Girl Scouts (in Ohio)

One of the first things I did when moving to Ohio was to find a new Girl Scout troop for my oldest daughter. Our troop in Kentucky was very active and since I was the leader, I think that it was well-organized....not perfect, but pretty good. I started the troop when my daughter was a Daisy and kept it going into Brownies up until this past month when we had our last "she-bang." During that time period, our troop worked on over 30 Try-Its and attended twice as many events. My daughter's sash has overlapping badges and patches (much like mine when I was a Brownie.) Girl Scouts has been a big part of our lives in this family and something that we enjoy.

So, the troop here in Ohio, come to find out, is a new troop. They just started up this year, and only one other girl in the troop had any previous Girl Scout experience (and that was only 1 year.) The leaders do not pre-plan meetings. In fact, if they do not have anything planned they just talk to the girls or let them run around and play. The leader, who is very nice, could not answer any of the questions I had about the future bridging up to Juniors. In fact, she had never heard of "bridging." This scared me.

The disorganization and lack of communication of this troop totally baffles me. I understand that the parents who are the leader and co-leader had not planned on being in those positions and rather found themselves thrust into. But where is the training for them? I find it hard to believe that they are not better prepared! I rounded up some of the left-over supplies I had and offered them to the group. I offered to make them a troop songbook (still haven't heard back on that one) but the leader did applaud my idea of actually singing songs! Really! They had not sang any songs- not even the Brownie Smile song! Gasp!

After one meeting, my daughter told me that they did the Girl Scout sign like the Boy Scouts, using only two fingers. ??????Huh????? Everything in me is freaking out. I am sad to say that because my husband works 2nd shift, there is little I can do to help. Though, let me assure you, that I have tried to offer what assistance I can and most of it has gone unused. I did send a craft to do this past week for the troop meeting (they only meet every 2 weeks) and my daughter said that the girls loved it! They had never done a craft!!!

Needless to say, the current leader and co-leader have already asked me (begged me, really) to be the leader next year. I told them that depends on my husband getting on a different shift. They said that they would be praying for it.