Troop #XXXX
Troop
Handbook
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To the Leader:
This is a template for YOU, the Girl Scout leader to
complete and handout to parents. Please read through this piece and then
personalize it for your troop. We have included some of the links to forms you
may want to use. There may be parts that you will want to change to reflect how
YOUR troop will run. We have highlighted some of those areas, but there may be
others. Be sure to go back and fill in the highlighted areas and add or delete
anything that does not pertain to your troop. Please delete this paragraph before
making copies for your troop.
Troop #XXXX Parent Handbook
Thank you for registering your daughter in Girl Scouts! We are going to have so much
fun this year. Girl Scouts is about empowering each and every girl and helping them
explore the world and all it has to offer them. Girl Scouts builds girls of courage,
confidence and character who make the world a better place.
~Please program these numbers into your phone for quick reference~
 Leaders: List leaders, emails and phone numbers here
During this year, we hope to …
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Develop a strong sense of self in each girl
Develop positive values
Help each girl gain practical life skills
Help girls seek new challenges
Develop critical thinking skills
Develop healthy relationships within our troop and community
Promote cooperation and team building
Help girls learn critical skills to resolve conflict
Show them diversity in the world
Help them feel connected to their community, locally and globally
Identify community needs
Be resourceful problem solvers
Be advocates for each other, themselves and others in the community
Educate and inspire others to act
Teach girls to feel empowered to make a difference in the world
Meetings
Meetings will be held list how frequent meetings are from _____ to ____. We will meet at put
your meeting location here. Here is an example of what our meeting will look like:
Change the agenda to fit your troop
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Pre-Meeting: There will be an activity to keep girls engaged until we get started.
Opening: We will say the Girl Scout Promise, the Girl Scout Law, and the Pledge of
Allegiance before discussing the planned activities for the meeting.
Business meeting: This is where we make our plans for what we will be doing –
badges, trips, outings, etc.
Activities: Journeys, leadership and fun!
Snack: We relax and enjoy a healthy snack provided by one of the girls.
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Clean-up: Many hands make light work.
Closing: Friendship circle and song, handouts, last minute info, pack up, releasing
girls for pickup.
We will try to make sure we get done on time. We ask if you are not volunteering with us for
the meeting, to please come for the last 10 minutes of the meeting to share in your
daughter’s experience for the day. If you need to pick your daughter up early, please let us
know ahead of time so we can have her ready to go. Please be on time.
Families Make it Happen
Families Make it Happen
Volunteers are what make Girl Scouts possible. This troop belongs to all of us, not just the
girls and leaders. Your daughter will benefit greatly from your participation in the troop. We
ask each parent to sign up to help with at least list how many meetings you want them to
help with meetings a year. This way, we always have an extra set of hands to help with setup, activities and clean-up. You’ll be surprised how happy it makes your Girl Scout to have
you there!
We have a very helpful sheet that we would like for each family to complete listing some
ways that you could help our troop. It is called Families Make it Happen. If you have not
already completed one of these, please do so.
If you are volunteering and have younger/older children, please try to find someone to watch
them during this time.
Snacks you will need to adjust this according to what your troop does
We will have a healthy snack at each meeting. We will make up a snack calendar when
meetings are set and have parents sign up to bring snacks. We will try to match your treat
day with the same day that you are the parent helper. Please inform us immediately if
your daughter has any food allergies that we need to be aware of.
Attendance
Regular attendance at troop meetings is important. Girls will feel that this is a group that they
belong to. We ask for your cooperation in making sure that girls are on time for meetings,
field trips and other activities. This teaches respect, consideration and responsibility.
Please pick up girls promptly when meetings are over. If you know you are running late,
please call one of us or let us know if someone else will be picking up your girl. We will NOT
allow another person to take your Girl Scout unless you have told us specifically!
We also appreciate you letting us know if your Girl Scout is sick or you will be gone for a
meeting. We understand that school schedules sometimes interfere with Girl Scouts – just be
sure to keep us informed.
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Cancellations of Meetings
Canceling Meetings Form
Read this carefully. This note describes what we will do when there is bad weather. It is
important for us to know who is responsible for your child after school so that person can be
notified if there is a last-minute meeting cancellation. Please include times that you pick up
your child from childcare or school so that we know when and where to reach you at any
time in case of a meeting cancellation or change. If there is no school or an early out, we
WILL NOT have a meeting. There are cases where the weather begins to get bad near the
time of our meeting. We use the canceled meeting form to contact you.
Dues
Membership Dues - The $15 membership dues pays for your daughter to be a registered
Girl Scout. This money is sent to Girl Scouts of the USA. A membership year runs from
Oct.1- Sept. 30. A portion of the $15 membership dues pays for supplementary insurance for
members.
Troop Dues - We ask that each family pay a one-time amount of pick an amount suitable for
the troops needs for troop dues to help cover expenses for troop supplies, trips, badges and
patches that our troop profit from product sales does not cover.
Grants for Girls or Volunteers
Grants for Girls and Adults Form
Our council has grants available to help families pay for membership dues, books, council
event and camp fees. We also have grants for camps and trips. Financial assistance for
membership is available at time of registration online or we can get them for you.
Additionally, we will try very hard to keep our troop out-of-pocket expenses low while
maintaining your daughter’s Girl Scout experience.
Parent Newsletter
You will want to change this section to reflect how you will communicate with your parents.
We will be sending a newsletter home periodically. This will be full of important information
regarding what we did that meeting, what we are planning for the next, upcoming meeting
dates, field trips and reminders. Please read this!
Also, if you have an email address, we would love to have it. Email is the easiest way for us
to get info to you in a quick way regarding meetings, cancellations, field trips, fundraisers and
other things!
Girl Scout Awards/Badges
There are many Journey awards and badges that the girls can earn. Here is what we plan to
work on this year and the requirements for each…..list the awards, patches, badges or
council activities you plan to do over the year.
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Trips/Field Trips/Outings
Year Long Parental Permission form with Health Form
Year-Long Permission Form
We have a year-long parental permission form available for most of the events and activities
that our troop will participate in. Complete this form once to give permission for your
daughter to attend our troop events and activities. Before we go on any outing, we will send
the specifics of that activity, costs, transportation detail, times, locations, etc., by email or
troop handouts.
Some activities (camping, longer trips, etc) will still require a separate permission form, but
the majority of our events will be taken care of with this year-long permission form.
We will need volunteers for these events. Some of these events may cost money. If we have
troop funds, we might be able to use that. Please try to come with us; our outings are lots of
fun!
It is important to complete the health form on the back of the year-long permission form. This
form will let us know of any allergies, medications or other health concerns before any issues
arise. We DO NOT share this info with ANYONE!
Also, as a general rule, if your daughter is sick, please have her stay home and rest. As a
guideline, if she’s unable to make it to school that day, she shouldn’t come to a meeting. We
can catch her up on anything she may have missed. If you are questioning whether she
should come or not, lean towards being over cautious and have her stay home and rest until
she’s feeling 100 percent.
Safety
Girl Scouts emphasize fun with safety. We take your daughter’s safety seriously. All activities
will be assessed to make sure that they are safe and age appropriate.
In the rare case that your child should get hurt during an activity, a copy of an accident report
will come home. If the accident would be severe enough to seek medical treatment, you will
be notified immediately and additional paperwork will be filed and the council notified,
thereby starting the insurance reimbursement process. A copy of our safety guidelines is
available online at www.GirlScoutsToday.org for your review.
Badges and Uniforms
As a Girl Scout, the girls will be earning a variety of Journey awards and badges. Each
award/badge has specific requirements. We will try to do as many as we can without losing
focus of our goal: building girls of courage, confidence and character. Girls can also earn
“fun patches” for special activities or events. If your daughter finishes a Journey award or
badge outside of our meetings and events, let us know so we can sign off on the
award/badge and she will receive it at our next awards ceremony. We will try to do a short
awards ceremony at our regular meetings list how many award ceremonies you plan to do
times this year.
As a troop we will decide with the girls what type of uniform they would like to have and let
you know so you may purchase them from one of the Council Shops. They also may be
required for special activities, such as ceremonies, presentations, etc. Uniforms consist of a
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vest or sash for your girls’ grade level and a white top and khaki pants or skirt. Your girl may
wear her own top and pants/skirt or you may purchase them through the council shops.
Vests/sashes are available through the council shops; there is also an optional short sleeve
or long sleeve shirt, shorts or jumper.
A vest or sash is a great place to display the Journey awards and badges they earn and a
great way to identify our troop at events. There are other items that can be added to a vest or
sash. They are: council badges, American flag, troop numbers, membership pin, insignia pin
and an insignia tab. A placement diagram is available on our website.
Cookie Sale Program and Fall Sale Program
The cookie and fall sale programs are fun for the girls and great skill builders, too. Girls learn
valuable life skills, such as goal setting, money management, people skills, decision making
and business ethics.
Girl Scouts can participate in two product sales each year. During the Fall Sale Program, our
troop will earn 25 percent profit of our total sales and girls earn recognitions. Sale dates are
insert dates. Each girl must have the permission slip filled out and signed by their parent
before she starts selling. It’s a great way to earn money for our troop to help pay for
awards/badges that we earn, materials, and other activities that we might want to do, such
as field trips. More information about the Fall Sale Program will be coming.
The Cookie Sale Program begins insert date, and everyone gets excited about this
opportunity. In addition to troop profit, girls earn recognitions and Program Credit, which can
be used to help pay for events, camp and Girl Scout merchandise. We now do a direct sale,
which means that girls have the cookies in hand to sell! More information will come as the
date gets closer.
Donations (cash or gifts-in-kind)
Girl Scouts is a non-profit organization, we rely on our supporters for funding. As a parent
you will have to opportunity to contribute to the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western
Illinois. Many businesses will match a monetary donation that you might make; the HR
department for your place of business usually has the information you need for this, including
forms.
Some businesses are also very willing to donate supplies or materials. Our troop is always
in need of both! If you are willing to help with this, let us know. The majority of the money we
receive during the year is through product sales and troop dues so even the smallest amount
helps!
Remember that most donations (cash or other) are tax deductible.
Juliette Gordon Low
Early in the year, we will be talking about Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts. On
March 12, 1912, she started the first Girl Scout troop. We celebrate her birthday, also called
Founders Day, on October 31. Feel free to check books out at public libraries so you and
your girl can get better acquainted with the wonderful person who started it all.
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Girl Scout Promise and Law
All of our activities will in some way involve the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Please help
your Girl Scout learn the Girl Scout Promise, which is said while holding up the middle three
fingers on her right hand. You’ll be surprised how quickly she will learn these! The Promise
and Law also can be found in every Girl Scout Journey or Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting book.
Girl Scout Promise
On my honor, I will try,
To serve God* and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
*The word “God” can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one’s spiritual
beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word “God” with
whatever word your spiritual beliefs dictate.
Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.
Questions
Please call or email any of us with any question big or small. We encourage feedback and
suggestions. Let us know what you hope your girl gets out of Girl Scouts this year and if you
have ideas for field trips or activities. If you have an area of expertise or hobby you’d like to
share, we’d love to hear about it.
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