a *great* Brownie leader vs. a *great* Junior leader

[AnneinMpls]

Hi folks!

I've been wondering over this one. I think if we really looked at it carefully, most of us would agree we're better-suited to the needs and interests of a particular level in Girl Scouting. Instead, we hang in there with the same bunch of girls, usually our daughter and a few friends. This bothers me - it limits the opportunities for new girls to join, and the opportunities for our daughters to meet a range of caring adult role models.

I just heard last night at our Council's Fall Preview, that this trend of tiny troops and more troops is really really expensive. Honestly, to do a better job, we should be seeking bigger troops and supporting them adequately. Probably half our leaders would be much more effective as a co-leader, or troop committee chair, or serving at the Service Unit level.

I really wish we'd make our recruiting efforts for volunteers more focused...

So, if you were recruiting a *great* Brownie leader, what would you look for? If you were recruiting a *great* Junior leader, what would you look for? How bout a Studio2B advisor, or Cadette or Senior leader? What if you had an awesome lady in front of you saying she really wanted to help out and give some time to Girl Scouting...how would you help her discover a good fit?

And *why* why why do we only approach our already-busy troop leaders for Service Unit or Council positions? Why??!

[ScoutNut]

Personaly, I've been a co-leader for my dd's troop for going on 12 years now & I have loved every minute of it. I have seen my girls grow up and shared some great times with them.

 

You want our recruiting efforts more focused. Are you prepared to tell your dd or any other girl that they will not have a troop this year because council/SU has decided that you should not lead their level? In our SU we would throw a party if we could get enough people to volunteer for ANY level! We have girls on waiting lists for a troop in my council because they can't find an adult who will volunteer to lead.

 

I will worry about what level leaders funtion best at when we have at LEAST enough leaders to go around!

 

BTW - My Co & I have never limited the opportunity of ANY girl to join our troop. Also, between school, work, scouts, and silver, gold and religious awards our girls are not lacking in adult interaction!

[KoreaScouter]

I won't presume to list the attributes of great Scouting leaders, 'cuz I'll likely leave at least one out. I think that an important one, though, is flexibility -- particularly if you have a volunteer leader who's "growing up" in the program along with his/her child.

 

The amount of adult decision-making and parent interaction at the Daisy/Tiger, Brownie/Cub, Junior/Webelos, and Cadet-Senior/Boy Scout levels are radically different. Or, at least they should be. I've seen growing pains involving Cub leaders who move to Boy Scouting with their son, yet still want to operate as if they're in Cub Scouting -- incompatible.

 

If you can get the leaders to shift their paradigms as they move through the program levels, that's a significant accomplishment.

 

KS

[MomScouter]

I agree with Scoutnut...my daughter is going into 5th grade and I have had some of the girls in my troop since 1st grade, and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching my girls grow and moving along with them. Yes it requires a lot of flexibility and relinquishing a lot more control to the girls, but to me this is great! So far I think I have adapted to the changes quite well.

 

In our Service Unit we are always seeking more leaders at all levels, also have girls on waiting lists, and as SU leader I do not have the luxury of such an abundance of help that I can tell an adult they are better suited to a level different than what their daughter is in. As for the Service Unit, we are fortunate to have a SU cookie manager and SU registrar, but the rest of the stuff is done by us leaders (and sometimes it is hard to get them to come to the SU meetings!). One resource we really appreciate is the older girls...our Cadettes/Seniors have helped out at all levels and put together events for the younger ones.