Starting the New Scouting Year in a Pandemic

Hi fellow leaders! It has been an insanely long time since I have written a post on this blog. Between running my school virtually and a personal health crisis in my family, updating this blog went to the backburner. In fact, on my main Girl Scout blog, I wrote one post in May and did not write another until mid-August.

Photo created by the author on Canva

Leaders of all levels are facing something that none of us has ever dealt with before...starting the new scouting year during a pandemic. For established leaders, it was difficult enough hanging on to the girls that they had. Many tried, and there was uneven success. Distance scouting is not for everyone, and with parents worried about working from home and deaing with their children's school work, adding anything else to the pile was too much. As the principal of a supplementary Hebrew School, we had students disappear. Even with my close relationships with the families, they told me that they were on overload with the sudden closing of school. No coercing on my part could get them to change their minds.

So here we are...some of you are back to school and some of you have another week to go. A few of you are brand new leaders and some of you have a year under your belt.

For those of you who are new, here is my advice to you:

Take it Easy on Yourself

Recruit your girls, see how you can meet (in person or virtually), and then start your meetings. Do not worry about having a large number of girls; having enough to establish a troop is all that you need.

Work Only on the Petals

The focus of the first Girl Scout Daisy year should be learning the Girl Scout Law and what each petal represents. In the past, Daisies were only one year-kindergarten-and that was all they did. It was a gentle way to introduce youngsters to Girl Scouting. Yes, there are many badges available that the girls can earn, but the point of Daisies is to establish the scouting foundation. You can do a badge, of course, it should not be the primary focus.

I created this calendar of meetings from September to December for you to follow so that your troop can easily earn some badges to start the year. This blog post is for Daisy Meetings January to May. I will be updating them in the future.

No Fundraising

In the past, Daisies were not allowed to fundraise. It personally drives me insane to see ne leaders worrying about the nut and magaizne sale when they only met with their troop once! Cookies are a whole different matter, and I feel that first year leaders should just back off and do it their second year. Dues and creativity can go a long way. 

For those leaders who are starting their second year, here is my advice for you.

Be Grateful

Did you lose some girls due to the pandemic? Most troops did. It can be very disheartening to lose a girl, and you need to remember not to take it personally. Even with no pandemic, you are going to lose girls for a variety of reasons. enjoy those who reregistered and move on.

I wrote this blog post about leaders losing their mojo and how to get it back. It has some advice on how to launch the year with your best foot forward.

Do you have any tips to share as you being the new scouting year?