Happy Volunteer Appreciation Month!
We are thankful for all the ways our volunteers make Girl Scouting work. Whether you are a trainer, event planner, troop treasurer, transportation helper, service unit manager, first aider, camp/outdoor coordinator, or a troop leader – your service to girls will have a lasting impact on their lives. Serving as their role model is courageous. As they watch you in action they develop courage, confidence, and character to be leaders in their communities and their own lives. We appreciate and rely on your willingness to: try new things, develop new, and expand your current skills, share your knowledge, and, open your heart to others to help us develop the next generation of woman leaders.
Thank you for all that you do! We could not provide the best leadership experience for girls without you. We ask that you please take a moment to go to MYGS and renew your membership – our girls are depending on you.
Spring Renewal Begins May 1!
Below, please find the important Spring Renewal (formerly Early Bird) dates and incentives offered during this campaign. In addition to the information below, we are inviting Troop Leaders and Parents to participate in webinars to discuss the importance of Spring Renewal.
Please register in advance for the webinars by clicking on the appropriate links
Spring Renewal Dates and Details:
Troop Financial Reporting in the VTK
With the kickoff of Spring Renewal, the Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) Finance tab will be opening for leaders and troop treasurers on May 1. Troop treasurers need to have a valid background check and membership and will need to email membercare@gscm.org to gain access to VTK.
Adult Training Opportunities
Adult Learning Roundup
Join us May 18 at Camp Conowingo for our Spring Adult Learning Roundup! See class schedule below:
To register, click here and search for the classes you are interested in attending.
Just Added! — Basic Troop Camping
This adult training is required when using an open fire for cooking and/or when planning to troop/group camp with girls at GSCM or non-GSCM sites with established restrooms and sleeping facilities such as cabins, screened in shelters, and platform tents/yurts. This course will demonstrate how to prepare girls for camping in the outdoors.
This is a two-part course. Part one is on June 6, 2019, at the Seton Office and the second part is a MANDATORY OVERNIGHT on June 22-23 at Camp Woodlands.
Pre-requisite for this course – Outdoor 101, Introduction to the Out of Doors.
Click here to register.
Volunteers are needed for the Cookie Kickoff!
The volunteer Cookie Kickoff Sub-Committee is looking for Cadette, Senior and Ambassador teen troops or teens to help during the Cookie Kickoff on Saturday, September 21, 2019, at GSCM, 4608 Seton Drive Baltimore, MD 21215.
We are seeking Cadette, Senior, Ambassador volunteers and/or troops to help run girl activities. If your teen troop or Girl Scout would like to earn the Service to Girl Scouting bar for their hard work at the rally, please contact Pat Heinrichs (dpheinr@gmail.com) The service to scouting pin requires 20 volunteer hours. I will meet with your girls to guide them along this process.
Below is a sample of activities for Service to Girl Scouting bar available at the Cookie Kickoff. We are seeking troops, groups or individuals to run activities:
- Creative Marketing
- Cookie Booth Etiquette
- Goal Setting: Activity on troop goal/individual goal/cookie share goal
- Cookie knowledge games
- Learn about your cookies: Box information, serving sizes, ingredients, etc.
- Developing a business plan
- Developing a budget
- Mock Booth sales/ Mock Door- to – Door sales/ Mock Phone sales
- Living the Promise and Law during Girl Scout Cookie Sales (business ethics)
- Marketing skills
- Thank You cards craft
- Other activities (to be determined)
Cookies for Good: Are your Girl Scouts doing a Silver or Gold project? We would love to see you display your project and have information and/or an activity for girls to complete at the Cookie Kickoff.
National Girl Scout Bridging Week: May 4 – May 11, 2019
Your Girl Scout troop/group may be already thinking ahead to bridging activities for girls who are preparing to move from one program level to the next. This a great time to encourage your girls to think about what they have done this membership year, the new skills they have learned, the experiences they have had and how that has prepared them for their next level of Girl Scouts.
Troop leaders can find bridging activities and award information in the Volunteer Tool Kit (VTK). In reviewing the activities, notice that girls at each grade level are “passing on” favorite experiences to girls at the younger level and enjoy “looking ahead” with girls at the level above them. It is in this way that girls can literally help each other up the ladder of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
During National Girl Scout Bridging Week we’d like to share photos of your bridging ceremonies—past and present. Please send your photos to communications@gscm.org to help us celebrate National Bridging Week.
Decode the Cyber Mystery!
April 27, 2019, from 10:00am to 1:30pm at the Odenton Regional Library
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland has been selected to pilot a Cyber Challenge program for middle and high school girls sponsored by Raytheon. Troops are invited to participate and begin preparing for the Cyber Challenge by attending the Decode the Cyber Mystery Kick-Off at the Odenton Regional Library. The Cyber Kick-Off will give girls a taste of what’s to come at the national Cyber Challenge in October 2019. Activities include learning how robots can be hacked, deciphering codes, and detecting phishing emails. In the months leading up to the Cyber Challenge, troops will earn the Think Like a Programmer Journey and the new Cyber Security Badges that will be released in July! For more information contact STEM@gscm.org.
Click here to register.
Throughout April, Girl Scout lifetime membership will be available at a special 50% discount—— from $400 down to $200—— for volunteers who have served for ten years or more.
Lifetime membership is an investment that ensures girls have a place to reach their full potential and grow into the courageous leaders we need—— now and always. When you upgrade to lifetime membership through MYGS in April, you can expect:
- Continuous membership in Girl Scouts
- $25 of your dues to fund one year of Girl Scout membership for an underserved girl in your council
- A lifetime membership card and pin
- 10% off Girl Scout merchandise purchased from girlscoutshop.com
- An invitation to join an annual call hosted by GSUSA’s CEO
- A monthly e-newsletter
Thank you for your years of service and all you’ve done to help create the next generation of female leaders. We couldn’t do it without you!
Archives Committee Corner
Did You Know? Girl Scouts has a long history of providing girls and volunteers with membership cards. Girls would keep their membership card with them to show others that they were a part of a prestigious organization and used them when making uniform purchases. When Girl Scouts first started in the United States members would carry cards that stated what troop, patrol, city, and state they belonged to along with when they reached different levels in Girl Scouts. Membership cards were also a way to keep track of when a girl’s yearly membership was up so they could re-register, as it was based on when a girl first joined Girl Scouts. A girl who registered in April would re-register the following year in April. As membership in Girl Scouting grew in numbers it became more and more difficult to keep track of who needed to register and when. Therefore, it was decided that the membership year would start on October 1st for all Girl Scouts across the nation, which makes it easier to keep track of the millions girls and volunteers registering every year.
Congratulations to the 2019 Class of Gold Award Girl Scouts!
On March 17, 59 local Girl Scouts were recognized for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. The girls received several acknowledgments including Governor Hogan, both Maryland US Senators, the FBI, the US Mint, the Jimmy Carter Foundation and the Baltimore Ravens. Click here for a full list of recipients and descriptions of their projects.
News from Juliette’s Closet
Graduation Regalia
Congratulations, graduate! Girl Scouts now has tassels, cords, and stoles available to help you show off your Highest Award accomplishments during graduation. Visit both store locations or click here to shop online.
Bridging Kits Are Here!
Bridging kits are available in store for purchase. All kits include a bridging certificate, bridging award, membership star, and disk. With the kit, you will also get the exclusive bridging pencil and patch. Bridge to Junior and Bridge to Cadette include Brownie wings. Stop by to get yours.
Volunteer Appreciation
Volunteering is a work of heart! Come to our store and find great gift items to show your appreciation to the dedicated volunteers working with your girl’s troop, Silver and Gold Award projects or community service efforts. For the month of April, you can get one GSCM license frame and get the other free.
Spring store hours start April 15th
Juliette’s Closet
Monday 9am to 5pm
Tuesday 10am to 7pm
Wednesday 9am to 5pm
Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 3pm
Sunday closed
Clementine’s Corner
Monday 9am to 5pm
Tuesday 9am to 5pm
Wednesday 10am to 7pm
Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 3pm
Sunday closed
Also, please note:
For the second week of May, retail staff will be attending a conference so we have made a special schedule that week:
- May 7th Tuesday Seton 9am to 5pm
- May 8th Wednesday Ilchester 9am to 5pm
The rest of the schedule remains the same.
Both Juliette’s Closet and Clementine’s Corner will be closed on May 10th until 2pm for the All Staff meeting and, on May 27th in observance of Memorial Day.
Congrats to our 2018-2019 Cookie Bosses!
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland would like to congratulate the following troops and girls for their outstanding performance during the 2018-2019 Cookie Sale Program Activity.
Our 6 regional top selling girls:
Baltimore City – Zah’reya D. 750 boxes
Baltimore County – Kaylah M. 3,248 boxes
Carroll County – Alivia M. 1,647 boxes
Harford County – Gwendolyn M. 2,229 boxes
Howard County – Morgan S. 2,740 boxes
Anne Arundel County & Entrepreneur of the year – Jenna D. 6,120 boxes
5 top selling troops:
Troop #4981 selling 9,961 boxes
Troop #372 selling 8,237 boxes
Troop #913 selling 8,039 boxes
Troop #902 selling 7,506 boxes
Troop #1448 selling 6,945 boxes
5 top Per Girl Average troops:
Troop #80004 with a 1,379
Troop #4981 with a 905
Troop #10334 with an 893
Troop #1122 with a 726
Troop #2352 with a 724
Categories: Uncategorized
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland 
A mandatory overnight training on how to set a fire seems live a serious overinvestment in time. This means I need to get a babysitter for the weekend while I drive 2 hours to camp conowingo and spend a whole 24-hour period at the camp? Isn’t there a video or online training option? This seems super unrealistic for actual parents and troop leaders that have parental or professional responsibilities.
Thank you for your question regarding Basic Troop Camping. The class covers more things than just building a fire! Going camping and being responsible for a group of girls requires planning, progression and safety considerations. The class is designed so that a new Leader who has not camped has confidence to take the girls camping and an experienced camper will get a chance to learn about Girl Scout protocols and refresh their skills.
The agenda for the trainings covers important topics such as Helping Campers Feel at Ease, How to plan for a Group Camping Experience, Proper Food Storage, Prep and Disposal, Cooking Methods and more. The day at camp adequately prepares a Troop Leader to take girls camping.
If you have additional questions regarding the Basic Troop Camping Training and would like to discuss it further, please send in your questions to membercare@gscm.org and a specialist will be happy to assist you.