Again, we want our girls to learn about their community and be active participants in making it a better place. Each situation is unique. Should you ever need help deciding what your group needs to do in order to participate in an activity while remaining compliant with our Policies, please let us know. The team is happy to assist in the interpretation of any our Policies. Please email Troop Support for assistance.
Adult & Leader Highlights
The Volunteer Essentials Manual provides insight on what the girls can do and how they may participate: Avoiding fundraising for other organizations: Girl Scouts are not allowed, when identifying ourselves as Girl Scouts (such as wearing a uniform, a sash or vest, official pins, and so on), to solicit money on behalf of another organization. This includes participating in a walkathon or telethon while in uniform. You and your group can, however, support another organization through take-action projects or by making a donation from your group’s account. And Girl Scouts as individuals are able to participate in whatever events they choose, as long as they’re not wearing anything that officially identifies them as “Girl Scouts.” (p. 84).
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As part of our responsibility, GSSEF implements and manages Volunteer Policies and Procedures. Teams of staff and volunteers regularly review the Volunteer Policies and Procedures in order to reflect changes in the State and Federal laws, adapt to the needs of volunteers, mitigate risk and be proactive in our effort to keep members safe. It is the responsibility of each volunteer to read and understand the GSSEF Volunteer Policies and Procedures. Volunteers are held responsible for compliance with the policies and procedures, so understanding this document is very important. Other important documents… The Safety Activity Checkpoints provide detailed safety information for a variety of activities. They provide specific information regarding extra chaperones and required certifications as well as general safety information to keep in mind. You should review these to ensure your girls are kept safe at all times. The Blue Book of Basic Documents is produced by GSUSA and contains the Constitution, Bylaws and Policies of Girl Scouts of the United States of America. This document also includes Credentials, Criteria and Standards for an Effective Girl Scout Council, and the Congressional Charter of Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
If you have questions about the documents, or how they work together, please email Troop Support.
Adult Learning Highlights
Adult & Leader Highlights
The most recent versions of all of these important documents can be found here. We will announce when important changes are made, but you should bookmark this page, or download the documents for quick reference.
Additional fall classes will be added throughout the month of August. Check the calendar frequently this month for new classes!
Take the first step in your leadership experience by getting informed of the policies and procedures of the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. Know the do’s and don’ts of GSSEF! Volunteer Essentials - Orientation training is a required for all new leaders and must be taken within 60 days. Classes are FREE, but pre-registration is required.
Membership
Volunteer Essentials Classes
Click on the links below to register: Calendar
September 12 at 7:00 p.m. Register Here! September 20 at 7:00 p.m. Register Here! September 28 at 7:00 p.m. Register Here!
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Troop Camp Training – Save the Date! Love camping? Want to go camping with your Troop? Then Troop Camp Training (TCT) is for you! Completion of Girl Scout TCT training is required by one adult volunteer in your Troop in order for your girls to go camping. Fire building, basic cooking, simple knot tying, safety issues and other necessary outdoor skills will be the focus. The next TCT will be at Camp Nocatee on October 15th. More information and registration information will be forthcoming.
We are LIVE! We’ve talked about! We’ve looked forward to it! Finally, CEI is here for all the volunteers in GSSEF! Our Council has now made the full transition to Volunteer Systems and can stand confidently with the many other councils across the country, and GSUSA, to offer everyone a faster, easier and intuitive online system that supports almost everything we do.
Troop Leaders can use the VTK to explore amazing tools designed to help you work with your girls, communicate with parents, stay extremely organized and plan the best membership year ever. While we are hopeful that those emails reached our entire membership, we realize that some of your emails could have been blocked by email providers, stuck in SPAM filters, or simply overlooked. If you cannot find this email, please contact us. Troop Leaders should contact our Troop Support Specialists. All other volunteers, registered adults and parents of Girl Scouts should contact our Customer Care Specialists to get access to the Member Profile.
We welcome and encourage every GSSEF member to visit www.gssef.org and get into MY GS today. This is the technology we’ve been waiting for and it’s spectacular! The GSSEF staff is here to support you as you explore these new options. Please don’t hesitate to contact troopsupport@gssef.org or customercare@gssef.org if you have any questions.
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Wait! There’s still more. The new Activities calendar will also provide a Waiting List option for those who want to be on “stand by” for a closed activity, and transactions (i.e. registrations) will auto-populate into the Troop’s existing Year Plan inside the VTK. This is just one example of the ways the system can save you time and let you save energy for what really matters most – your Girl Scouts!
Membership
What’s next? Oh, yes! There is more! On Monday, August 1, GSSEF is scheduled to launch the ACTIVITES platform on our website. This new link (which also appears on the navigational bar on our Council website www.gssef.org in place of PROGRAM/EVENTS) will soon have an interactive calendar that describes our Council’s Program Activities and Adult Learning sessions. Additionally, each individual link will take users through a seamless gateway to register and pay.
Adult & Leader Highlights
Emails were sent between July 18 and July 20 to every GSSEF adult member with a valid email address. The emails contained a link to create a username and password that will be used after clicking on the new MY GS link (appearing on the navigational bar on our Council website: www.gssef.org). MY GS serves as your “doorway” to both membership profiles and the Volunteer Tool Kit (VTK).
6,000
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Membership Update GSSEF’s girl membership goal for 2016 is 12,500, and the adult membership goal is 5,800. Over 10,728 girls and 5,083 adults have already registered for the 2016 Girl Scout year.
12,000 5,000 10,000
6,000 86% of 4,000
Fall Membership Kick-Off
4,000
8,000
2,000
Goal
3,000 88% of
Goal
2,000
Goal Goal Service Unit Leadership Teams are invited to this year’s 12,500 5,800 Membership Kick-Off event on Saturday, August 13 starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Oakland Park Service Center. Girl Adult Enjoy a continental breakfast as we share the Council’s Membership Membership 2016-17 membership initiatives. We will also share updates on the new technology offered with Volunteer Systems and the Volunteer Tool Kit. We’ll also take the time to celebrate some of this year’s biggest Service Unit success stories.
From 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., we will set the room with table-topic discussions so attendees can network with their volunteer-colleagues while enjoying a light lunch. In the afternoon, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., volunteers can sign up for small group sessions with topics designed for a wide range of Service Unit interests and plans. We’re planning sessions on Camporee/In-gathering Planning, Leading a Journey, Registrar Training, Intro to the VTK and Service Unit Program Planning Tips-Tricks-&Ideas. Check your email for the “Punchbowl” email invitation and RSVP to this event! For more information, contact Rhonda Netzel at rnetzel@gssef.org. Membership Calendar
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Why Participate in the Fall Product Sale Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida 2016 Fall Product Program begins October 1. It is intended to reach family, friends, teachers and neighbors, and will help troops earn money to fund troop programs and activities throughout the year. Girls can also earn brilliant rewards. The Council’s Fall Product Sale Program helps girls develop five key leadership skills: goal-setting, decision making, people skills, money management and business ethics. Why participate? o Troops earn early start-up funds. o Girls earn individual recognitions. o The funds help our council sustain and expand our programs for girls and volunteers! o Online option makes it so easy for girls to sell. How much a troop could make? Troops earn: • $1.00 for every Nut/Candy item sold • $7.00 for every “Save Around” coupon book sold • 12% of the Magazine Subscription sale price • $2.00 per completed Address Book
Also, troops participating in the 2016 Fall Product Sale will receive $.04 more for EVERY box of cookies sold during the 2017 Cookie Sale.
Membership
For example: If a troop of ten girls participate and each girl sold 5 Magazine Subscriptions, 24 Nut/Candy Items and 2 “Enjoy the City” Coupon Books, the troop would receive $500 in proceeds.
For additional information, visit www.gssef.org.
Calendar
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Retail Stores Upcoming Retail Store Closings Closed July 27 and 28 – Inventory
Tax Free Shopping
Take advantage of the 2016 Tax Free Shopping Weekend and stop by one of our Retail Stores on Saturday August 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Did you know that Girl Scout uniforms (apparel items only) are included? That means you can save on those items that never go on sale! Plus grab a grade-level polo, a cute bag or even a shirt for you. And don’t forget beanies, scarves, wallets and pens/pencils are included too. They’re all tax-free!
Back to School Means Back to Troop It’s that time of year when office supply stores are full of parents and students buying notebooks, pens and crayons to prepare them for a new school year. Don’t forget that besides new school supplies, you’ll also need all your Girl Scout gear because your next Girl Scout adventure is ready and waiting for you. To help you get started, the GSSEF Retail Stores are running a Back to Troop promotion. From August 17 through October 15, 2016, spend $75 or more and receive a $10 coupon to spend on a $25 or more purchase from November 1 to November 18*. The $75 purchase can be made in store or online and must be made in one transaction.
Missed Us? No worries, you can shop online 24/7! Visit www.gssef.org.
while supplies last
… every girl deserves her own shop anytime at www.girlscoutshop.com
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A great item to add to your shopping list is a Starter Kit or Essentials Kit that has everything you need to get your Girl Scout year started right. And it includes a super cute drawstring bag while supplies last.
Membership
*NOTE: The $10 coupons given out at stores can only be used at the store that issues the coupon. $10 coupon codes that are sent to customers who shop online can only be redeemed online at www.girlscoutshop.com. Customers cannot use instore coupons online and online coupon codes cannot be used at the GSSEF council stores.
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Labor Day
Have a Girl Scout Too? at Camp Nocatee
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Have a Girl Scout Too? at Camp Welaka