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| WINTER 2008 |
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Words from Maureen Quinn The Global Girl Scouting team is growing as Girl Scouts of the USA continues its transformation for the 21st century. Our team now includes Nicole Mayhorn, (see Global Girl Scouting Staff photo), Program Manager for the destinations program. Welcome Nicole! Laura Thielges joined GSUSA in November as our Regional Consultant for Europe and Africa. We are so glad to have Laura, who brings council and overseas experience. Stephanie Cabrera, Manager of Girl Leadership Strategies, has taken on the challenge of incorporating girls’ voices in our work. We’re also happy to present the faces of our staff team with USAGSO-West Pacific (Japan, Korea & Okinawa) and USAGSO-North Atlantic (Germany). The Global team is busy preparing for the WAGGGS World Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July. At the conference, we plan to share our work from last year’s Global Roundtable, which focused on the benefits of the single gender experience. We’re looking forward to reaching out to Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world.
....................................................................... The New Girl Scout Leadership Experience will debut in this fall. You will be excited to learn about the new Girl Scout Journeys, and remember many of the existing resources will continue for a long period of time. The rollout is not complete until 2010. To learn more about the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience, see the article beginning on page 4 of the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of LEADER. Discover the power of webinar technology! USA Girl Scouts Overseas is introducing webinar technology as a way to connect our fabulous Overseas Committees around the world! Webinars offer a multi-media approach to meetings when participants are in a variety of locations. Participants connect online to a Power Point presentation that frames the meeting. Participants can communicate though text-chat and microphone (when equipment is available to support it). The moderator in New York speaks over the Internet to facilitate the meeting. The introduction meetings are intended to familiarize you with the technology and introduce participants to each other. The ideas and opinions of participants will inform the way we go forward using webinars. Please join us for the webinar most convenient for you. Please RSVP to Laura Thielges, lthielges@girlscouts.org before March 14, 2008. Western Hemisphere Eastern Hemisphere Participation in the webinar requires the following: Fourteen skilled and dedicated volunteers from around the globe have joined together to become the Global Training Team. They will be available to Overseas Committees as experts in training on a variety of topics such as: Train the Facilitator Certification, Overseas Committee Chair Training, program component and age-level courses, and more. By using the "Global Training Team Request for Training" form Overseas Committee Chairs can jump-start their collaboration with nearby committees to bring training to their volunteers in a convenient location. Global Training Team members are matched to overseas locations depending upon their availability, competencies, and geographic proximity. Priority is given to requesting committees that guarantee a large number of participants from the host committee and several neighboring committees. The Global Training Team seeks to have as broad an impact as possible. In May, Global Training Team members will travel to Austin, Texas to attend one of several GSUSA Spring Conferences to become experts on the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience. After the training, the team will set out into the world to train others on the new program. Please join us in welcoming the following volunteers to the 2008-2010 Global Training Team: Chris Alford-Japan Several global regional trainings will be offered in the fall. At this time, confirmed locations include: It is so important for all of us to think about continuity in our work with girls. Every Overseas Committee Chair (OCC) should ask the question; if I leave this location today will USA Girl Scouts Overseas continue tomorrow? If your answer is no this means you need a plan in place that will allow Girl Scouts to carry on. We know that families are often in transition when living overseas and it is also very hard for girls to adjust when activities that they love come to a halt abruptly. This is why it is so important for every Overseas Committee to identify someone that may be a potential co-OCC or at least a back-up person until a new OCC can be found. This means a current 725 form must be kept on file at New York office at all times. USAGSO has tried to make this process as convenient as possible, so if you know that you will be the same OCC for the next membership year just send an email to the overseas mail box overseas@girlscouts.org by the close of the school year and we will update your 725 form. However, if you do not know at that time who will be the replacement we still need a contact person as your overseas committee continues the search for a new OCC........................................................................ Sandy’s Corner (Sandy Thomas, Director, USAGSO) A message to all the volunteers who make USAGSO possible! "This little light of mine… Winds of change are blowing at Girl Scouts of the USA. Why? When the organization examined its "flame" it decided that to remain the brightest light possible for girls, changes were needed. So, it is a very exciting time to be a Girl Scout! How can we keep our lights shining? By being ready to be leaders in this time of transformation. Our lights have to be bright enough to illuminate the lights of others. Each of us must shine our own light – and share our passion for Girl Scouting – so we can pass it on to others. I challenge you to find your passion for Girl Scouting and let it SHINE! Whatever it is about Girl Scouting that is real for you – that stirs within you – that gives you the energy to shine and empower others to shine, find it! Take your bright light and share it with others! Keep lighting candles – one by one – until your entire location is shining as one bright light. Shining like a no-longer-environmentally-correct bonfire…one enormous beacon for girls. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…you’re going to let it shine….and together, we’re going to let it shine! |
National Council Session July 25 – 28, 2008: USAGSO From A to Z Conference October 29 - 30, 2008: Live Healthy, Lead Healthy--Girl Scout Leadership Institute (formerly Girl Congress) Indianapolis, Indiana, open to girls in grades 6-12. (Details will be available at a later date.) Forms must include a check made payable to United of Omaha Life Insurance Company in U.S. dollars. (If you prefer to send a wire transfer, contact Judy Seigler at jseigler@girlscouts.org for instructions.) If any of the girls you work with registers as a Teen for Planet Earth, please contact María L. Cabán. mcaban@girlscouts.org. Applications are now being accepted from any Girl Scout who received (or will receive) her Girl Scout Gold Award between October 1, 2006 and April 30, 2008. Girls who wish to apply for this special honor are encouraged to download an application for questions email ywod@girlscouts.org. 
Global citizen: A person who understands and appreciates cultural differences and strives to instill this virtue in others. "Lucky for me," says Ava, "Black history wasn't just focused on a particular month of the year. It was a constant part of my life." To honor African American history in Paris, Ava developed a Girl Scout patch so girls could learn about the influence of African Americans in France and America. Read about Ava’s accomplishments and consider how girls can celebrate Black History Month in your community--abroad or at home The purpose of the Lady Baden-Powell Award is to foster a friendly and productive long-term relationship between Girl Scouts living in a USA Girl Scouts Overseas country and the Girl Guides/Girl Scouts within the WAGGGS host country. USAGSO is encouraging every Overseas Committee to link up with the Girl Guide Association in their country. www.wagggsworld.org Please share your stories of sisterhood by writing to overseas@girlscouts.org. The seminar focused on teaching participants about HIV/AIDS, relating what Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world are doing to combat the disease in their communities, and advocating for girls around the world. Aldrinana, a recent graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, is currently completing an internship with UNICEF in Hong Kong. Congratulations to all the Girl Scouts who earned the Lady Baden-Powell Award, Bronze and Gold Award Recipients! (as of 10/07) Lady Baden-Powell Award Bronze Awards: Gold Awards: Mexico The goals of the Twinning Pilot Project are to: 1.Enhance membership recruitment and retention though cross-cultural programs for girls and increased global awareness As a result of meeting, representatives from each country and Girl Scout council members developed two-year action plans to maintain a relationship and work on projects with such themes as leadership development, self-esteem for girls, environment, and healthy living. If there are any USA Girl Scout Overseas Committees in these five countries who would like to be connected or involved in some capacity, please contact Judy Seigler, jseigler@girlscouts.org. |
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2008 National Young 
Black History month is more than a date on the calendar for Ava, a high school student now living in the United States but formerly a member of USA Girl Scouts Overseas- Paris, France. 
