School has started so that means Girl Scouts are meeting again. That means things are a little more hectic in Unorganized Territory
Being a Girl Scout leader is very rewarding. It was fun over the summer to see “my” Girl Scouts at various events. And it was delightful to welcome them back to our first meeting, to receive hug after hug from happy young ladies.
But it’s also a challenge getting back in the swing of weekly meetings, monthly leader meetings and planning activities for the various badges the girls need to earn.
At first just remembering the name of our region—Girl Scouts Minnesota -Wisconsin Lakes and Pines (GSMWLP)—was tough. Until the other leaders let me in on the secret mnemonic—Girl Scouts Must Wear Long Pants! It is so silly I’ll never forget it.
I do however, sometimes forget that we are supposed to have an activity for those very energetic young ladies on Thursday afternoons. More than once I’ve ended up frantically googling “Girl Scout activities” just hours before a meeting.
Being a leader forces me to be more organized. There is no one-size-fits-all curriculum for Girl Scouts. There are suggested activities for the assorted awards, but much of it is left to the leaders’ discretion.
For example, our fourth-grade Scouts are working on the Flower badge. The leader handbook gives some basic ideas—meet with a botanist, go on a field trip to identify wild flowers, or learn about how flowers are used in the perfume industry or healing arts.
Our fifth-grade Girl Scouts are working their way through the “Agents of Change” journey. It’s an empowering process that teaches the girls that one person can make a difference in the world and also teaches them the importance of working together. At the end of their journey they must work together on some sort of community service project. My co-leader/daughter-in-law Michele and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.
But there are no step-by-step directions for these things. Which is sometimes difficult, especially with the additional challenge of leading both fourth- and fifthgrade girls.
Michele is the leader for the fifth-graders and I’m her co-leader. I’m the leader for the fourth-graders and Michele is my co-leader. With different badges for the different ages, we try to plan ahead because it of course makes meetings go much smoother but sometimes we just can’t. Hence the googling of Girl Scout activities.
At a recent leader meeting, all of us burst out laughing when we heard that the instruction manual for new leaders states that a leader can expect to spend about four hours a month on Girl Scout duties. How do these super leaders get it all done in just four hours? How organized are these women, we wondered?
However, constant time crunch aside, being a Girl Scout leader is an awesome experience. The loose curriculum can be exasperating but it also gives us the flexibility to come up with interesting ways to fulfill badge requirements.
We’ve had some great adventures. While working on our Brownie “Water Journey” badges, we visited the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries building at Devil Track Lake, a field trip the girls loved. We also visited the Grand Marais Public Utilities wastewater treatment plant—something the girls did not enjoy as much.
While working on our Artist badge, we painted, painted and painted on all sorts of surfaces. We had a great afternoon with Hovland artist David Hahn. We created chalk art on the pavement and we hiked to the Grand Marais Art Colony to see the plein air exhibit.
As leaders we get to see “our” girls growing up before our eyes. To earn their Citizenship and Patriotism badges, we talked a lot about the history of our country and our flag. We wrote cards and sent them—along with Girl Scout cookies—to folks in the military with Cook County ties. And when each troop was in third grade, they took on the task of conducting the flag ceremony at Girl Scout events.
We’ve also had some hilarious moments. While preparing for Girl Scout Investiture, the ceremony that rededicates us all to the Girl Scout mission at the beginning of the year, Michele and I lectured the girls a bit about proper behavior at this event. Officials from Girl Scouts Minnesota -Wisconsin Lakes and Pines would be at the meeting, Michele told the girls. She cautioned them that they needed to behave in front of the “bigwigs” from Duluth.
The look on our Girl Scouts’ faces was priceless. Big wigs? We could see the question in their eyes—why do the Duluth women have weird hair? Just how big are these wigs?
It took a little while to explain the odd phrase and get our meeting back on track. And I think perhaps our girls were a little disappointed when the GSMWLP representatives showed up at Investiture with ordinarylooking hair.
It makes me smile every time I think of it. Just one of the many rewards of being a Girl Scout leader.
Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.
Warren Bennis
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