GSSA Leader Blog: The Virtual Volunteer

Each year we have a program where a cadre of girls apply and serve as press representatives for the council.   These girls, representing all age levels, are asked to comment (time permitting)) about their Girl Scout experiences prior to the media approaching us.   During fall product sales and the cookie program, we ask them to represent all the girls of GSSA to speak on their behalf.   The story is always better when a girl or Volunteer tells it.

We work with these girls and do training activities, including role-playing in front of a camera and interview skills.   We also ask them to write and blog about their Girl Scout experiences.   Being a press rep covers all types of media, so girls have an opportunity to decide if this is a potential career that interests them.

I have been around this program since I arrived.   It is a great opportunity for girls to share their experiences.  I have worked with girls who were quiet and reticent, who came to life in front of a television camera.   I've also seen some of our more boisterous girls turn shy once the camera turned on, and I've seen everything in between.  It is important for girls to find their voice, and this program is an ideal opportunity!

Meet some of the girls (and a Troop Leader) who are press reps:

Mackie and Lane, Troop 8241

Angel, Troop 8605

Erin, Troop 8309

Tori, Troop 8215

Julianna and Tamatha, 9195
Tammy Ortega, Troop 9195 Leader

Cheyenne and Aliyah, Troop 9041

Mary Virginia, Troop 9134

Gabriella, Troop 8645

Claire, Troop 9327

Kyndall and Tayler, Troop 9241

Welcome!

I sat in my outdoor office today, listening to the sights and sounds of summer -- sounds I have come to enjoy each day.   It has been wonderful hearing the girls sing, learning complex songs with hand gestures, listening to the squealing of the girls riding the banana boat on Lake Martin, while still others hone their canoe skills.   But summer is now at the half waypoint, with school looming in the not too distant future.

As we work to edit the fall product guide and meet with our representative from the cookie baker, it is time to turn our attention to the coming school year.   We will have some challenges and changes with our fall recruitment, with staff out on maternity leave and others new to their positions.   If you hear or see opportunities where we can find adult leadership for new troops, please let us know.  You can contact the membership department at membership@girlscoutssa.org.   We work to hit the largest schools first and systematically work our way through the different areas, mostly by size and presence of troops in the past.

The best recruiters for members are the girls themselves.   We learned this at the university where I worked previously; our best recruiters were our own students.   Our best recruiters of other adults are current happy volunteers, who know from their experience they educate leaders and that passion and enthusiasm can be contagious.   If you know of someone that has an interest in Girl Scouts, please encourage him or her to contact us.   We always have girls who desire placement in troops, but we never have enough adults willing to take on the challenge of leading one.   It is heartbreaking to look at the number of girls who cannot be placed in troops each year.

We have great programs, activities and opportunities in progress for the fall.   If you have not already sent in your membership registration, get a jump start on the school year; visit our Renew Your Membership page on our website for electronic forms.

As summer starts to heat up and move toward fall, we look forward to another fun year to come.

One of the great things about what I do is getting to know some of the girls we have the privilege of serving.   Spending the summer at camp has provided me with a good opportunity to meet some of the great staff we have.   I spent 30 years working with college students at a university, so I was delighted to spend some time with the summer camp staff during their training.   Since then, I've been watching them interact with the campers, which is a beautiful thing.

Many of these girls have gone to camp in our council and are the product of your hard work and efforts.    They are leaders.   I see them teach, counsel, correct, nurture and work with their charges.   The girls, in return, follow them around, look up to them, and find role models to emulate.   It's something I wish you could all witness, because it proves the power of what a girl can do.   And the time you invested in these girls proves it was time well spent.

These girls laugh, sing, hike, swim, paddle, and eat with our camper girls.   And I can assure you they sweat with these girls.   Last week, I was sitting down from the rec hall at Scoutshire, trying to get some work done and someone I was with noticed there was a black snake at the steps of the building.   We checked it out, and decided it was a rat snake or maybe a black racer.   There was a group of Brownies just coming out of the water from boating, so we asked them if they wanted to see the snake.   They all said they did, so we let them walk where they could see it, but not too close.   No one shrieked, ran, or did anything that indicated they were afraid of it.   The whole interaction with the counselors, the girls, and watching the snake was amazing.   Girls in the woods who go to camp tend to appreciate the beauty of the nature that surrounds them, soaking in all that the great outdoors has to offer.

From Scoutshire Woods...My office today overlooks Echo Lake, where one unit is kayaking, another is serenading me with camp songs from the rec hall, and yet another is out on the dock in the middle of the lake diving in.   What could be better?   The birds are singing; there's a bullfrog croaking in the frog pond; the occasional cricket frog tunes up; and there's a stunning monarch butterfly flitting near me.

This is the first time since I've been here that I felt that I could afford the time to be up here to enjoy summer camp. What a mistake.   I come up during breakfast, check on the girls and the staff, then come to my office on the edge of Echo Lake and turn on my laptop.   This is absolutely the best part of what I do -- listen to girls giggle as they fall from stand up paddle boards, probably intentionally, swim from the dock in the middle of the lake to the swim dock for the first time, or work on camp songs that they will remember for a lifetime.

This week of camp has been a great one.   Of the more the 80 girls here, I have seen only one who has a serious attitude problem.   She doesn't want to do anything.   She announced to the staff the first day she planned on not having a good time.   I'm sure if you plan not to have a good time, you won't.   The rest of the girls watched for the first half day, and then proceeded to go about trying everything camp has to offer.  

Some days it is hysterical to watch.   They are becoming more adept at actually sweeping the dining hall after they eat (rather than simply pushing the dust around!).   Many have tried the stand-up paddleboards, and their performance is pretty impressive.   Some who started afraid of the water can now put their face underwater, and some can swim. What a wonderful thing. The sound of giggling comes from all parts of camp.

I'm very pleased with the day camp option.   This week we have only had one girl, but she arrives early and tries to be away from her drivers at the end of the day so she won't have to leave.   That is a victory. We had hoped to attract some of those girls for resident camp to have the full experience.

Hopefully you and your daughter are having a great summer!

This past week I experienced the power of the Girl Scout program.   I had the privilege of working with the Camp Sunshine staff and watching the girls of Camp Sunshine learn, grow, and prosper because of their efforts. 

Laurie Weil and Kathy Sawyer founded Camp Sunshine more than 25 years ago in Montgomery.   Its mission is to provide an OPPORTUNITY for girls to experience the power of a wonderful summer camp.   These girls have the same dreams, hopes, and desires that all girls possess.   But many don't have the opportunity to visit the Alabama Shakespeare Festival or the Montgomery Museum of Art.   They certainly don't spend their summer time shooting off bottle rockets or learning to play tennis.   What fun they had trying new things!  They even learned about bullying through modern interpretive dance.

Girls from Camp Sunshine spend the night at Kamp Kiwanis each year.   Some have never been to the woods; others have never been swimming in a lake.   They ride the zip lines, spend the night in a tent, and ride on the pontoon boat.   This part of their experience really moves them from their comfort zone.   Many of these girls, sadly, live in areas where playing outdoors are dangerous.   So the opportunity to experience the woods and all the outdoors has to offer is a wonderful gift for summer.

Camp Sunshine has provided these opportunities, and more, for thousands of girls in the Montgomery area for over 25 years.   It continues to be a resource for the girls of the Montgomery community.   More importantly, the volunteers who generously give of their time have given girls the courage, confidence, and character to make their world a better place.

Thanks to Laurie Weil and Kathy Sawyer for their unflagging generosity for so long; they have changed the world.

I hope you have some fun in the sun and outdoors planned. I certainly do!  I think it will be a great summer.

We are moving forward on the work at Camp Sid Edmonds.   The funds from the timber sale will address the budget shortfall from a lower than anticipated cookie sale.   It is a combination of the sale of the larger timber on the outer part of the camp and a thinning for the interior of the camp.   This should create more trails through the woods for people and animals.

We are working to finish the sail loft at Kamp Kiwanis.   The winter was cruel with water line breaks at every camp property at some point, so the forward movement was curtailed with maintenance issues.   We had someone in the northern part of the state contact us to give us yet another large sailboat.   We are fortunate to have such generous individuals.   At this point, I'm considering bringing at least one of the larger sailboats down to the Mobile area so the mariners can hone their sailing skills on the bay.

We have had Kohls and Target staff work on our properties to clean them up for us.   With 36 buildings and 36 bathhouses, the wind and weather take their toll.   We also have alumnae who are scheduled to assist us in getting Kamp Kiwanis ready for resident camp, which is also a gift.

Hopefully, time with your girls and family are a central part of your summer plans.

I've had the opportunity to attend some graduation activities of our graduating Girl Scouts.   What a treat!   Every graduate is an accomplished individual beyond their activities in Girl Scouts, and we wish them the best in the next part of their Journey through life.

For many of you, this is the time of year when you are trying to adjust to a somewhat different schedule.   Hopefully, lots more outdoor activities, trying new things, and some leisure time that you just don't have the opportunity for during the school year.

I know many of you suspend troop meetings during the summer so you don't have to hassle with coordinating vacation schedules, people moving in different directions, and summer fun.    I want to thank you for all you do for girls.    This has been a good year in many ways and one that has held its challenges.   I'm sure you can resonate with that.    We cannot do this work without you.   I know there are days when it is frustrating, but I hope the moments with the girls when they gain an insight makes all that worthwhile.

We have had service units give scholarships to their graduates recently.   We had another troop that is graduating give their remaining troop funds to fund a camp scholarship in honor one of their deceased troop members.   I hear about great summer events that troops are doing some exciting events with their troop proceeds.  

I reached an age milestone recently with my birthday, and it is closer to retirement than it is my youth at this point.   I still look back on my Girl Scout experiences with fondness and pleasure.   I remember the women who were part of that experience -- the leaders who taught life skills I still use today.   They were role models.   I hope you know you serve that role to the girls you work with.   Every day I hear examples of great leadership on your part.   Those might seem insignificant, but never underestimate what small thing will change a girl's life and be that one moment that makes a difference in her life.

Thank you for your hours of work, patience, planning, and contribution to make the world a better place.    You are special! I'm hoping it is a great summer.

This week and next week as I drive to and from work I'll play Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches.   It is a time of exhilaration and tears.   Commencement's definition, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is "a time when something begins."   I realize we sometimes see this as an ending, when, in fact, it is the beginning.

On behalf of all of GSSA's staff, I would like to congratulate the class of 2014.   What an accomplished group of girls, soon to be young women that we have had amongst us.   I have had the privilege of attending ceremonies where these girls have been honored.   They will change the world, and they have learned how to do this through Girl Scouts.   They are headed in many different directions, but all are aimed at making a difference in the lives of others.

Hopefully, this transition to the next phase of life, the new beginning, will continue to include involvement in Girl Scouts.   We work with many collegiate women through programs facilitated partnership with us, especially those involved in the Kappa Delta Sorority, but we are not limited to that partnership.  If your Girl Scout experience has been a good one, consider remaining involved, even if it is the occasional assistance to a troop where you are living.   Many of you might remember how great you thought college girls were; remember that now you are, too, for younger girls.

Also a reminder, there is a large discount when you become a lifetime member of Girl Scouts upon graduation from high school.   I urge you to consider taking advantage of that.

On behalf of the more than 10,000 girls and volunteers involved in GSSA, we wish you every success in your future endeavors.   You will have times of frustration and times of great joy in your journey ahead, but we know you will do well because of the life skills you have developed through your many experiences and the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.