Girl Scouts: Cookies and Silver Award Info

Hi everyone!

Two quick notes:  

1)  If you ordered extra cookies from me this week, I have them in my living room (or van) now.  Let me know when is good for you to come get them.  Tonight (Wednesday) is great!

2)  Since it looked like we were solidly on track to wrap up our MEdia journey project/movie, I was willing to call it a wrap and submitted the girls information for their Silver Awards.  Since there were definitely girls that did a ton of work, and girls that didn't even remember what the project was, I figured it probably averaged out to a comfortable and appropriate level.  We've all done group projects before...  :)

In order to qualify, a project was limited to 4 or less girls.  Since we had 9 girls who have worked kind of all together weaving in and out of different areas, I had to break it up into 3 groups, so in case anyone asks, here's what the girls did:

Group 1)  Evie, Ellen, Carrie:  Walking in Greendale:  Better Health through Walking

This group got primary credit for the signpost part of the project, and for the initial walking path audit event.  

Group 2)   Katie, Kendra, Teagan:  Take a Break:  Adding Rest Stops In Greendale

This group got primary credit for working with SAGE and the initial focus groups, and the installation of 4 benches throughout Greendale paths.

Group 3)  Colette, Eva, Quinn:  A Healthier Community:  New Walking Maps for Greendale

This group got primary credit for creating the new Walking Brochure for Greendale and lobbying Step Up to Better Health to turn it into a summer challenge for adults to walk on all 10 paths for a prize.

The Official Girl Scout awards event will be May 7th, and information/invitations will be mailed out directly to the girls involved as the event approaches.

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Who wants to watch Robot Games?

Hi everyone!

Something that has become a bit of a troop tradition is to go watch the robot competitions at the Panther Arena for the FIRST Robotics Regional Competition.  We've also usually been lucky to have a day off during the competition to make it easier to attend.  Our luck continues this year, since the competition is 3/18-21 and the girls have off from school 3/20!

Traditionally, we head over in the morning, watch the robots battle for a bit, then go visit the teams in the "pit" area to see the robots up close and ask questions (and collect team memorabilia like pins, stickers, etc.)  Then we usually find a local place to go eat (the mini-food court at "The Restaurants at eleven25" the girls have enjoyed in the past, and is in walkable distance in good weather, but there's a new Food Hall on Farwell, "Crossroads Collective" that might be  worth the drive. ) 

Then, we usually head back for a few more robot battles and plan to be home around 3:00-ish.  

This year's battle game is called "Infinite Recharge" and it looks super fun!  You can see the rules and a demo video here:  https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/game-and-season

I recommend watching it for any girls who plan to go so they'll know what they're looking at.

Speaking of wanting to go then: 

WHO WOULD BE AVAILABLE AND INTERESTED?  

Assume we'd leave our house around 9:30 and be back around 3:00.  (Girls could arrive earlier or be picked up later if necessary.)

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Meeting recap (late) and announcements/info

Hi everyone!

Sorry this took a bit to get out--it was a CRAZY week!  Just a quick summary of what we did last week, what the girls planned for March, and what they signed on to handle between now and then, and a couple announcements/requests.

1)  Meeting recap:  Most of the meeting was out getting movie footage.  And the girls are definitely getting more camera savvy!  We started out with a warmup that'll probably be a tradition going forward.  We each brought our inspiration stones and shared the story we had experienced in the last week that connected to the stone.  Sharing dreams, hopes, and moments of courage was pretty cool, and the girls definitely learned more about each other and themselves.  We drew new inspiration stones and will work to put ourselves in the way of new experiences to share for next month.  (If you get the chance, as your scout what stone they picked, and if they've found a connection to it already!)

After that the girls decided we should divide into two groups and we got footage for two more movie scenes:  1)  DO look both ways and pay attention when you cross the street, and 2)  Drivers DO need to yield the right of way to pedestrians in crosswalks. 

Since one group finished first, they worked on also researching statistics on pedetrian safety and incidents to create a montage for another movie sene.

2)  The plan for next month is to see if the family of the girl in the Greendale Memorial by Joey Gerard's would be avaiable and interested in meeting to talk about their experiences.  In all the hubbub, I did not write down what jobs the girls signed up for between meetings, so please check with your scout and see which of these she is responsible for:

A)  Find and contact the family of the girl, to try to arrange a meeting (this I do know was Eva's choice) ASAP so we can have a backup plan if they don't want to meet.

B)  Write questions that would be tactful, but would connect the family's experience to other people in Greendale and help drive home the message of the importance of what we're doing.

C)  Be interviewers at the interview

D)  Camera Operators

E)  Directors

3)  COOKIES:  Things have been a little nutso, so I haven't been as in-contact about cookies as in the past, but here's what's up for now:

Money for initial orders is due March 2nd.  (GS will start pulling from our account March 4th).  If you've had additional orders, we can roll those with a 2-week window, so if you picked up your cookies last Wednesday at the meeting, the money for those would be due March 4th.  If you want to arrange a connection to drop off or pick up money, email or text ( 414-595-6668 ) would be perfect.

And, as I mentioned before, when you get additional orders, any orders that get to me before Tuesday, I can get to you on Wednesday after that.

4)  Father Daughter Dance:  I only heard from a couple of you, and looking at the GMS schedule, it looks like we could choose:

Wednesday 4/1 or 4/15

Friday 4/3 or 4/17

Are there any of those dates I should black out or at least try not to use?  I'd like to have a date and location locked in by the end of this week so we can get the DJ and get the invitations out to the Girl Scout Troops in our area.  If I don't hear from you I'll assume any of those dates are OK.  (And I realize there might not be a day perfect for everyone, but I'll try my best!)

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Need more cookies? (Plus, meeting Wednesday, April Schedule, and Working Video Link)

Hi everyone,

First:  I'll be making an "extra cookie" run Tuesday, for the families that needed more  (Awesome!!!) so let me know if you had any additional orders.  I'll generally be making pick ups on Tuesdays for the next few weeks, so assume that if you need more, and tell me before I go on Tuesday, you'll be able to get your extras from me on Wednesday.

Second:  Just a reminder, we're meeting on Wednesday.  So far the girls seem to agree that we should finish up at least one of the "mini segments" from the "Do's and Don'ts" segment of the movie.  So, weather permitting, we'll get footage of that.  AND, speaking of footage, here's the link to the raw footage from the interview to review and figure out what edits would be best.  (Including thinking of things like any text on screen, etc.)  https://youtu.be/RhWBcsMUEFo  The link should now be unlisted, but not private, so you should be able to view it, but the video won't show up in search results, etc. so it's still not publicly available.

Third:  Looking forwards to April, now that the Girl Scout Area Father-Daughter dance was handed off to us, we do have to pick a date, SO, considering Wednesdays and Fridays in April, are there any blackout dates that we should try to avoid?  I'll talk to GSD about getting the High School MPR and the other rooms that they usually use based on when we can get the most of our girls there.  On Wednesday the girls can hammer out themes, etc. So we can get the registration information out to Girl Scout Troops in our Area around the beginning of March.

That's about all.  See you Wednesday!

Aleks

P.S. Cookies!

Hi again!

I forgot to add a couple quick cookie notes:

#1)  I'm scheduled to pick them up tomorrow (Friday 2/14) at 1:00PM from the Franklin Fire Department.  I should have enough room in my van to bring them all, if I fill it to the brim.  BUT, is anyone available around 1:00 tomorrow (Friday) to help?  It would take the presure off, and be appreciated!

#2)  Because we'll be unavailable through most of Friday night and Saturday, the cookies will be ready for you all to pick up on Sunday any time before 4:00.  (Bonus--if you help pick up on Friday you can take your cookies then too and get a little head start!)  Please let me know when you're coming by text- 414-595-6668, so I can make sure to not have stepped out for anything else.

#3)  Not cookies:  Remember CraftCon 2020 was cancelled for lack of registered troops, so don't go to GMS Friday night!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Interview footage!

Hi,

I got the footage from "camera 1" uploaded to a private link on YouTube.  

Here's the link:

https://youtu.be/RhWBcsMUEFo

If the girls can review and think about (write down) edit points, and what could be cut, and what should be kept, that would be awesome!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Awesome job!

Hi everyone!

What a great meeting.  I know Officer Vlaj was impressed by the girl's professionalism and the results will definitely be amazing, so here's the recap:

We started off running, dividing up quickly into several groups:

Set design,(Evie and Katie)

Camerawork (Quinn)

Interview prep (Colette and Carrie)

Direction (Eva and Teagan)

Cue Cards (Ellen and Eirlan)

The girls got right to work, and super fast they were ready with a nice set, cue cards, excellent camera placement, and a well prepped interviewee and interviewers.  

Once we were ready we taped the interview with Officer Vlaj, and did a pretty good take on the first try (nice!)   Since there was still some light, the girls also got some establishing shots of Officer Vlaj and his squad car to use in framing the interview segment or segments.

I'll get the raw footage of the interview up on Youtube tomorrow, so the girls can figure out edit points on the timeline and you can see how it looks uncut and unedited.

After we were done taping, we reviewed our footage, and did a late warm up activity that will carry through the week. Every girl randomly picked a stone with a word on it (Hope, Dream, Imagine, Strength, or Courage) and shared a personal story that connected them to that word.  Their job for next week is to hold onto that stone, bring it back, and have a new experience connecting them to their word to share with the group next Wednesday.  

(Somewhere in there we also had cuties for a snack.)

I told the girls that I'd forward the list of scenes yet to be filmed, so they could pick what we want to do next week, so here it is:

Take a look at the scenes and mini-scenes left to tape, and see if there are one or two that we should try to tackle next week.  I've bolded ones we probably can't do on a 6 day turnaround, so ignore 2, 3, 5. Also the first "Do's and Don'ts mini scene is half done already, so finishing it might be a good choice. (4 was the "interview a police officer" segment, and that's wrapped up, not counting editing.)

Here are the scenes:

1)  Montage including important statistics, such as how many kids walk to school, how many drivers don't obey stop signs, how many drivers don't yield the right of way to pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks, pedestrian injuries/accidents/fatalities/etc., ages of people involved in pedestrian incidents, how many pedestrians generally use the sidewalks and street crossings in Greendale, etc.

2)  Interview Health Department, School, or Civil Engineering professionals or other government agent/agencies from Greendale or Milwaukee County

3)  Interview the family of the girl with the memorial statue in downtown Greendale (if possible.)

5)  Interview a person who was involved in a vehicle/pedestrian accident

6)  "Do's and Don'ts" of pedestrian/driver safety

Mini Scene 1)  Script a scene re: "Look both ways before crossing the street." (Kendra P.)

Mini Scene 2)  Script a scene re:  "Pedestrians have the right of way/cars need to stop if there's a person ready to cross." (Colette B.)

Mini Scene 3)  Script a scene re:    "Cross at crosswalks" (Katie B.)

Mini Scene 4)  Script a scene re: "Follow speed limits" (Quinn S.)

Mini Scene 5)  Keep control of young children at crossings (Eirlan A.)

7)  Monitoring a popular street crossing and tape/record cars stopping for pedestrians/not stopping for pedestrians.

8)  Interview a crossing guard

9)  Recap of pedestrian laws in WI/Greendale (Where do pedestrians have the right of way? What are drivers' oblgations? What are pedestrian obligations?)

10)  Follow a kid's walk to school with a focus on street crossings and safety.

11)  Blooper reel!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Girl Scouts after school today. 3:00-4:30

Hi!

Just one last reminder for today.  It should be a lot of fun.  Officer Vlaj is looking forward to meeting the girls.  I forwarded him the list of questions, so he knows what to expect. I'm excited to see how it goes!

Happy Scouting

Aleks

Girl Scouts: P.S. Meeting this Wednesday--notes and needs!

Hi again everyone,

Just a reminder there's a planning meeting this Wednesday (so 3:00-4:30) BUT it'll actually be mostly occupied by getting the interview done with Officer Vlaj.  We have a nice multi-mic set up to use now, so it should be a lot of fun!  Officer Vlaj is coming right after school, so it'll be good to have as many girls there as possible so some can start setting up the set, and others can start prepping the interviewers, and others can start prepping Officer Vlaj when he arrives.

Needs for Wednesday:

We need to get the list of questions ASAP so we can send them to Officer Vlaj, so he's ready, and also so we can make the cue-cards so our interviewers don't need to read papers in front of them.

That's actually about it!  Everything else is just about ready.  

See you Wednesday!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Cookie Booths Open SignUp

Hi everyone!

Cookie Booths are now open to everyone!  Sign up here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-cookie5

Aleks

Girl Scouts: One more discovery World Thing

Hi,

I was looking over the paperwork, and they do say the girls should wear closed-toe shoes.  That's probably not a problem, but I figured I'd mention it just in case!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Last call for early-bird cookie booth sign ups for girls that sold early!

Hi everyone,

Just one more copy of the link to the cookie sale booth signup for 2020 for the girls that pre-sold cookies.  On Friday i'll open it up to the girls that didn't pre-sell too, but for now, you guys get first shot at it.  Thanks!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-cookie5

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Friday Packing List

Hi everyone!

I forgot to include a packing list for Friday.  There's not a lot to really list though.

Bring a sleeping bag and pillow

Sleepwear

Toiletries/Toothbrush/Toothpaste

Water Bottle

Normal sorts of sleepover stuff, really.  Just anything your scout needs to survive indoors for a night :)

See you in a couple days!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Last one for today--Cookie Booths early sign up for Girls that already started selling!

Hi again (again!)

I've made the scheduling sign up for Cookie Booths this year.  I'm sending it out to the girls that have some individual sales first as a reward for helping the troop out.  

Two notes:  

1)  The booth scheduled from 2:30-6:30 at Festival Foods in Hales Corners may or may not actually happen.  It was there to schedule originally, but as of this morning, the Festival Foods booths all disappeared from the GS Booth Scheduler.

2)  Also, if there's high demand, there are some opportunities we can pick up at Piggly Wiggly on Oklahoma and Chase on Sunday 3/8, and 15.  If all our booths get filled, I'll grab something at Piggly.

Here's the sign up link.  For the moment, please sign up for 1-3 slots.  There are 21 Scout Slots available, and 9 scouts that pre-sold cookies, so that makes sure you all get a shot.  When I open it up to the girls that didn't have any sales yet, feel free to jump in and add more if you want.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-cookie5

Aleks 

Girl Scouts: Discovery World Friday-Saturday

Hi everyone!

One more that applies to almost everyone:  Discovery World this Friday-Saturday!

Details:  

We'll plan on meeting up at GMS by the Flag Statue after the Student Council Dance (~5:00PM)  Mrs. Kaminski and I will drive us over to Discovery World with a small dinner stop on the way.  (We'll also bring snacks for the evening.)

Here's who's registered:

Eloise

Eirlan

Teagan

Eva

Colette

Quinn

Evie

Ellen

Katie

Amy K. (Adult)

Aleks S. (Adult)

We'll all meet back up at our house for kid pickup ( 4256 Teakwood Ct. Greendale, WI 53129) Saturday morning between 7:45-8:00.

See you there!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: 2/14 event Craftcon CANCELED

Hi everyone,

There weren't enough Scout Troops signed up for Craftcon on 2/14 so the event was canceled.  (I think this only applies to the 5-ish scouts that aren't in Forensics that day anyways.)

So enjoy your free Friday night!

Aleks