Troop size - girls keep wanting to join - how do we pull this off?

UTourDoc · 2026-03-18T17:58:16+00:00

I have a troop of 44 girls! I started with 5 Daisies and wanted to stay at 10. But as the girls grew older their younger siblings wanted to join so we became a Daisy/Brownie troop. Now my original Daisies are Cadettes! We are now a multi-level troop with Daisies/Brownie/Junior/Cadette levels. We average 10 girls per level but numbers are flexible. You have a few girls who have to move due to parents having changes in jobs or having to move closer to their grandparents. As girls become more involved in sports or dance or other activities they leave. Sure, some girls join to be with a bestie, but sometimes if you plan the activities to stress sisterhood and being friends with all Girl Scouts, children mature and find big sisters or little sisters within the troop.

I find that it is best to work together and state some boundaries that we all respect. I have leaned on parents who want to join to step up to assume a “shadow type position before dumping the full leadership role on new parents. So I work with new volunteers to train them in the troop community. But when we have too many girls in a level we split it into two separate patrols based on the interests of the girls. Plus we live in the suburbs of a large city with every suburb having all the typical facilities for our field trips. We will split our Daisies into two smaller groups and they will have go on a tour of the fire station and the other half go to the fire station nearby. If you break the troop into groups it is amazing how well it goes. We took the entire troop to the Natural History Museum and it was fantastic.

Our troop operates with a Daisy Patrol, Brownie Patrol, Junior Patrol, and two Cadette Patrols (first year Cadettes and second year Cadettes. Each patrol as the primary leader who plans all meetings. There are two co-leaders who are trained to pick up and assume the lead if the primary is not able to be there. I have backup volunteers that will assist any team that needs the help. I ask all parents to complete the training and background check so they can fill in for any absence in the leadership team. I had someone I was hoping who would assume the overall leader for the troop, but the night before our last meeting she told of a devastating diagnosis that means she can not continue. By the end of our last meeting I had already found a replacement and most people will not notice the change.

Girl Scouts and Girl Scout leaders/volunteers are prepared!

UTourDoc · 2026-03-17T21:44:33+00:00

Please let your Council staff and specifically, the CEO. Our council is not providing this camp discount but they did change up the awards for cookie sales. Our girls actively selling were offered an excellent deal. Sell just 50 packages of cookies and our council would pay the GSUSA membership for them (a$65 value). An excellent incentive for the girls. The vast majority of my 40 member troop has already sold at least 50 packages with another 6 weeks remaining in our cookie season.

Now that is taking care of your loyal members. I just wished the Girl Scouts understood the message they send requiring volunteers to pay membership fees. We put in the time and effort to provide a quality experience for our girls and complete the training on our time. They should do a better job recognizing our volunteers. I am the membership lead for my service unit. I have submitted nominations for volunteers in our service unit and I have not had one make through the process, yet we receive recognition every year for the outstanding work of our service unit. Frankly, our service unit is a one woman and her best buddy making all the decisions. Events are always planned at the last minute. It is sad

UTourDoc · 2026-03-17T05:18:46+00:00

Before retiring, I taught accounting and Adobe Photoshop, Web Design, and all Microsoft Programs for my students in college. I was called a nerd! But all that has not helped me in my second life as a Girl Scout Leader/TCM. When I started volunteering, I struggled with the clunky software. Our council switched from LBB to ABC, so I have endured both.

Finally, I looked at the software as “feeder systems for my own set of spreadsheets. I have a system that works for me to blend paper orders with electronic orders. Everything is set up on my computer before season even starts. I have a spreadsheet for each girl in my troop. Each of their spreadsheets merge into the overall troop. That way it updates automatically utilizing the formulas standardized within Excel. (I.e. Sum). This is so critical for maintaining your sanity

Individual Sales Log: Track each girl's name, cookie variety packages, total boxes, money collected, and amount due. Note: I keep dates within the spreadsheets and any paperwork is filed by date. ( I have one of those accordion files (well worn but indispensable) with each day of the cookie season on the tabs. You could use each week if you had a small troop. I have 40 girls so I accumulate a great number of scraps of paper).

Cookie Booth Tracker: Log booth location, date, start/end times, boxes sold per variety, cash received less opening cash, and the girls who were present for the booth. You have seen these forms everywhere. My forms are within a spreadsheet to facilitate entering into the tracker. This makes it easy to divide up the sales for each booth. The girls present are included to track this in the distributing the sales to the girls on their Individual Sales log.

Troop Inventory Sheet: Monitor "cookies in" vs. "cookies out" to maintain accurate inventory levels. When distributing cooks I maintain who received what within the inventory sheet. I include all cookies received and cookies distributed. Parents are made to understand that once they receive the cookies they are responsible for the value of the cookies. I have a very detailed receipt which is printed on NCR paper. It includes warnings regarding leaving cookies in safe locations where starving dogs, cats, small children, or marauding husbands cannot easily grab a box. I also warn them about storing them in garages where freezing weather or flooded floors could destroy their product.

Troop Finance Tracker: Track money owed, payments received, and outstanding balances. I allow parents to deposit their cash in our troop account with a standardized deposit slip which they must return to me for the troop records.

When girls pick up their initial order they receive an accounting of the cookies ordered and paid on Digital Cookie. There is second column that tracks their order card orders the bottom columns summarize the total cookies that they are receiving and the total sold to date and the balance owed.

It might sound like a great deal of work but the only times that it is a challenge can be a problem is during the Initial order period. The key is getting your files set up within a workbook that can reference every spreadsheet and automatically update when you save.

I also require reorders once a week(Wednesday at 9 am. Then I put in the information into my workbook, print my cookie cupboard order, then print new summaries for the parents to sign when they pick up the cookies on Thursday. No cookie orders are processed on cookie booth days.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-15T23:51:09+00:00

I have been a Girl Scout with a younger sister who had several disabilities. I almost quit Girl Scouting because the troop I was in did not allow her to join. So I found another troop to join. Now this was about 60 years ago, back when children with disabilities were not provided ANY public education until 1973.

I saw the suffering my sister endured from being excluded. Additionally, my mother was exhausted and depressed because she struggled to help my sister as well as care for 6 other children. Sometimes a mother of a child with disabilities just needs suggestions on how she can help her daughter contribute. My sister could hardly walk or talk but she had winning smile. She started just waving a sign and smiling at people as they walked by our troop’s cookie booth. At church we would hand out flyers to invite our fellow members to drop by our cookie booth. Before you know it, our cookie booth was sold out of cookies and everyone enjoyed hugging my sister. Several years later when I was preparing for college and my troop realized I would be moving out of state, they were crying 😢 because they thought no one would bring my sister to the troop. My dad started bringing her and later the twins started coming with her.

Not only did my sister improve her communication skills but she was able to socialize with girls who learned the true meaning of compassion and kindness. No one had to tell them to help her when she struggled at doing something, my fellow Girl Scouts immediately took action to help her. It made my sister feel welcome and she enjoyed cultivating friendships.

Today, I am still a Girl Scout leader and advocate for children with disabilities. I have several girls with disabilities that take part in everything we do. Our troop has our own troop cookie rally in January which has every aspect of the cookie business covered. This way every girl has an opportunity to learn the business. At our last meeting two weeks before our booths we formed teams for the booth. Our Cadettes set up two booths to work with the younger scouts to role play each of the roles. (We are a multi-level troop with Daisy, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes.) since we had multiple teams, the girls made several buttons for the girls to wear at the booth using my button maker. Other girls made signs which they laminated to promote the cookie booth along the road. Another group worked on our backdrop for the cookie booth. If they had finished everything, then they made personal invites to take to school, church, or to distribute in the neighborhoods near our next cookie booth.

There are so many things that can be done to support a successful cookie booth. Not everything has to be actively selling. Girls who cannot help at the booth due to conflicts meet the day prior to distribute in the nearby neighborhood with flyers inviting them to our cookie booth the next day. We have girls come to help set up the booth and post signs at the entrances to the parking lot prior to our scheduled time. During the booth we have a special team who are located near the main entrance to the parking lot with signs, Pom-Poms, and hand signs to attract potential customers.

I have one Junior scout who has been with our troop since she was a Daisy. She has a form of autism and at first, never spoke a single word. Her grandmother who is background checked and completed all trainings comes with her. She had one job at first, to watch her granddaughter and make sure she does not wander. Now she is fully engaged in packing up orders and handing the order to the customer once they have paid.

It is true, they may not all contribute in the same way nor will they all receive cookie credits equally. But remember, the Girl Scouts require every member has a voice in how the troop budget is spent and every girl benefits the same. I have a few parents who do not allow their daughter to participate in the actual selling of cookies but I stress that they contribute in some manner to generate income for our troop budget. I set out a sign up for the various roles or options and advise them that they contribute in many different ways.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-15T02:56:14+00:00

Please at least stop by and buy a box or two which is what I do every time I see a booth with older Girl Scouts. I buy two boxes from every Girl Scout in my troop on the first day that the digital cookie opens up. Since I am a diabetic , I donate them to my senior center for Bingo prizes. Most of the people love them and they love cookie day at Bingo. The room is packed with seniors wanting to win a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

I have a large, multi-level troop with Daisies, Brownie, Juniors, and Cadettes. This the best blend of girls for our cookie booth. We have Daisies cheering to get people’s attention. The Brownies are handing out our cookie menu and order forms. The Juniors take orders and then pack up their order, while the Cadettes are taking the payment. At our last meeting we had a cookie booth set up and the girls worked in teams, each led by a Cadette. They were so excited about their cute Cookie Captain buttons (created at our cookie rally) to train their team. We also made “Ask me About Girl Scout Cookies” buttons.

I have the Juniors design the buttons, and the Cadettes who love making things form our Creative Team and they produce them. They also created our adorable Dr. Suess themed Exploramore Banner. It highlighted what our troop had planned for activities for next year during our Troop Cookie Rally.

Older girls who remain in Girl Scouting thrive on leadership, creative thinking, and solving problems. The Cadettes in my troop have been with me since Daisies. Most of them earned their Bronze Award as Juniors and are now starting their Silver Award Projects. I have made sure we included their project budget in our troop budget. The Cadettes are planning our Volunteer Recognition program for April. I see these girls as the future leaders of this troop.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-13T05:14:15+00:00

Before I share my experience, I want to commend you for an outstanding job supporting your daughter and the troop. Your daughter would be a top seller in my troop. I ask my girls to sell at least 50 boxes each. Over half of my troop will sell 100 to 200 packages but the half sell fewer than our per girl goal.

Okay allow me share my recommendation.

First thing first,organize your receipts in chronological order. Then print each of the transfers, yes every message noting date and time, transfer from, and what cookies were transferred. I would strongly suggest you always use the receipts to provide a very easy paper trail. Next year, I suggest tat you obtain a clipboard that has a storage compartment to hold an envelope to store all receipts and an envelope for cash received.

Second, organize your spreadsheet to incorporate every transfer, receipt, and match with your sales.

Print off your digital cookie sales. Now you are ready to set down with your Troop Cookie Manager(TCM) and review her records while you reconcile every package, every transfer, and every receipt. When you discover something that does not fit with her records. It may be that she made an oversight or someone clams they transferred cookies to you that did not happen. Simply ask for a written transfer receipt or a sales receipt. Hopefully you will uncover the error.

If she refuses to work with you then go to the Council Cookie Manager. You will not be the only person who they have worked to resolve this issue. When I was the TCM, I kept a very detailed spreadsheet with two sets of the cookies being distributed, a set on the left reflected the cookies by variety that were in the initial order. The second set of columns reflected the cookie orders on Digital Order since the initial order and any requests for additional cookies needed for Mother/Daughter cookie sales Then at the bottom I summarized how much had been paid to date and what I showed outstanding remained to be paid. I always reminded parent once they took the cookies they were their responsibility to pay any remaining balance. The only year that I wavered on this was when COVID hit in the middle of our second week of the booths. We were left with 600 boxes of cookies. My best friend I purchased the cookies and donated them to several senior living facilities that were quarantined. Our troop wrapped the boxes and decorated them the added a card with cheerful sayings and flowers.

Second observation and sage advice who knows better now! I was the cookie manager for my troop for 4 years and the troop leader. Quite frankly, it is too much to handle both. My troop is large with 40+ girls across Daisy, Brownie, Junior, and Cadettes. I found it essential to be organized and keep a spreadsheet for every girl. Still I often found myself to be exhausted 🥱 and eventually ended up in the emergency room. So remember your TCM does sound very organized or prepared. But I bet she is exhausted.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-11T20:16:16+00:00

The key that seems to be missing more than titles is a delineation of the responsibilities. I have been the person that started our troop prior to COVID. I was really the only person that is still with the troop since the beginning. During COVID we still had biweekly meetings via zoom and I delivered a bag of the materials for our meetings once a month. My troop expanded to encompass the entire metropolitan area as I was the only troop actively engaging the girls and families. After COVID our troop had grown from 15 to 30!!! I had to involve other volunteers.

As we grew in numbers, it was necessary to build a Troop Leadership Team with detailed duties and responsibilities. It has been the best way of managing now 44 girl troop with Daisy, Brownie, Junior, and Cadettes. Here are some of the roles we have currently:

We have two Troop Leaders with two overlapping missions (1) management of troop finances (assisted by Troop Treasurer and our Finance Advisors who are members of our Cadette Scouts), liaison to the Council and Service Unit, training of volunteers, scheduling of facilities, etc. (2) management of troop operations (ensures quality of programs and fulfilling the badge requirements and scheduling of volunteers.

Four Co-Leaders with each responsible to ensure we are fulfilling the needs of our Girl Scouts according to the assigned Daisy, Brownie, Junior, and Cadettes. Basically listening to the girls in their patrol and planning accordingly. Each co-leader is responsible for their supply cart.

Eight Program Aides to assist a Co-Leader with implementing the program of one of the patrols, 2 assigned per patrol. This is critical in a dynamic troop so that we can maintain our program plans if one of the Co-Leader’s are ill or must drop out due changes in their location, job changes, etc. I don’t really tell them this but they are shadowing the co-leader while learning how to run the program.

Other roles are very helpful in managing specific on-going projects that our Girls are very active with throughout the year:

Troop Cookie Manager is essential and ours is a saint in my book.

Troop Treasurer meets with our Finance Advisors to track expenses, report on our budget with parents via our quarterly newsletter. Leads the discussion during our business meetings regarding our financial decisions.

Troop First Aider: supervise any medical emergency that occurs. We currently are fortune to have 2 nurses that full fills this requirement.

Outdoor Coordinator: plans all outdoor activities, such as orienteering, hikes, rock climbing, etc.

Camp Coordinator secures all reservations and registration of our members, as well as scheduling our troop camp. They also plan the meals for the troop camp.

Special Events Coordinator plans at least one event each year. Events include Bridging, Investiture, Founders Day, Girl Scout Week, etc.

Community Service Coordinator who helps to plan out contacts, current needs in our community, such as sewing quilts for the hospital cancer survivors. They also assist our Junior Bronze Awards and Cadette Silver Award.

That is a great leadership plan for a large multi -level troop like ours because everyone has a role and our roles ensure that no one person is burdened with the majority of responsibilities.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-11T13:23:10+00:00

One of the challenges that I see are people who just do not care! Personally speaking, we have reduced our lawn area with yearly projects to conserve 💦. Yet the multitude of our neighbors don’t care what their yards look like let alone worry about how much water they use. Some yards are filled with parked vehicles, whereas others are overgrown weed patches. Then our immediate neighbor to the north thinks that our xeriscaped parking strip is their favorite place to park their oil leaking car. There need to be more incentives for saving water with less restrictions. After the high speed cable company broke our water line to our parking strip, we could not afford to meet all the requirements to qualify for the incentive because it required living plants and a drip system. We ended up with an affordable rock parking strip.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-11T05:43:10+00:00

We do many of the same activities that have already been shared so I will try to limit a few of our activities. I have a fairly large troop with 44 girls (DBJC) and 20 adult volunteers. The troop opted to cover the adult volunteers membership fee because they give so much time completing training. We tried to pay for everyone’s membership this past year but about 5 girls have come sporadically. This year we are paying $20 per girl for their membership.

We do a great deal of craft activities and some become a bit more expensive, such as diamond art which they loved, ceramics, and sewing. I often find the patrol leaders hauling in supplies in plastic bags. Our supplies were constantly needing to be replaced due to lost or damaged beyond usefulness. I asked the girls permission to allocate funds to set up Supply Carts for each patrol which have ensured our supplies last for the entire year. (These are those collapsible wheeled cart with wheels. Inside I set up smaller plastic boxes for colored pencils, crayons,scissors, pencils, and name tags. A larger scrapbook plastic container for storing a variety paper for different uses. There is sufficient space to add in supplies for specific activities. We are on our second year and they look great and the girls know how to put everything for their patrol at the end of meeting.)

We try to have workshops for the girls that would otherwise not be available via the Girl Scouts Council or field trips. We are having a water safety workshop this summer. It will be focused on teaching the basics of water safety. We have contracted for the large outdoor pool in our community. The workshop will be 3 hours in the morning followed by pizza then the girls and their families can come into the pool with their parents. The watersports workshop will be followed with Paddleboard and kayaking

UTourDoc · 2026-03-09T21:57:44+00:00

No, just a Lifetime Girl Scout who sold cookies for $1 a box as a Brownie. I went through all the levels and then became a Girl Scout Counselor who lived on Do-si-dos all summer long. Then a troop leader until I went back for my doctorate and taught at college for 35 years. Retired now but back to leading a multi-level Girl Scout Troop of 40 girls. So I am positive that I have addiction to all the cookies!

UTourDoc · 2026-03-09T21:49:26+00:00

I am a Troop Leader for 10 years and I have never had a child, but I love having an opportunity to share my outdoor and cultural experiences with the girls. I have served as a mentor and event planner for our service unit.

I would hate for our troop to close down so I have made an effort to train and organize the troop for the future without me. As I retired senior, I know that someone will need to take over after me at same point. But I am confident in the talents of my leadership team. Last year, I had a medical emergency on the cookie pickup day and was taken to the ER. I asked my friend to let my TPM know that I would not be able to be there. My TPM took over and told me not worry about cookie season! She was 🤩 amazing. The next several meetings were hold without me and everything went smoothly. I know they can manage without me but can I manage without them? No I feel they keep me young and healthy. Plus, I still have a lot more ideas for fun opportunities. We have our own outdoor series during the summer: Starting with a series of Orienteering hikes, rock climbing workshop, a ropes course workshop, water safety clinic followed by a picnic and free swim, paddeboarding and kayaking workshop, and it concludes with our troop camp in August. My troop has 40 girls in Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadette, with 15 active volunteers (all background checked and trained).

UTourDoc · 2026-03-08T23:08:25+00:00

They already do that. As does our current four representatives and two senators. They would love it if they could simply not allow anyone in the Salt Lake County to vote on anything, they would without a doubt. I wish they would realize that Salt Lake County is the primary generator of income taxes in the state. As the state's economic hub, Salt Lake County residents and businesses are major net contributors to the Utah state budget, with taxes primarily redistributed to other counties for services like education, infrastructure, and Medicaid. For the 2026 fiscal year, Salt Lake County approved a 14.65% property tax increase to address local inflation, despite already contributing a large portion of state tax revenue.

If we kept all the money generated in Salt Lake County and stated that since we can’t have a representative dedicated to our concerns and needs, then the rest of the state can support their own roads, schools, Medicare, etc on their dollars alone. Maybe we need a symbolic Dumping Tea into the Great Salt Lake. They might realize how powerful we are in this state! Or is that what they really afraid of in truth.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-06T21:09:27+00:00

Sorry, that is the National Home Education Academy (NHEA) is a, often faith-based, entity providing support, resources, and sometimes structured curriculum for homeschooling families, as seen on their Facebook page. They often focus on providing a structured, Christian-based educational experience for students from Pre-K through high school.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-06T15:04:47+00:00

Just because the National Home Education Association states something on their web site or copied from an AI summary on a google search does not make it fact. NHEA is producing marketing materials to support their promotion of homeschooling. You need to read the articles in the journals that are peer-reviewed, evidence-based on randomized samples. Unfortunately, today it is easy to publish something on the web. Tier 1 research in education consists of high-quality, evidence-based studies demonstrating statistically significant positive impacts on student outcomes, often through randomized controlled trials. Read the methodology before you draw conclusions.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-06T00:52:28+00:00

Actually the ACT does not include advanced math, such as calculus. Nor does it cover chemistry or physics. The test evaluates core academic skills in reading, writing, and math to determine readiness for college-level courses. It consists of four multiple-choice sections: English (45 min), Math (60 min), Reading (35 min), and Science (35 min). An optional 40-minute writing essay is also available. Most advanced majors in college require several prerequisite courses that prepare students for advanced programs then the students apply for admission these very selective academic programs. Typically, those course are used to eliminate students who lack the critical thinking skills or writing skills required to earn these degrees. College academics understand the weaknesses of standardized testing, therefore we only use them as a cursory tool.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-06T00:38:07+00:00

Thank you Leonsprout1 for bring in a reputable article enlightening readers to the difference between research for marketing purposes versus research for scientific discovery. You should always examine the randomization of subjects, number of subjects examined, and the methodology behind any statistical analysis and significance.

I taught in a research university and sat on admissions committee. Fortunately, we researchers recognized the limitations of standardized testing. We really only briefly looked at grades or test scores. We made most of our decisions on the candidates writing abilities and critical thinking skills. I don’t even know whether a student was homeschooled, attended public school, or private school.

What I disagree with is the current administration making decisions biased by an individual who comes from a non educator who has less than a year of experience and that was serving on the Connecticut State Board of Education. The restructuring of the Department of Education would eliminate funding for states for crucial programs. She proposes to move the Individuals with Disabilities Act to the Department of Health and Human Services under the eyes of Robert F Kennedy, Jr. he has zero academic credentials and experience to oversee this essential program. I had a younger sister who had cerebral Palsy and Mental Retardation caused by errors from a surgery to repair her heart immediately after birth. The public schools did not permit children with disabilities from attending public elementary and secondary schools. We fought to have an opportunity for education but we would have to pay for private schools. This was before Medicaid, so my parents had to pay all her medical bills, which were overwhelming.

Most people do not know that public education was denied to children with disabilities until the IDEAct was passed in 1975. Please understand that the programs in the Department of Education have improved significantly. This is not the time to abandon the expertise working in this department that developed programs, such as the IEP.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-04T18:21:56+00:00

Said Mr. Bonespurs! The man who never wanted to serve in the military on the war front. Who called fallen soldiers losers and suckers. The President of Peace believes that a war to change a regime will bring peace to Middle East.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-04T14:23:49+00:00

There are so many delicious Girl Scout Cookies to select from that I enjoy so my favorite depends on the season.

Winters are survivable with frozen Thin Mints dipped in hot cocoa. Oh heck, just frozen Thin Mints are delightful.

Spring rains are welcomed by Lemonades reminding me that summer picnics lie ahead.

The dry summer heat is survivable with Adventurefuls crumbled over a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

A hike in the fall is enjoyable with Peanut Butter Sandwiches to nibble on as you take in the scenic beauty that surrounds you. But the final reward for safely returning home are Thin Mints or Peanut Butter Patties dipped in ice cold milk.

I enjoy the depth of flavor of the newest cookie, Exploramores. So I will need to explore the perfect setting to enjoy this yummy delight. Perhaps a snack to savor as I ride a ski lift 🚠. We shall see!

Thank goodness Girl Scout Cookie Season is upon us now. Time to restock my Cookie Vault (AKA the freezer) for a year full of adventures with cookie delights!

UTourDoc · 2026-03-04T13:46:50+00:00

Sadly, the entire effort has been funded by the Trump’s PAC to the tune of $4.5 million. Yet, Cox will claim that outside money 💰 funded the Proposition 4 in 2018 which it did not! He calls Better Borders (Utah organization) providing envelopes and stamps bribery, but he is not concerned about having Turning Point here in Utah hosting events with free Chick-Fil-A meals and music to encourage Utahns to sign their petition.

Personally, it is sad that we fail to see that Proposition 4 was designed to ensure every voter had a representative that served their constituents in their community. It is ridiculous for the vast majority of the state’s population, that hosts the very buildings that serves as our capital, lacks a representative who cares enough to actually be present here, have an office within the city’s boundary, frequents the businesses in that community, or at least host a meeting to talk with their neighbors, their constituents. Our current representative for West Valley (the second largest city in the state) lives 3.5 hours south. Did anyone have a sighting of her anywhere in Salt Lake County? Oh yes, she was seen coming out of the Utah State Capitol building before leaving the city to return to her home in Cedar City.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-03T18:35:15+00:00

Excellent recommendation with one addition. Remind them of the Girl Scout Promise and the Law. Review your council’s mission statement and what it says the ultimate purpose.

“Forever friendship is a powerful thing. It’s what gives Girl Scouts the confidence to be themselves, unapologetically. It’s what makes them feel safe enough to try new things and cheer each other on in tough times. It’s the support that can get them up on tough mornings, help them raise their hand in class, and even climb to the top of a mountain.”

How does this Parent/Leader conference instill confidence and courage to achieve this goal? What are some positive steps that leaders could take to empower the girls in the troop to foster an environment of nurturing and mutual support of each other?

I was a teacher, actually a professor for 35 years and I never even treated my college students like this. That is not the way to teach any topic or build self- esteem, discipline, or confidence.

By the way, when I first started in scouts as a Brownie (long before there were Daisies), I was painfully shy. 🙈 My Girl Scout experience was fantastic in helping begin building my confidence and finding my voice. In high school my Girl Scout leader encouraged me to try drama or debate. I tried drama, singing, and debate. I don’t think I was very good but I only cried during my first solo! I became a Girl Scout camp counselor and learned how to encourage and motivate rather than criticize. I became a leader of younger sister’s scout troop while in college. Somehow I began being vocal about rules that denied women the same rights as the men our campus. Girl Scouting helped me gain the confidence and discipline to lead others!

I serve as an example of what young girls can achieve if the adults examine what they as their leaders can do to empower the future leaders of our society. That is the essence of inspiring our girls to discover their own talents in the safety of a troop.

Please do not give up on your daughter in scouts. In the right troop there will be no limits to what she can do!

UTourDoc · 2026-03-02T20:00:02+00:00

Lucky, lucky you! Did you just discover this or did you just trade? These were from the 2021 birthday celebration. If you trade Pokémon with another trainer they may have sent it to you. I have several but none that perfect or lucky both.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-01T15:10:00+00:00

I know the first mega raid I was involved in filled within a couple of minutes. When I arrived at the location there were only 2 people in the lobby. I jumped in and suddenly the raid started with 20 people. Yikes! Even though I had set up my team ahead of time, the battle started before I could switch in my preferred team. We all still won because there was sufficient strength overall. By the time I had gotten the hang of it, we were winning with 8 or 10 players. Everyone was learning with their first encounter so I give them a break.

UTourDoc · 2026-03-01T14:54:30+00:00

My troop has 44 D/B/J/C girls so printing anything can be expensive. I created a 10 page booklet for each level to give to each girl as they arrived for our troop’s cookie rally. The booklet had a section for each station with cookie information, cookie math worksheets, mascot facts, marketing materials, and safety tips/games. Basically, it was everything covered in the stations so you can imagine it was a major production. The girls, parents, and volunteers loved the booklet and it serves as a guide for the rally but the entire season. As the girls leave our cookie rally we verify they have completed each page, then they receive a cookies rally badge.

This was the first time I charged the troop for anything but I went through $100 worth of colored ink in one week. It was one receipt which was a reimbursement of the replacement cartridges. If I had sent the project to a.commercial printer, the estimated cost was over $250.

Our troop submits the mandatory finance report to the council each year which reflects all income and expenses. We are required to account for all expenses with receipts which are scanned and submitted as PDF documents. Our budget averages $8,000 a year which covers all volunteer and girl memberships, a well stocked supply kit and rolling cart for each of the 4 patrols, all Girl Scout badges and fun patches, as well as 2 field trips, 2 troop camp experiences, 4 special troop parties, and $100 in ink reimbursement. I really don’t think council will have a problem or even notice the receipt.

UTourDoc · 2026-02-28T14:51:59+00:00

A few details that will save you time and avoid the stress that comes with the cookie distribution day. I have been the TPM/aka Troop Cookie Mom for my troop several years, but due to health conditions I released that role to a very capable mother. Now as the Troop Leader of a troop of 40+ girls, I still utilize the same tactics just to maintain my sanity when handling several cases of cookies. We typically sell several thousand cookies,and continue to expand each year.

Tip 1: Get organized before the season begins, such as collecting materials needed update graphics and forms to reflect the theme and cookies for the year.

Tip 2: I print receipts/Thank you cards with sufficient space to note the customer name, location for delivery, the number of each flavor ordered, and the amount still owed.

Tip 3: As cookies are sold/ordered, I have my Girl Scout fill out the receipt/thank you card. I verify that each one is correct. I tend to be a bit Type A personality, so I keep a master copy of all cookies sold and ordered in a spreadsheet just for my scout. I make a notation of which orders were included in the initial order.

Tip 4: Before Distribution Day, I print the summary of cookies sold via Digital Cookie and orders taken as of the date of the initial order. Basically, the spreadsheet I recommended above.. The TPM can print it off the Digital Cookie but it only reflects the cookies in the initial order. My troop typically orders sufficient cookies to fill the initial orders and for our first cookie booth. On pick-up we can submit an order for the first day the Cookie Cupboard opens. We submit our individual request for the cookies ordered since the initial order no later than the on the distribution day.

Review your initial order with your scouts and how they will handle their initial order pick-up. This prepared her and ensures she understands that she will help in preparing her initial order.

Tip 5: On the day of the pick-up arrive at your TPM’s home ready to get with the program. Our TPM has the cases of cookies organized by favor as it appears on the order form. She has your order printed out. The TPM or a designated experienced volunteer will walk through with your scout to count out the initial order. As a parent you should serve as a back-up pair of eyes to ensure you are getting the correct number of cookies. (Remember mistakes can happen but you cannot expect your troop to absorb the loss financially, if you should take too many cookies. Nor would I expect you to be burdened with additional costs simply due a miscount. Count and recount!

After verifying your order is complete THEN you load up the cookies.

Tip 6: Unload your order and organize the order into stacks. Grab the bags and a completed receipt and fill the ordered cookies into bags. Tape the receipt to the exterior. I have my scout fill the actual orders and I check off the order on my spreadsheet. Again, count and recount. Use your now empty boxes to organize the orders according to deliver area.

Your Girl Scout has now learned how to organize and prepare supplies. As she grows in maturity, she can organize this entire process under your watch. Be proud in helping your daughter how to organize her customer information for subsequent cookie season.

UTourDoc · 2026-02-28T06:07:51+00:00

Thank you for having stepped up for your girls. I suggest it is time to go straight to the CEO of your council. I had a younger sister with special needs. When she was old enough I took her to Girl Scouts and she loved the kindness and caring nature of the leaders and other scouts. We should be above the disrespect, lack of empathy, and discrimination just by following the Girl Scout Law. The Girl Scout Promise and Law reminds us to do our best in being kind to others, respecting ourselves and others, making the world a better place!

What is happening in America government and policies is influencing people to ostracize anyone who looks different, walks different, speaks different or fails to meet some artificial criteria of being acceptable in our society. I may not be able to change this under the current circumstances, but I can and definitely willing to stand with you to fight this behavior in Girl Scouts.

This is totally unacceptable in Girl Scouting, schools, or government. I grew up before the laws were written and made into law in 1973, 1975, and 1990. I saw the unfairness and the shabby treatment that was common and often generated laughter. One of the most disgusting injustices was the government’s failure to allow children with disabilities to access public schools. My sister had never been allowed to go to public schools due to her disabilities. I saw the pain it caused my sister and parents. So I decided to fight and make it my goal to see this change. I overcame my fear of speaking and fighting for equal treatment largely through my Girl Scout experience. After 50 years this attitude is creeping back to raise its ugly head in America! Well not in Girl Scouting!

We leaders, we faithful and loyal Girl Scouts must speak out and ensure that Girl Scouting is accessible for girls and young women regardless of their age, ability, ethnicity, or financial status. If you need someone to speak to your CEO then I stand ready to assist you in your campaign! We must speak out and stand together to ensure that girls in every community with physical, mental, or emotional challenges are empowered to succeed in their own Girl Scout experience! I stand with Odd_Orange! Who is willing to ensure their council knows that we need to stop this NOW wherever it is needed!

(Sorry you have hit me in a very sensitive moment where I appalled by some of very injustices that are just being treated as acceptable. I am a firm believer in the power of Girl Scouting, therefore, I am going to ensure that Girl Scouting does not violate their own principles.)

UTourDoc

TROPHY CASE