Brownie Troop 2502
Girl Scout cookie sales officially begin on January 9th. At the January 6th meeting, we will be discussing cookie selling safety rules, individual and troop goals, and incentives.
There are four material benefits to the cookie sales:
· $.45 per box stays in the troop account
· a portion of every box benefits the Circle T Council
· Individual incentives
· Cookie credits
Orders taken between January 9 and January 26 will earn individual incentives as well as Cookie Credits. Once this initial order is turned in to the troop, the girls may continue taking orders and selling cookies all the way through March 7th to earn additional Cookie Credits. ALL cookies sold during the 2004 sale will earn profits for both our troop, and the Circle T Council.
Cookie Credits are dollar amounts that may be used in any of the Girl Scout stores, or to pay for summer Hot Stuff activities, or even day/resident camp. Any girl who sells 220 boxes of cookies will earn enough cookie credits to attend one week of summer day camp free of charge, for example. Girls begin earning Cookie Credits with 80 boxes of cookie sales.
The girls will be coming home tonight with a troop goal sheet. Your leaders came up with several possible goals for the girls, investigated costs, broke down the cost by boxes of cookies, and then by number of girls. During the meeting, the girls will have voted on which goal they would like to work towards, and that will be circled on the sheet. The number ‘of boxes each’ equates to each girl’s contribution to the troop goal.
In addition to a troop goal, the girls will be looking at the incentives offered by the Circle T Council as well as the Cookie Credit sheet and deciding what they would like to earn and setting individual goals.
Your support in this year’s cookie sale benefits us all in many ways. If you have any questions regarding the cookie sale, please contact Jessica, Michelle, or Crystal (our troop’s cookie manager!).
Cookie Shop
Our troop has signed up for a tabletop Cookie Shop in front of our local Blockbuster. Our assigned time slot is February 20 between 4:00 and 9:00 pm. We will be circulating a sign up sheet at a later meeting for working at our cookie shop. Here are some things to know about tabletop cookie shops:
Troops that hold tabletop cookie shops are twice as likely to meet their goals as troops that do not.
Cookie shops usually require fewer hours of adult commitment than door-to-door sales
A cookie shop can help our troop reach more customers and give the girls more opportunities to practice their people skills.
New Look
The Circle T Council website has a whole new look!
· New drop-down menus!
· Easier navigation!
· A search feature!
· Bold, bright colors and graphics!
Check it out at www.circletgsc.org
Thinking Day
The month of January will be largely dedicated to preparation for our community’s Thinking Day event: Friends Around the World.
We will be assigning areas of research to each girl, and when they report back we will incorporate all of our information into a troop display. When all of our hard work is complete, we will invite the parents to come view our presentation (probably some time in February – date TBD).
Please help your Girl Scout by guiding her research. We will give them ideas on how/where to do research, but they will need your support.
Our chosen country, Ireland, should be a lot of fun for the girls. We plan to serve a traditional food, learn a folk dance, and teach others who visit our booth all about Brownie Girl Guides in Ireland.
Meeting Recaps
December 2 – We made quite a mess and had a lot of fun creating the coolest bird feeders ever! They incorporated toast, peanut butter, bird seed, cheerios, and carrots all strung together!!!
December 6 – The Birds’ Christmas Tree at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. The girls all enjoyed singing along to Christmas carols and chatting with Santa.
December 9 – We made our own gingerbread man yarn dolls (and a few gingerbread women too!). We enjoyed Christmas music and treats and each girl received the awards she had earned to date.
December 18 – Christmas caroling at The Palm House was very well received. We had a few parents who really carried us in the singing department (Natalie’s DAD!!). The girls were adorable and the residents brightened with delight, one even invited us all in to see her Santa Claus collection. The director invited us back to sing again next year.
December photos will go up soon on our website: www.oocities.org/troop2502
January Girl Scout Recruitment
On Tuesday, January 13, during our regular meeting, a Girl Scout recruitment will be going on at the First Baptist church (our meeting location). Our troop has been asked to walk over and sing a song during this recruitment, so be sure to wear your vest/uniform that night!
Spring Break Day Camp
Bluebonnet Trails, our Girl Scout Community, will be holding a day camp the week of March 15 – 19. The cost is $40 per girl and it runs from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm daily.
Brownie Valentines
It’s time to make those wonderful Brownie Valentines! Brownie Girl Scouts in the Circle T Council have been doing this for many years, and this service project gives Brownies the opportunity to be creative and show they care. Our Brownie troop can be a part of brightening someone’s day and letting them know they are remembered and appreciated. We will be making valentines as a troop during our January 20th meeting.
The mailing: More than 1000 valentines will be sent out to national and local elected officials, school superintendents, principals, and other friends of the community. Many of these valentines get responses from their recipients. Once the mailing is complete, the remainder of the valentines will be distributed to nursing homes, hospitals, and senior citizens centers.
The contest: Categories are prettiest, funniest, most creative and best verse. Each Brownie may submit only one valentine for judging, and must specify its category. However, Brownies are encouraged to submit multiple valentines for the mailing. Please print entry information on a separate slip of paper and paper clip to your valentine – do not write on the card itself.
The winners: Winning valentines in each category will be on display at the Girl Scout Center in February and mentioned in the April/May Circle T Trails publication.