Why Be a Girl Scout Early Bird? At Girl Scouts, there are new adventures around every corner. Renew girl and adult memberships during Early Bird to discover and accomplish even bigger things with your troop – imagine the possibilities!

Get a head start on the 2020-2021 year and earn cool incentives by renewing early. Register your troop during Early Bird, from April 15 to June 30, 2020, and girls will receive a FREE patch. Co-leaders will receive a FREE T-shirt. Get more details at www.GirlScoutsNebraska.org/EarlyBird.

Our Early Bird First Day Incentive is back! Girls who renew on April 15 will earn an exclusive entrepreneur-themed program and patch! Early Bird as a troop so your members can complete the patch program together. The program features fun activities for all ages to get girls excited about next year’s theme, being a #GirlScoutBoss.

VolunteerNewsMarch/April 2020

Pledge to Help with Back-to-School Activities Back-to-school time is the best time to introduce more girls to Girl Scouts, and we need your help! There are several ways your troop can assist, including:

1 Call families interested in joining.

2 Host a recruitment table at your girl’s current or former elementary school.

3 Talk to school principals about hosting a recruitment table.

Time spent helping will count toward earning the Service to Girl Scouting Bar, and all girls who help with back-to-school activities will earn a fun patch!

Details coming soon!

SPIRIT OF NEBRASKA

2020EARLYBIRD

Come Camporee with Us!

Join us at the Spirit of Nebraska Camporee, May 29-31, at Camp Arrowhead in Lexington for swimming, canoeing, crafts, fishing, and much more! The camporee brings together Girl Scouts from across Nebraska and the region to have fun in the outdoors. It’s a great way to meet sister Girl Scouts while learning and putting outdoor skills to use.

Be sure to bring SWAPS, activities like outdoor badge work, and games. Enhance your camporee fun by adding an archery or horseback riding experience. We’ll provide giant campfires, s’mores, and songs each night!

Become an Honor TroopDid your troop complete a Journey, plan your year in the Volunteer Toolkit, and participate in at least one Take Action service project? Then you’re on your way to becoming an Honor Troop. In this free patch program, every troop completes 16 mandatory requirements (which most troops already do) as well as additional activities based on their Girl Scout level.

Honor troops receive a special certificate, and co-leaders can use a template to create a certificate for each girl. The application deadline is June 30, 2020. Patches and certificates will be distributed at August/September Volunteer Meetings.

Find the Honor Troop application in the Forms section of GirlScoutsNebraska.org, under “Troop, Co-Leader, and Service Unit.”

Attend artVenture from Anywhere in the StateartVenture auctions are coming up in Omaha (March 28) and Lincoln (April 25). If you can’t attend in person, you can still participate in the silent auctions by becoming a remote bidder. Simply sign up at bit.ly/2020artVentureOmaha or bit.ly/2020artVentureLincoln and bid on your favorite artwork from the comfort of your own home! artVenture is Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska’s only fundraising event with proceeds nearing $200,000 to support our programs.

We also need event volunteers (ages 21 and older). If you are interested, email Ellen at eking@girlscoutsnebraska.org.

Share the Girl Scout Experience!You and your troop know how much fun it is to earn badges and go on outdoor adventures. Imagine if every girl had the opportunity to be a Girl Scout? You can help make that happen!

We’re asking all Girl Scout Daisy troops to invite kindergarten girls and their families to a troop meeting. Take the Daisy Pledge by March 31, and we’ll get you everything you need. Plus, each girl in your troop who brings a younger girl to a meeting will earn this fun patch! Get all the details on our blog or contact your local recruitment specialist.

Not a Daisy? Older girls can join the fun by inviting friends to join their Girl Scout meetings anytime!

Make Sure Your Voice Counts How does Girl Scouts achieve its mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place? By focusing on the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Through every Girl Scout activity, program, and award, girls learn to thrive in five areas essential to success in school and in life!

Girl Scout Leadership Experience Outcomes:

1 Sense of Self

2 Positive Values

3 Challenge Seeking

4 Community Problem Solving

5 Healthy Relationships

To learn whether girls are achieving these outcomes, we need your help! Girls, parents, and volunteers will be asked to participate in Girl Scout Voices Count surveys, beginning in April. Please share your experiences to ensure Girl Scouts is meeting the needs of today's girls and providing experiences that build tomorrow's leaders. Tell us about your troop activities, how your troop helps your community, what you like best, and even what you aren't so fond of in Girl Scouting. We need to know it all! To learn more about Girl Scout Outcomes, watch our training on GirlScoutsNebraska.org under Volunteer Resources > Volunteer Training > Co-Leader Training.

We Love Hearing from You!Whether it’s individual girl successes, troop accomplishments, or questions, our staff members enjoy hearing about you and your troop. Often these conversations make it into newsletters, volunteer meetings, and social media. If one person has questions, others probably do too.

We are also here if you experience challenges. Please reach out to us before these situations change the way you feel about Girl Scouts. Regardless of how big or how small, we can work together to find a solution. Your feedback helps improve the Girl Scout experience!

Let us know your intent for the end of this year and the beginning of the next Girl Scout year by completing the "Troop End of Year Review" on GirlScoutsNebraska.org under Forms.

Join Our Alum Association Girl Scouts is a lifelong adventure, full of friendship, connection, service, and fun! That’s why every year, alums from all over the country reconnect with us to share how Girl Scouts affected their lives and to give girls the same awesome experiences they had growing up.

The Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska Alum Association is open to all former Girl Scouts from all levels of participation, including leaders, parents, and supporters. It is the perfect way to stay connected to the sisterhood of Girl Scouts and engage with others in your area who share your interests and maintain their passion for Girl Scouts. There is no cost for membership and joining is easy. Visit our website and click "Alum" or visit our council Facebook page and request to join our private Girl Scouts Alum Association group.

Celebrating Volunteer Awards

Congratulations to all our Volunteer Award recipients and thank you to all who submitted nominations! Recipients will be recognized at Volunteer Award Receptions across the state.

Find the details and register online at www.GirlScoutsNebraska.org/VolAwards.

Also, be sure to join us as we honor the Girl Scouts who earned their Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards

at our annual Girl Award Ceremonies! Dates, times, and locations are on our website.

Our Earth, Our Future Passports The Our Earth, Our Future Passports can be found in your Annual Program Book or downloaded from GirlScoutsNebraska.org (under Publications). Keep the fun going all year by trying new things and collecting stamps as you go. Redeem the stamps and earn cool prizes for girls and co-leaders, including a Program Credit!

Special T’weens & Teens Leadership ProgramsDon't let your middle school girls miss Every Girl CAN (Choose, Advocate, Navigate) Lead! This leadership conference, exclusively for middle school girls, will take place April 4 on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Participants will network with other Girl Scouts, engage in hands-on activities, hear inspiring speakers, and strengthen their leadership skills!

Applications are being accepted for this summer's highly-regarded YWEAchieve and YWECamp programs just for high school girls. YWEAchieve is a three-day entrepreneurship and business skills exploration program held at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. YWECamp is a five-day mentoring, leadership, and camping experience at Camp Catron near Nebraska City.

Both of these YWE programs are FREE, but space is limited. Girls must apply and be selected to attend. Application deadlines are Friday, May 1, 2020. Find the applications at GirlScoutsNebraska.org under Programs > T’weens & Teens.

Notes

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