Are the leader of an older girl troop who is teetering on the bring of disbanding? Here are 5 reasons to keep your older Girl Scout troop together.
*This post contains affiliate links.
While I do not have the statistics, leaders who have been around for a while know that as soon as the girls finish fifth grade Juniors, there is a steep decline in their troop members. In fact, this is the age where many troops disband. If you manage to keep your girls as 6th grade Cadettes, you will be challenged by puberty, cell phones, relational aggression, and the impression that scouting is “not cool”.
My own troop held steady from 5th grade to 6th grade. We lost one girl and went from 12 to 11. However, that all changed in 7th grade (I have a blog post detailing what happened.) We lost six girls and were down to a troop of five. We continued with five until high school, and then one by one, we lost two more.
Covid decimated our Ambassador years. We lost one girl and wound up with two bridging to Adult, the two leaders’ daughters, who were in our troop all 13 years. Overall, it was a great ride and my friend and I were so happy to have our daughters have the experiences they had.
If you are on the fence about keeping your troop together, here are 5 reasons not to disband your older Girl Scout troop.
Reason 1 to Keep Your Older Girl Scout Troop Together
It is different season of life
As the years go by, life changes. The term used today is “seasons”. The teenage Cadette, Senior and Ambassador years are a very different season that the younger Daisy, Brownie and Junior years. And while there are troops who remain extremely active during the teen years, for most troops, if they stay together, it is as often as their schedules permit.
The key to keeping your troop together during this time is to reimagine how your troop looks. Weekly or bi-weekly meetings are not going to happen during the middle school and high school years. Once a month or even once a quarter is more the norm. Girls may have a sport or activity that conflicts with your meeting time but they can join you for outings.
In The Guide for Leading Girl Scout Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors, I have six chapters devoted to keeping your troop together so you do not have to disband.
The bottom line is to accept that the teenage years are going to be significantly different.
Available on Teachers Pay Teachers
Reason 2 to Keep Your Older Girl Scout Troop Together
Girl Scouts is More Than Badges and Journeys
Badge work sometimes resembles school work, especially when the topics overlap. Who wants to do an after school activity that replicates what you did in school?
In addition, as the girls get older, you cannot typically finish a badge in one meeting, unless it is a few hours long. If your troop was badge driven when the girls were younger, the teen years may be the time to pivot and change direction. Ask your girls what they want to do. My troop earned two Cadette badges, one Senior badge, and two Senior Journeys. We filled out our time together with camping, service, and trips.
There are Girl Scout rules about earning badges. Journeys are required to earn the Silver Award and the Gold Award, and those are optional. Since the core of Girl Scouts is to have the troop girl led, listen to your girls. What do they want? Make scouting the experience they want to have instead of disbanding.
Whether you meet once a month or every other month to hang out, go on a field trip, or cook a meal, keep the troop going. Have a meeting before the school year starts and look at schedules and ask the girls what they want to do. Pick dates that can work for meetings. Everyone may not be able to meet every time, and that is okay. Maybe going out for coffee, ice cream, or to watch an old Disney movie at your home is all you need to do to keep your girls together.
Reason 3 to Keeop Your Older Girl Scout Troop Together
Girl Scouts is a soft place to fall
Do you remember you high school years? I do. And while some of the same stressors exist as they did during my teen years, life is more complex and competitive now.
Girl Scouts provides a safe place where your girls can make and meet new friends. Let them hang out together. You can just have sleepovers and go on adventures together or just hang out at your house and keep each other company. You can give them life experiences without it being a formal teaching moment. Pre-Covid, my girls got together on a Friday afternoon every December to bake cookies and muffins for my synagogue’s homeless hospitality project. I taught them baking skills, they learned how to decorate cookies with piping bags and different tips, and while I stationed myself at the oven, they were busy chatting away creating memories and deepening their sisterhood.
We had many field trips over the years, as well as camping. These were all for fun and not for competition and school or sport rankings. It is important for the girls to get time off from all of that. Go to the movies, take a pottery class, learn to make sushi…do anything that permits the girls to just hang out with each other.
Reason 4 to Keep Your Older Girl Scout Troop Together
Lifetime friendships
If your scouts have been together since childhood, you have helped them create lifetime friendships. There is no reason that you cannot take your graduates out for coffee or ice cream when they are home from college and catch up with them. I am sure they will have plenty to share with you.
Reason 5 to Keep Your Older Girl Scout Troop Together
College applications
One of the things colleges look for is a well round student, as well as someone who can make a commitment. If your daughter has been in a troop for ten or more years, that looks amazing on a college application. In addition, the various experiences she has had in your troop over the years are ones that not many applicants will have.
If your daughter and other scouts have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, there are scholarships available for those who have made that achievement. Here is a Gold Award Scholarship link from the GSUSA. Use the drop down menu and select your state to see what is available.
I know the teenage years can be a challenge. Keep these 5 reasons to keep your older Girl Scout troop together when you have that feeling that maybe it is just no longer worth it.
