Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina Council Wide Service Unit Meeting November 15, 2016

Follow-Up on Membership Kick-Off and Service Team Retreat

Decision was made that two events should be planned.

Membership Kick-Off should be open to everyone (Leaders, Volunteers, Service Team). This event should include a speaker who can talk about the importance of leadership. The Fall Sale Representative should be invited to get people excited about Fall Sale. Numerous trainings/enrichment classes (1/2 to 45 minutes) should be offered so participants can attend 3-4 different ones during the day. Timeframe TBA

Service Team Retreat would be open to members of Service Teams and prospective members of Service Teams. More time needs to be given to training the Service Team positions. Offer some of the trainings more than once during the day so if a person is holding multiple positions on the Service Team they can attend the training for all of the positions they hold. Timeframe TBA

Trainers/Trainings Training Module and Handouts are updated yearly to ensure most current GSESC and GSUSA updates are included Meeting individually or regionally with active trainers Monthly Owl’s Newsletter Trainer Loop Yearly Trainer Evaluation Train the Trainer to recruit new Trainers Michaela Watts answered by explaining that follow up does occur with Trainers who are not training on a regular basis. Regional Trainer meetings are held annually. Suggestion of having a volunteer “Supervisor of Trainers” drop in on trainings to maintain quality control. Ruth, we are always looking for new trainers.

How do I get information on what trainings the Leaders in my Service Unit have taken? Michaela Watts answered by letting the group know that their VSS can provide them with that information. Volunteer Support Specialist can look up training information on volunteers

Why does CPR/1st Aid cost so much? Cost to log class with ARC and AHA Cost of the Student Manual Each Troop should have at least of hard copy of the book Michaela Watts explained the costs we have to pay to American Red Cross and/or American Heart Association. ARC and AHA update their resources every two years, which occurred in June/July of 2016; therefore no price scale this year. Each Troop should have at least on hard copy of the Student Manual as a reference guide. If a Troop already had the book that the price can be modified. Direct classed through ARC and AHA generally are a much higher cost. Volunteers can also contact the local Police or Fire department to see if they are offering a low or no cost class.

Troop Camping Originally a 2-night training has been broken into Planning Trips with Girls Troop Camping which is an overnight training Troop Camping is a hands-on skills training For many volunteers the overnight portion is the first time they spend the night in the out-of-doors A lot of leaders don’t have it. Can a portion of it be online? Why does it have to be an overnight experience when 8 hours is spent sleeping. Originally Troop Camp training was a two night training. Troop Camp Training is a hands-on course. The paperwork part of the training has already been moved into Planning Trips with Girls, which is the pre-requisite. It is an overnight training because this is the 1st time a lot of the people taking the training are experiencingsleeping in the out-of-doors.

Trainings do not tell a Leader how to do Girl Scouts Portfolio Training is the hands-on training which does teach volunteers how to use the Journey books and the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting Portfolio training is currently not a required training but highly recommended The Service Team does have a Mentor position Leadership Essentials gives the ins and outs of a Troop but does not give information on how to actually run a Troop and work with the Girls. Each Service Team has a Mentor Position per Grade Level. A mentorship program should be developed.

Troop Finances Troop Finances are covered in Leadership Essentials Looking at other Councils and their resources Enrichment course will be offered at the Membership Kickoff Lots of Troops do not know how to handle Troop finances and a financial training needs to be offered. This could be done online. One of the committee members will be e-mailing Michaela a finance report from another council that we should look at adopting.

Leaders make sacrifices to attend trainings but Council is not making sacrifices Council Trainers are volunteers Certain Trainings need a minimum number of participants such as “Planning Trips with Girls” and “Troop Camping” Offering Trainings regionally Offering a Train the Trainer annually to recruit more Trainers Committee member states that trainings that her leaders have made sacrifices to attend have been cancelled because the lack of participation. Why can’t Council train for 1 or 2 people? Michaela Watts explained that the majority of trainings are conducted by Volunteer Trainers. She said that some Trainers will train for less than 5 people but it is up to them to make that decision. Some trainings can’t be done with so few people. For example, Planning Trips with Girls has group activities that is not effective with 1 or 2 people.

Online Training Leadership Essentials could be turned into an online training but people must be held accountable for taking it. Portfolio trainings as well. Looking forward to seeing how the online Cookie Training goes this Cookie season.

Girl Scout National Convention – Amy Kosar

Questions?