Join GAB!

GAB invites all Girl Scouts in grades seven through 12 to take the lead in having a voice for older Girl Scouting. We want dedicated older girls to take the driver’s seat in what older Girl Scouts want and need from Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. In addition, you will have a chance to assist in planning council events, meet girls from all over the council and have FUN! 

GAB 2013-2014

Our first  GSHCC Girl Advisory Board meeting is coming up soon! For girls living in or close to the Sacramento area, the meeting will be on Sunday, October 12 at the Sacramento Regional Program Center. For girls living in or close to the Modesto/Salida area, the meeting will be on Sunday, November 2 at the Modesto Regional Office.

GAB is for girls only to attend! If you would like to join and attend the meetings please RSVP to Nakeya or Antoinette, no later than October 6, 2014 for Sacramento area and October 20, 2014 for Salida area.

For more information, please feel free to contact us!

This is your opportunity to have a voice, represent older Girl Scouts and make a change.

Enthusiastically,

Antoinette Manuel and Nakeya Bell 
GAB Coordinators

Renaissance Girls! 2014

You're invited to Renaissance Girls! ...

On October 25, explore sights and activities from the Renaissance era. Crafting, science discovery, fun exhibitors, a costume contest and more—you'll enjoy an afternoon of adventure and play. And best of all? You can bring your BFF! You don't need to be a registered Girl Scout to attend Renaissance Girls!, so invite your friends and family to join the fun.


Get your registration form here: Registration Form. Register before October 10! Now start planning your costume; check out the DIY costume guide online. For more information, visit the #GSRenGirls webpage.

Hope to see you there!

Upcoming GSHCC October Events!

Kick off your 2014–2015 Girl Scout year with a fun GSHCC event! From discovering how the human heart works, to understanding energy and traveling back in time to the Renaissance, there are several upcoming adventures waiting to be explored. Take a look at the events in October: 

Happy Hearts – NEW!

(Grades 4–5)

Do you give your friends valentines and little heart-shaped candies? Do you ever cross your heart when making a promise that you really, really mean? Or turn on the radio to hear someone singing about their broken heart? Find out how the human heart works through a variety of hands-on activities. 

Modesto Thursday, October 2, 2014, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Register here.


GreatValley Museum Tour – NEW!
(Grades K–3, families & friends)

Gain a greater understanding of the critters that inhabit your neighborhood. Great Valley Museum docents will guide you through displays depicting a variety of animals from dinosaurs to those living in our backyards today. 

Modesto Saturday, October 4, 2014, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Register here.

Shutterbugs – NEW!
(Grades 4–8)

Take a nature hike through Caswell State Park as a photo journaling experience. Great Valley Museum volunteers will help you set the scene for the perfect picture. 

Caswell State Park on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Register here.


Underground Tours
(Grades 4–12)

Explore excavated foundations and enclosed pathways on this one-hour guided tour. Your personal tour guide will lead the way, revealing the history and legends of Sacramento’s Underground.

Sacramento on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Register here.


Energy in Motion
(Grades 9–12)

During this evening of electric science projects, you will discover how energy is converted to electricity by setting model turbines into motion using different sources of energy. This is a great start to work on the Science of Style badge. 

Modesto on Thursday, October 9, 2014, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Register here.

Brownies on a Quest
(Grades 2–3, families & friends) 

By the time we finish the hike at Caswell State Park you will have an understanding of the value of Central Valley watershed. An energizing start to the Hiker badge! 

Caswell State Park on Friday, October 10, 2014, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Register here.

It Takes Guts – NEW!
(Grades 9–12)

Learn the structure and function of the digestive system using common household items. Conduct hands-on experiments to observe chemical processes of starch digestion. 

Modesto on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.Register here.


Renaissance Girls! #GSRenGirls
(Grades K–12, families & friends)

From leather crafting to science discovery, you will have an enlightening time touring the variety of free-flowing activities available at this Renaissance fair. Come in costume and visit one of the many booths and watch a variety of performances which will delight and entertain.

Note: There are troop-money earning possibilities as well as a need for volunteers and program aides. 

Sacramento on Saturday, October 25, 2014, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Get your registration form here.

Browse GSHCC events for the whole year online, including more STEM event options than ever before. Happy planning!

Internship Insider: Twice and Twitter Field Trip

Hello blog readers,

Recently, the MarComm interns got to visit Twice and Twitter headquarters. We took a day trip to San Francisco to have fun and absorb as much information as we could. The experience was incredible!

We went to the Twice headquarters first, a small yet fashionable building. For all of you who have not heard of this company, Twice is basically an online consignment store, operating from their website and smart phone app. Through Twice, people can both sell their clothes to the company and buy from the site. In fact, all the clothes that Twice sells are clothes they have bought from their users. Rather than wasting the clothes, this is a neat way to up-cycle unwanted clothing and get a new wardrobe. The other girls and I felt this was a fantastic idea that would indeed flourish to become a larger and more well-known company. Since the idea is different, yet ingenious, this company may even become as large a Twitter one day. 

When we visited the Twitter office, we were able to see a distinct difference between the headquarters of a start-up company and a well-established company—both were amazing. Twitter is a very large building consisting of many floors, each centered around a different aspect of the company such as communications, media, or engineering. While we were there, we were able to talk to some of the employees about how they came to work at Twitter. We discussed their life experiences and how their education led them to this company. Their answers all centered around the fact that their major did not impact their current job, but their experience and love for learning definitely did. We left that building knowing that as long as you love what you do, success will find you. 

Overall, the day was productive, fun, and filled with new experiences we would have never had if it weren't for this Girl Scout internship.

Your Insider Girl,

Nikita

Family Partnership Highlight: Dime-a-Taste Event

Family Partnership Highlight: Dime-a-Taste Event

Girl Scouts Heart of Central California serves more than 28,000 local girls—offering financial assistance, quality programming, volunteer support, training, and more. Like any nonprofit, GSHCC needs the ongoing support of our families, friends and community to continue building girls of courage, confidence and character in Northern and Central California.

This year GSHCC girls, families, troops and service units came up with many creative, fun and exciting ways to support our council though donations to our Family Partnership Campaign. Our new blog series—Family Partnership Highlights—will feature ways our awesome community has supported GSHCC.

Our first Family Partnership Highlight features Golden River Service Unit and their awesome World Thinking Day event.

Golden River Service Unit in Modesto held a unique and memorable event for World Thinking Day 2014—and supported the GSHCC’s Family Partnership in the process!

On February 13, Golden River held “Dime-a-Taste,” an interactive event where Girl Scouts and families learned about Girl Guides and sampled foods from around the world for a dime per taste, and collected “passport” stamps for each country they learned about. Troops signed up to represent different WAGGGS countries, and presented country and Girl Guides information, costumes, decorations, food to taste, and a unique stamp for the passports.

Girl Scout Brownie Isabell N. attended the event, where she enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures. When we asked Isabell what she liked best about the event, she couldn’t decide! She said, “I loved going to see the booths and the different costumes and displays. I also loved trying all the foods, because the foods from other countries were so new to me.”

Dime-a-Taste was extremely successful, teaching girls about other countries and earning more than $400.00, which Golden River donated to the GSHCC Family Partnership fund. Way to go, Golden River! We appreciate your support and are so impressed with your great event.

Do you know a Girl Scout, family, troop, or service unit we should feature in our Family Partnership Highlights series? Please email the story and photos to funddev@girlscoutshcc.org.

Tales From Camp: Sunflowers, Camera Shots, Mythbusters, and More

Hi everyone!

Welcome to another great tale about camp. We had amazing groups this past week including Dazzling Dancers, Menzies Masterchefs, Trot ‘n Trek, Night Owls, Camera Shots, Get the Scoop!, Mythbusters, Myths, Magic and More, Girls vs Wild and Farm to Fork.

We had our All Camp event where the girls got to choose from different activities such as volleyball, making lemonade or friendship bracelets. There was also a writing club… love it.

These groups experienced many interesting activities. Mythbusters tried to fry an egg with a magnifying glass; do you think it worked? Menzies Masterchefs made their own recipe books and Night Owls did some stargazing. Camera Shots worked on their badge by making a collage and of course taking lots and lots of photos! Get the Scoop worked on their interviews, stories and advice column. Girls vs Wild learned all about first aid and prepared for their overnight trip. Farm to Fork visited a farm and brought back some sunflowers for our healthcare assistant Sunflower.

I could tell you all about the excitement at camp, but found that two of our Dazzling Dancers can do that much better than I can. Take a look at news reporters Lorra and Kaydence:

On Friday we welcomed Forest Friends, Sierra Safari, Camp Quest, Lead On!, which each cater to trying a little bit of everything and exploring all the fun things Camp Menzies has to offer. From nature study and canoeing to arts 'n' crafts, campfires and beyond. The campers had a wonderful time!

Today marks the end of our final official session here at Camp Menzies. We'll have another amazing Two of Us group coming up this weekend, then for the rest of the camp season we'll have troop camping and family camping--always a blast! 

Until next time,

Rapunzel

Tales From Camp: Very Special Guests

Hi everyone,

We had a blast last week at Camp Menzies. Last session was Two of Us, where parents came with their campers to enjoy the camp experience together. For a lot of the girls, it was their first time at camp. They got to experience some great activities, such as Australian football, soccer, making dream catchers, bracelet making, wood burning, painting, and more! Sounds like fun, right?




More fantastic groups last week included Wonders of Water, Leaders in Action, Horse Lovers, S’mores and More, Talent Scout, Secret Garden, Special Agent, Camp Olympics, and Pixie Painters.







We also still had our Under Construction Girl Scouts. Did you see them on the news? Good Day Sacramento did a segment on our Under Construction program last Thursday, and CBS 13 aired a special segment about the importance of STEM and camp last night. Watch it here. We offer many STEM programs here at camp--the girls love it! And it was very exciting to have the news station at camp filming about this important topic.


Wednesday night we had our All Camp event. It was super fun! The Camper Council voted on a counselor fashion show. Counselors dressed up in silly outfits and walked our dining hall runway. Afterwards there were stations where the girls could get their hair braided, nails painted and where they could make jewelry. Of course we also had a dance floor! Thursday night we had our closing campfire. The weeks go by so fast up here at camp, but you know what they say... time flies when you're having fun.

A special thank you to the parents who joined us last week for Two of Us, as well as Good Day's Cambi Brown and Scott--we loved having you at camp!

Today we welcomed a new group of campers. Welcome to camp, Girl Scouts!

Until next time,
Rapunzel

Tales From Camp: Camper Creativity

Hi everyone,

Today we welcome Two of Us, CITs and Under Construction. These three sessions are really special. Two of Us is a session where we have parents come with their campers… super fun! CITs are our counselors-in-training, and Under Construction helps out with actual construction going on this session in Cedar Woods, an upper unit of camp.

Last week we had sessions 7 and 8, an awesome session packed with various activities--including a lot of creativity. One of the groups, Mad About Murals, made the new Camp Menzies welcome mural. It turned out great!

For the All Camp event we had a camp prom. I took a lot of photos that are all on the eCamp website (parents, you should have access to it). There was some photobombing happening, did anyone see it? Way to go, Natalie! #teamphotobomb

We also created a timeline at the All Camp event. We had paper across several tables with different time blocks on each paper. According to the timeline the campers drew, Camp Menzies was created in the dinosaur age… love it! The timeline had some other great moments, too. Our campers are so creative!

Until next time,
Rapunzel

Tales From Camp: Creative and Adventurous

Hello, hello!

Thank you session 5 for a fun week at camp. Session 6 gets to stay with us a little longer and today we welcome session 7.

So many exciting things have been going on! We have Take Aim, Summer Stock, Eco-Fashionistas, World Travelers, Leaders in Action, Mystery Makers, Horse Lovers, Camp ‘n’ Canoe, Survivor, Mad About Murals and Geoventures.

 “This week in Eco-Fashionistas we had a great time thrift shopping. We all found awesome clothes that we are going to upcycle. I can’t wait for the fashion show! Also, the theme meal was ‘backwards’, and the all-camp event was marshmallow paintball. It was a great week!”
-Amber, age 11 (12th time at camp!)

The fashion show ended up being great. Good job upcycling the clothes, girls!

Camp ‘n’ Canoe left on their canoeing trip. Survivor will leave today; they have completed first aid training. Geoventures also got to do some adventurous trips—Natural Bridges and rock climbing at Bear Valley. 

Take Aim girls got to test their skills at Archery, but also spent time making bows and creating targets. Summer Stock saw a play and got to perform at campfire—it was so fun. World Travelers and Leaders in Action played international games and made passports.  Our Mystery Makers got to work on several mysteries which included using invisible ink, fingerprints and wood burning.

Session 7, welcome! Looking forward to a great session with you all.

Until next time,

Rapunzel

Tales From Camp: Camp Prom, Master Chefs, and More

Hello all!

Another great session at Camp Menzies. On Monday we welcomed our session 4 girls. This session we had Forest Friends, Sierra Safari, Camp Quest, Sky’s the Limit, and Horse Lovers. Of course we still had our Movie Makers, Master Chefs, Dare To Do It, and Arts Alive girls here at camp as well. 

The Movie Makers worked on rehearsing and filming their scenes. Then Bones helped them with editing the movie. They showed the movie to the session 3 girls during a screening, and it turned out great! It was creative and really funny.

On Tuesday we had our All Camp event. This time Camper Council decided on a Camp Prom. The Dining Hall was decorated and staff was nominated for Staff Prom Queen and King, the CITs were nominated for Camp Princess. Everyone got really creative and dressed up in crazy outfits. It was a great dance party with face painting, friendship bracelets, cookies and fruit punch.

Sky’s the Limit and Camp Quest both went on a trip to White Pines where they got to hang out for the afternoon and swim. It’s been really warm up here so the girls really loved it.

Our Master Chefs have been busy cooking and baking with the kitchen staff, they’ve helped make dessert and snacks. They also did other activities with a little food twist. For example: They learned about the different phases of the moon using cookies. Fun and tasty!

For our session 4 girls it was a short session, but they really enjoyed it. Their days were filled with doing archery, swimming, canoeing, nature activities, and arts ‘n’ crafts. A lot of the groups also did badge and journey work. The Forest Friends even got two badges: Dancer badge and the Game Maker badge. Great job, girls!

Camp has been a great experience for the girls. Sarah “Bucky” from Movie Makers explained the magic of camp: “It is just a great place and there is so much to do, so many fun activities. Some girls get homesick sometimes but because of all the great activities they forget about it right away and at the end they don’t want to go home. It’s camp magic.”

Last night was our closing campfire. Today all the girls, both session 3 and 4, are going home. It has been amazing having you all at camp and we hope to see you again next year.

Have a great 4^th of July weekend, everyone!

Until next time,
Rapunzel

Tales From Camp: Activities and Special Visitors

Hi everyone,

Rapunzel here. Welcome to sessions 2 and 3! Our session 2 campers arrived on Monday and session 3 on Wednesday. We have some great programs going on again with awesome activities.

There were a lot of trips outside of Camp Menzies with these sessions. Aqua Explorers went creek stomping at Big Trees and kayaking at Arnold. Dare To Do It went zip lining and wild water rafting! Running Wild went on a hike at Big Trees, and Beads, Jewels and Rhinestones went to a neat bead store in town.

There were also many fun activities happening back at camp. Menzies Mountain Riders and Horse Lovers got to feed the horses, went horseback riding and did a ground lesson. They also made cowgirl hats. Savvy Sleuths created a mystery which involved both C.I.Ts and staff. They also got to do a scavenger hunt. Our nature-loving girls in the Naturalist program went bug hunting and did hot air experiments. And the Menzies Master Chefs were busy helping our kitchen manager Measuring Cup!

Of course all the groups get to visit the nature hut, canoe, swim, do arts ‘n’ crafts, and the older girls also get to do archery. 

Wednesday we had our all camp event, where we had different stations in the meadow where the girls got to get their nails painted and play games. We also had a face painting station. 

When we were all in the meadow the lake got a little visit from some deer! 

Our theme meal followed right after. The dining hall was decorated with blue and white balloons for our #underthesea theme. All the tables had paper and paint and the girls got to be creative during dinnertime.

Last night was closing campfire for session 2 and Game Show Night for session 3. This summer has already been packed with outdoor fun and adventure, and it’s awesome seeing the campers enjoy their moments here at Camp Menzies. It’s been a great week!

Until next time,

Rapunzel 

Internship Insider: It All Begins

Hey blog readers,

SCHOOL IS OUT! I still can’t believe it! We are finally one grade closer to graduation. Before I get ahead of myself and go off on an anecdote about school, let me introduce myself. I am currently a marketing and communications intern at Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. I just finished tenth grade, I've been a Girl Scout for 10 years, and my passions include dance and sports. I have been on competitive dance teams and multiple sport teams. The sports I play include basketball and golf. I know, I know—golf, the most awkward sport on planet Earth. Well I actually think it is fun! Okay, on to the more interesting information: the internship.

This year's internship includes 14 dedicated and hard working Girl Scouts that have all come together to work on projects with the council and make Hear&Now, our Girl Scout teen magazine, a success. We have just finished our first couple weeks of meetings and there is so much to do. Get ready, because we have some amazing articles being created right now. We will be creating a "vintage-themed" magazine, connecting Girl Scout’s past to its present. I am really excited!




Through this blog series, you will be getting first hand experiences of what it's like to be an intern and work on projects for GSHCC. You will be meeting all of the other girls working here with me through our video blogs as well. Spread the word and check back soon.

Your Insider Girl,
Nikita

Tales From Camp: The First Week!

Hi everyone!

This is Rapunzel from Camp Menzies. I am from the Netherlands and one of the international staff here at camp. This summer I’ll be taking a lot of photos at camp and keeping you all updated weekly on the blog. Our first session started on Monday and it has been so much fun! We have a lot of awesome groups: Night Owls, All About Animals, Kickin’ it at Menzies, Comic Artists, Engineers, Space Cadettes, Horse Lovers, Globetrotters, Take Aim, and Star Girls. And our travel group this session left to go to Yosemite on Tuesday.

We’ve also had many great activities happening at camp. On Monday we had a unit campfire and yesterday we had an all-camp campfire. All the counselors got to introduce themselves with funny skits and songs. Stitch and Sunflower were our MCs—they were really funny. At the end of campfire, Bones played her guitar and sang a song.

All the groups participate in activities related to their program. Comic Artists draw cartoons of heroes and villains. Globetrotters were interviewing our international staff for badgework. I also got interviewed. They asked me what I eat in the Netherlands, and that is one of my favorite questions! In the Netherlands, I eat for breakfast and lunch plain white bread with chocolate sprinkles. Whenever I tell people that in America they look at me funny, but it is honestly good. Our sprinkles aren’t really the same as American sprinkles though. :)

Kickin’ it at Menzies played soccer and got to do archery, and a lot of the campers hit the bull’s-eyes. 

The Star Girls had a tea party with the Space Cadettes! It was really fun. The Engineers made bridges out of lollipop sticks and cars out of basic materials. In the afternoon they tested the bridges to see which one was the strongest, and after putting all their materials on the bridges two still survived. They also raced the cars!

Last night was our All Camp Event.  This session the Camper Council decided on a nature-scavengerhunt-carnival@menzies #extravaganza. Awesome, right? It has been great so far and the fun is not over yet.

Until next time,

Rapunzel

Event Spotlight: G.L.O.W.

GSHCC's first annual Girls Leading Our Way (G.L.O.W.) Conference was a great success! G.L.O.W. was designed to bring older Girl Scouts together and give them resources to enhance their leadership skills. On Saturday, May 31, 2014, a total of 46 Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Girl Scouts participated in workshops and discussions where they learned valuable info, such as how to boost public speaking skills and prepare for college, to what it takes to succeed. In the evening, all of the girls came together to bond, have fun and reflect on the day.

G.L.O.W.  was an amazing experience that Girl Scouts Heart of Central California was proud to host. If you missed the conference this year, be on the lookout for G.L.O.W next year!  

Girl Scout Award Highlights

Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony, Girls Who Inspire Award Ceremony, bridging ceremonies, and Court of Awards—there are SO many Girl Scout accomplishments to celebrate this time of year. And we couldn't be more proud! Here are a few highlights...

This pic collage is from a recent Court of Awards Ceremony. The girls worked so hard during the cookie season and reached their cookie goal, so they wrote a letter to What's the Scoop? Ice Cream sharing their story and the Sacramento hop donated ice cream for their party.

The Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony was held on June 7 at the Sacramento Convention Center. This year, 190 girls from GSHCC received their Silver Award... amazing!

On June 8, we held the Girls Who Inspire Award Ceremony at Crest Theatre, honoring girls who received the highest awards in Girl Scouting. This year, 52 girls received their Girl Scout Gold Award, 14 received their GSHCC Rose Award, and 20 girls received their Bridge to Girl Scout Adult Award. Great job, Girl Scouts!











Congratulations to all Girl Scouts who received an award or celebrated an accomplishment this year! And a big thank you to all the volunteers, advisers and parents who supported their Girl Scout and her journey.

BIG Day of Giving on May 6, 2014

On May 6 we are trying something NEW: Girl Scouts Heart of Central California is participating in an online crowdfunding campaign for Sacramento Region called the BIG Day of Giving (#givebigdog), which aims to inspire and unite the community in supporting hundreds of local nonprofits (nearly 400!).

For 24 hours, you will have the opportunity to give where your heart is. Starting at midnight on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, online donations to GSHCC will be accepted through this link: http://givelocalnow.org/girlscouts. One of the best parts? There’s an incentive to BOOST all donations! Thanks to awesome community foundations and businesses, every donation will receive a prorated match from a pool of matching funds.

GSHCC’s BIG goal: 

Our #givebigdog goal is to receive 102 individual donations on May 6—a donation for each of the 102 years that Girl Scouts has been building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.

YOU can help! Here’s how:

• Give: Please consider making a donation to GSHCC. Programs for girls receive only 6% of philanthropic dollars in the U.S. By donating to GSHCC—the premier leadership development organization for girls—you’re helping to empower girls to develop their full potential… which in return will help create a brighter future for all of us. And with the matching incentive, your donation will go even further on May 6.

• Share: Our social networks will be active with #givebigdog content between now and throughout the BIG day. Please share the content with your friends, family and personal networks to help get the word out! If you don’t already follow us on Facebook and Twitter, please do so:
• GSHCC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GSHCC
• GSHCC Twitter: https://twitter.com/GirlScoutsHCC

Thank you for your continued support of Girl Scouts! For more information on #givebigdog, visit givelocalnow.org or email funddev@girlscoutshcc.org.

Two New Cookie Incentives!

GSHCC's 2014 Girl Scout Cookie Program is off to a great start... and it just got sweeter. We're excited to announce two new incentives are being offered: one for #cookiebosses and the other for service units.

Exclusive incentive for cookie bosses: Girl Scouts who sell 1200+ packages of cookies will now receive a V.I.P. Cookie Boss Overnight!

Sweet incentive for service units: The top five service units that boost cookie sales over their 5% goal will be awarded a custom patch made especially for them.

Here's to a great cookie season!

What's your cookie goal this year? Which recognitions are you most excited about?

National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend!

This year we’re celebrating National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend on Friday, February 7 & Saturday, February 8! This is a great opportunity for Girl Scouts and supporters to share with the community the importance of the Girl Scout Cookie Program and what it does for the girls and their communities.

On National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, Girl Scout councils from around the nation will be celebrating and promoting the five skills girls learn while participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

These five skills include:

• Goal Setting
• Decision Making
• Money Management
• People Skills
• Business Ethics

Join with us on February 7 & 8 to share with the world the power of the Girl Scout Cookie Program!

Here’s how:
Feb. 4-8: Help us spread the word on social media about Girl Scout Cookies and what girls learn by participating in the Cookie Program! Plus, participate in a GSHCC cookie video montage--share your National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend photos with us:

• GSHCC’s Facebook page. 
• Tag @GirlScoutsHCC on Instagram 
• Tag @GirlScoutsHCC on Twitter 
• Email photos to marcomm(at)girlscoutshcc(dot)org 

Feb. 5: Participate in the virtual Twitter Party with Girl Scouts, Mom It Forward, and a panel of experts to celebrate National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend. Join the conversation to talk all things cookies (yum!), learn about this season’s sweepstakes and discuss the five skills girls acquire while participating in the largest girl-led business. The virtual Twitter Party starts Wednesday, February 5 from 6–7 p.m. PT. See here for details about the giveaway. (Hashtags: #gno #cookieboss)

Feb. 6: Giveaway ends and winner will be announced soon after. Enter the GSUSA and Mom it Forward National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend Giveaway and you could receive a basket full of Girl Scout merchandise.

Feb. 7: Stop by the National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend cookie booth at Sacramento’s Capital Garage! The booth will be up from 8–10 a.m.

Feb. 7 & 8: Celebrate with your Girl Scout troop by discussing your cookie goals, making signs and decorations for your upcoming cookie booths, or fill out thank you cards for customers who have already purchased cookies. This is a great weekend to prepare for Girl Scout cookie booths! Psst… and a great weekend for a troop slumber party!

We can’t wait for the fun! And don't forget to pick up your National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend fun patch from The GS Shop!

How will your troop celebrate National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend?

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

There's more to Girl Scout Cookies than what's in the box! Selling cookies teaches skills essential to leadership. 

Here are some tips for the start of the Girl Scout Cookie Program:

1. Decision making & goal setting: If you haven’t already, set your cookie goals! Then decide as a troop what you’d like to do with the troop money earned, such as fun activities and community service projects. Use the COCO Cookie Command as a tool.

2. People skills: Be sure you know your product! Remember to let your customers know what you are selling, why you are selling it, and why they should purchase it. Continue to practice your “sales pitch.” Team up with a friend and take turns being a potential customer. Ask each other questions a customer might ask you.

3. Money management: Since a package of Girl Scout Cookies is $4.00 even, it makes it easy to make change. Make a change “cheat sheet” so that you know how much change to give a customer quickly. Learn how to “count back” change. This is great customer service and this technique will make sure you are collecting the right amount of money and returning the right amount of change.

4. Business ethics: Use some key parts of the Girl Scout Law such as “honest and fair”, “friendly and helpful”, “responsible for what I say and do” and “respect myself and others” to keep yourself on the right track when running your sale.

5. Project Thank You! Did you know GSHCC has an opportunity for customers to give Girl Scout Cookies to the military? Project Thank You will donate Girl Scout Cookies to American Red Cross who will take them to the military personnel serving our country.

More tips coming soon! For more information about the Girl Scout Cookie Program, please visit the GSHCC website.