#gsusa

[camp-counselor-life]

Live blogging the GSUSA National Session:

1140 am (all times are ET): the livestream, currently in the pre-meeting phase, has ended due to technical difficulties.

9 minutes before the meeting starts: New link is sent out. Had to make a whole new YouTube page.

noon: meeting officially starts

1220 pm: National Board (adult board) director makes a plea to give them the fee increase because that's what Girl Scouts is worth, because she's a Daisy leader in NYC and she gets it.

1 pm: the meeting has not actually started yet beyond the board chair speaking because of technical issues. The leader just told everyone to "log out and log back in again."

[spark123]

Successfully gave my first solo archery lesson today! And no middle schoolers were harmed in the process!

[just-here-for-the-moment]

As a Girl Scout (I was a girl member and an adult leader), this is going to negatively impact SO many girls.

If you could sign the petition and/or pass it along I would really appreciate it!!

[help-help-i-need-an-adult]

Girl Scouts of America takes credit for the invention of the s’more. They should do something.

GBBO: “A s’more is basically just an Italian merengue sandwiched between two ganache-covered digestives”

Americans:

[rover-reindeer]

Scouts, fall in!

Hello, this is the official tumblr for the Rover Reindeer YouTube channel. We are dedicated to educating everyone on essential scout skills. This includes, but is not limited to: Camping, Bushcraft, Wilderness Survival, First Aid, Ecology, Leadership, History, Health, Public Speaking, Tool Safety, Scouting Traditions, and much much more. We believe that Scouting skills can be beneficial to anyone and everyone and should be readily available for all.

This is an INCLUSIVE Scouting space. As we say, "Scouting Skills for All." Racism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Ableism, and any other kind of actions or words that we deem unscoutly will not be tolerated.

Meet Rover Reindeer! (They/Them Pronouns)

Rover Reindeer aka Rena (She/They) is the main host of our channel. They are a long-time scout and scouter. They joined Scouting via the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 2009, earned their Eagle Scout in 2014, and were involved in several of the BSA's sub-branches and programs: National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT), Venturing BSA, Sea Scouts BSA, Order of the Arrow (Vigil Honor Member), Woodbadge, Color Guard, and more! They retired from the BSA in 2020 due to personal life circumstances.

Currently, they are now a brand new Lone Scout Rover via the Outdoor Service Guides (OSG) [Formerly the Baden-Powell Service Association] They look forward to helping you learn the skills you need to know for Scouting and for Life.

Please, feel free to send any questions, comments, or concerns you have to the Scoutmaster Ask Box. Submissions are also welcome, whether it's your newest camp gadget, a delicious Dutch oven meal, or any awards you have earned so that we can celebrate your accomplishments!

DISCLAIMER: We are NOT officially associated with the BSA, GSUSA, OSG, 4H, AHG, or any other Youth/Scouting Program mentioned in our content.

PLEASE NOTE: That while many of these skills are universal, certain aspects (such as history, flag code, color guard tips and tricks, etc.) will be have a focus on Scouting in the US as that is where we have our Scouting History with.

[camp-counselor-life]

Ok, so I'm gathering my thoughts about the dues (45 next year & 65 in 2 years for girls, 30 for adults) and this whole thing, and I'm just gonna do bullet points, because it won't be coherent until I'm done:

I am grateful it didn't increase more, because GSUSA was pushing for $85+ for girls and $45 for adults.

I think that GSUSA could have done this differently and more equitably, as well as presented a lot of their facts earlier or in a better way. For example, shortly before the vote for girl, GSUSA's CEO revealed that they would pass significant and required costs down to councils if they didn't get the dues increase (they might still do this bc they didn't get as much as they want).

They also presented the financial assistance to councils as this huge boon of income, but failed to note that 3 million spread over 110 councils isn't a lot, but also that the need for FA is going to increase, not stay the same.

In that vein, I think a lot of councils didn't accurately represent what GSUSA does for councils and girls directly (though a lot of the FB chatter I saw did) to their delegates. Which isn't the delegate's fault at all.

Because of all of this, I like, I don't entirely fault the delegates for voting how they did. I think it was part incompetence & a lil manipulative, but the way everything has gone down with this whole shenanigans has been rushed & messy, and I think that the volunteer delegates did the best that they could. Especially while being livestreamed not only to the 1000 delegates, board members, and staff on the zoom call, but another 1000+ on the YouTube livestream AND they knew they'd probably be disparaged online too. Beyond the next two bullet points, I thought the kids and volunteers did a decent job with what they had.

The most common reason I heard for why we should increase the dues was to show the value of GS. So, in doing this, a lot of delegates outright said, if you don't vote to increase dues, you are saying GS isn't valued like "other organizations."

Saying that we "don't value" Girl Scouts if we don't agree with the increase is a lot of things, and I understand the moment was heated, but like it's kinda rude. And a lot of people said that.

I actually missed the part where GSUSA made their case, but like, I've heard the spiel two other times at work. A lot of what's being offered at the higher levels of funding is stuff that they have been promising for a while, or stuff that's really not super optional. Why it costs as much as it does is another question.

They told us they expect a 12% decrease in membership (this is probs not public knowledge) but none of us really believe that.

Not to stereotype areas of the country, because girls of all levels of affluence/SES live everywhere, but a lot of councils speaking in favor of the increase were larger, more suburban & affluent areas, whereas councils being like, wtf, why would you do that, were much more rural, small, and less affluent areas. One delegate was even like, this is a slap in the face after we just had multiple hurricanes devastate our area.

I saw someone online be like, expenses can be worked around. Ok, maybe in the middle and upper classes, but if your choice is you and your kid joining GS or eating for 2 weeks, what do you think the right choice is there???

GSUSA isn't offering financial assistance to councils for this increase until we hit $65, and they originally said for 5 years, but now it's 4, because it was actually "once we hit $65 and then only until 2030." Gonna be real, we get 0 from GSUSA right now anyway. Because, as I have said, councils pay GSUSA for their members who get scholarships.

Lastly, I saw someone say that GS pays too much if this is the financial situation and like.... I don't know if that was only national or everyone, but I'm gonna say it again: I 100% guarantee that your direct service staff are not being paid too much.

So, overall, am I happy? No, not really. Do I recognize, as a lifetime member with no plans to have children, that this doesn't effect me directly as much as many members? Yes. Will it still effect me as a staff member? Yeah, it will.

But. I do think that Girl Scouts will survive this, in some way. Will it survive in a way that makes me want to participate in 5, 10, 25 year? I'm not sure. Will Girl Scouts always be in my life though?

Yes, I imagine it will.

[finalfortunart]

Hi, I've got an update on my online shop in the form of two new products, a ceramic mug (with colored handle and insides) and vinyl stickers. It took a bit longer than the tote bags to get these ready because neither looked as good as I wanted them to in the first samples I ordered, but they're here and ready now!

Both feature my red eft design, and 10% of the profit from the sale of these products will be donated to the Friends of Timbercrest, a volunteer group in western New York that helps maintain and run events at Camp Timbercrest, owned by the GSUSA. You can find all the red eft products here!

[laus-deo]

El arzobispo de Cincinnati rompe con las Girl Scouts por su apoyo a la ideología de género

El arzobispo de Cincinnati (Ohio, EE.UU), Dennis Schnurr, anunció el lunes que todas las parroquias de la archidiócesis deben finalizar sus relaciones con la organización Girl Scouts de Estados Unidos (GSUSA) antes de diciembre de 2025, debido a sus actividades incompatibles con la fe católica. Leer más… »

[girl-scout-camp]

Hi! What do you mean by a "cluncil"? How do I find a local one?

I always wanted to be a Girl Scout growing up but I was super super shy and couldn't get up the courage to join. As an adult, can I volunteer to work with my local Girl Scouts in any way even if I myself don't (yet) have kids?

Here is a handy dandy little infographic that I borrowed from google that I feel like is a good visual

Within GSUSA are councils. Councils are in charge of things such as the camps within their area and trainings. Within councils are service units. Service units are comprised of volunteers and they are in charge of things like planning events for the girls within their area and helping individual troops.

Having kids is not a requirement for any position within Girl Scouts as far as I am aware. Most positions require you to be at least 18, some require you to be at least 21.

I know a lot more about camp specifically than all of girl scouting because while I was (and still am!) a girl scout I’ve only worked within camp and all my volunteering with council is organized through people I’ve met at camp or at events. However, @camp-counselor-life is a lovely human who knows a lot and suggests the following:

Here is a link to a website where you can plug in your zip code and it tells you your local council and gives you the contact info for them.

If you have any further questions I am more than happy to try to answer them!

[camp-counselor-life]

Things GSUSA should do:

Help councils & council staff serve the actual Girl Scouts

Have functional technology that they require us to pay them for

Create resources to adequately serve all members and girls

Generally be a good leader for the 110+ councils

Things GSUSA is actually good at:

Not answering emails

Making absurd grant requirements and reporting procedures that they delay communication about for 6 months

Being spineless in which weapons company's money they take this year

Losing more money in a single year than many councils have in total income

Just a little salty right now.

[camp-counselor-life]

Ok, GS staff member at a council (not GSUSA/Girl Scouts of the USA) here. All of the above about cookie proceeds not going to GSUSA is 100% true. Your local council or troop gets all proceeds. It's, in fact, the main revenue source for 100+ locally serving organizations around the country and world. Councils are doing the on the ground work, actually supporting children, not GSUSA, because Girl Scouts is not actually one organization, it's 112.

The Raytheon thing is unfortunate. Basically, they sponsored some badges in 2018-19 era. GSUSA is... indiscriminate about who it accepts money from. Seriously, they will bend over backwards for any organization who offers a 100k. I wish they had more of a backbone, I really do, because inevitably it's the local councils and children who had absolutely nothing to do with GSUSA's decisions that take the anger and confusion. Often volunteers and the Girl Scouts themselves have no idea what you're even talking about.

If you really want to know, Girl Scouts is a federated model, so councils are about 95% independent from GSUSA in decision making, funding, and more, BUT, GSUSA has final say on policy and certain programmatic elements, which we agree to in our charter (renewed for 1-3 years at a time). I don't like that we partnered with Raytheon on those badge (and many other questionable funding decisions) but I have to use that curriculum because that's what GSUSA mandates.

So, does GSUSA partner with Raytheon? Not currently. Will they partner with other shitty organizations in the future? Probably, as their philanthropy stance is pretty spineless. Can the children, volunteers, and councils do anything about it? Absolutely not. And, will your cookie money go to support it? Nope, not at all.

haven't seen anyone post this yet this year so friendly reminder that you can use the girl scout cookie tracker to find cookie booths in your area if you don't know any kiddos who are selling

[scouting-culture-is]

if it's not too personal what scouting group/rank are you in right now?

hi there! i am a minor, so i won't be sharing my level, but i am in GSUSA! this is my 6th year in girl scouts and i really like it- i feel like there's also a completionist aspect to it, i just want to get all the awards and all the badges! i am hoping to get my gold award eventually :D

[callmedarthrevan]

Hey I saw your tag about no gs booths at the rich grocery store and that's because the councils have approved locations and times. Cookie season this year has just started across the nation, so you might still see them there but you might not because the franchise owner of that particular location didn't give permission for any number of reasons

Anyway good luck on finding your cookie fix! -from a no longer a girl but still a scout 🏕

So true! Thanks for reminding me, it's been like 7 years since I was actively a girl scout (and like 2 years since I was actively a girl lol). I wonder if my manager just doesnt like girl scouts or if corporate doesnt or if. God forbid. Theyd rather sell the fucking keebler knockoffs at teeny tiny rates than let girls comes in and fundraise for whatever fucking thing they want.

(I've gone on rants about cookie sales and the GSUSA being like. Exploitative of its child labor force before, anyone ask and I will again please thank you)

[rebeleden]

Health Matters: Here’s How The Girl Scouts Of The USA Are Prioritizing Mental Wellness | Essence

100

[camp-counselor-life]

The vote is happening in the next like 5 minutes, so let's all cross our fingers that this gets voted down veeeeeeery soon.

And also that they don't counter with $85.

Increasing the girl membership fee from $25 to $65 is absolutely insane

[omgculturemagazine]

Girl Scouts of the USA Selects Noorain F. Khan as New National Board President

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has elected Noorain F. Khan as its new National Board President, effective July 19, 2023. Khan is the first Muslim American and millennial leader to hold the position. #girlscoutsusa

Noorain F. Khan, GSUSA National Board member and esteemed nonprofit leader, has been elected to the position As GSUSA’s National Board President, Noorain Fatima Khan will lead the organization for the 2023–2026 triennium, starting July 19, 2023. An alumna of Girl Scouts and the first Muslim American and millennial member of the board, Khan is an inspiration to girls, volunteers, and staff of the…