Girl Scouts: Three Events For Your Consideration

Hi everyone,

I got word of three events coming up and wanted to give you all the chance to join in if you're interested!

1)  Greendale High School Pool Party!  March 3rd, 6:30-8:30.  It'll be a couple troops, but it'll be a nice way to pretend it's summer time!  I reserved us 16 spots, so let me know if you want one of them.  If we go over 16, I'll ask for more, but I can't make any promises, so if your scout wants to join in the pool party, let me know ASAP!  

2)  Father Daughter Dance 2017!  Date: Friday, April 28, 2017 Time: 6:00-9:00p.m. Location: Greendale Middle school.  There'll be dancing, refreshments, activities, and portraits taken.  This one has a cost, $25 for a father/daughter couple (could also be grandpa, uncle, etc.) and $5 for any additional daughters.  Use the attached registration form to sign up.  

Mail registration with payment to 4503 W Ramsey Ave #51 Greendale WI 53129 by March 31th.  All payments need to be purchased before the event. They will not sell any tickets at the door.

3)  4th of July Parade:  We'll be in again this year, so save the date!

Have a great night, see you soon!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Reminder, Such Fun, and Lost and Found!

Hi everyone!

What a great time today!  We mixed up a lot of learning and fun together!  We played some games (the girls seemed to have fun "Waggle Dancing" like bees to help search for flowers) and did some science and did some art!

Because of time, the girls generally didn't get a chance to finish up their Gloria O'Keefe inspired artworks.  So if they want to check out her art online (like they saw at the Art Museum on their field trip) a good site is:  http://www.art.com/gallery/id--a514-b1915/georgia-o-keeffe-flowers-posters.htm it's an art poster site, but they have a good collection of her works.  The things we focused on for the girls were:  1)  Make the flower LARGE.  Have the petals touch the edges of the paper.  This lets them get to:  2)  Add DETAILS.  We learned about flower parts last month, so the girls knew that flowers aren't just petals with a yellow lump in the middle.  So they used 3)  OBSERVATION to look carefully at the flower before drawing it so they were actually drawing the flower that was in front of them, and not just what they thought a flower "ought to" look like.  We used lillies for our flower models, and if they need, a good picture to study is:  http://dw3pv02xd90jb.cloudfront.net/medias/sys_tandm/8812684115998.jpg

Also, if your scout lost, or didn't finish coloring their flower-parts picture from last month, I've included it as an attachment.  You can print it up at home.  If you tell me they finished coloring it and have a rough idea of what those flower parts are I can send home a Flowers Badge!  The girls that remembered and brought their pictures today got their badges today, so make sure they check their socks or pockets!  (That's our don't-lose-your-patch motto:  "Sock it or Pocket!")

We wrapped up with the most diverse snack we've ever had.  The girls had 14 different kinds of plants to eat, and had to figure out whether each was a fruit, or not a fruit.  Many of the girls got to try things they never had before (Guavas, Mangoes, Papayays, Avacados!) and had a lot of fun tasting the different ways fruits come to us. 

BIG REMINDER:  Our original schedule in September said that our last February meeting (the one at College Park) was going to be next week--remember, it's rescheduled and will be the following week, February 22!  We will be in our usual place, the world languages room, so it's just the bat-time that's new, not the bat-station.

LOST!  (and not yet found) Did anyone go home with an extra purple hat today? A scout is missing hers, so if you happen to have a bonus hat, let me know!  (It wasn't a hat-making badge day!)

FINALLY, please keep writing letters to to groups and companies for help with the Bike Safety Clinic.  The list the girls came up with is here:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-bronze But feel free to add more of your own!

Thanks everyone, have a great night!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Attendance, Good Times, and Good News for the Girl Scout Wednesday Crew!

Hi everyone,

First, here's who I have signed up for the meeting tomorrow (Wednesday 2/8) 

Highland View 5th Graders:

Evie S.

Portia P.

Lia S.

Ellen W.

Alyssa S.

Kahlen W.

Thalia D.

Elytze D.

Mahi P.

Isabel S.

Highland View 4th Grade:

Alison D.

Other schools:

Teagan A.

If the girls talked to last week's group, they know they're in for a good time!  We'll study how plants move nutrients through their bodies and compare it to animals, we'll get inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and make some art in her style, we'll play a game to learn how bumblebees tell other bees where to find good flowers, and we'll play a snack game of "Fruit, or not a fruit!"  

And now I have some good news about our Bronze Project too--we got our first response from the letters the girls are sending out!  Betty from Ferch's wants to schedule a meeting in early March to talk about helping sponsor and work with us on the bike safety event!  Thanks for sending that letter Emmi and Tiki! So, hopefully if there are girls that haven't written or sent a letter or two yet, this inspires them to get moving and get those in the mail!

See you tomorrow!  

Aleks 

Girl Scouts: Attendance 2/1 After School

Hi everyone,

It looks like a small meeting today--am I missing anyone?

Here's who I'm expecting:

Quinn

Eva

Liliana

Kate

Evie

If your scout plans on attending, make sure to let me know ASAP and let their teacher know too, to make sure they don't get on a bus or wait outside for a parent that never comes!

Thanks everyone,

Aleks

Girl Scouts: What's the big deal with the Gold Award anyways?

One addendum to the last email I sent out:

What's the big deal with the Gold Award?

A lot.

When Girls earn their Gold Award, they prove to themselves and the world that they are women of distinction and are capable of changing the world and making it a better place.  

When Girls earn their Gold Award, they may be recognized with a day in their honor by the State of Wisconsin 

When Girls earn their Gold Award, they may be recognized by the Village of Greendale with a ceremony and a day in their honor 

When Girls earn their Gold Award, if they enter military service, they enter one rank higher

There are many scholarships that recognize the Girl Scout Gold Award, and college entrance committees recognize the value of the Gold Award when making their decisions.

It's a big deal.  And I know our girls deserve it and can do it!  And this Bronze Award is the first step!

Aleks

Girl Scouts: Let's Get Bronzed!

Hi!

Earlier this year, the girls started working on our Bronze Project--one of the highest honors in scouting, and a requirement for the Gold Award they can get in High School.  

They decided to hold a Bicycle Safety Clinic in June, and we have partnered with the Greendale Education Foundation and with the Vilage of Greendale to put on the clinic at Greendale's first:  "First Night of Summer" celebration June 9th, the last day of school.  

To help with the clinic, the girls decided they would try to get donations from local businesses and support from local organizations to be able to have tables/booths offering helmet decorating, safety lessons, safety sticker making, possibly a bike tune-up area, and more.

We worked together to research and write drafts of letters earlier this year, and I've posted them online here:

Letter to a Fire or Police Department or similar organization asking for volunteers

Letter to a business for donations

The job now is for the girls to hand write these letters and mail them to appropriate places.  I've made a sign up page for girls to pick which place(s) they'd like to send letters to, and included sign up spots for the places the girls already thought of.  If your scout thinks of someplace else, they can add it at the end.  Feel free to personalize the letter and make it appropriate to the place you are sending it.  If you would like, let us know how many letters you mailed, and the troop can reimburse you for postage.

We would like to have all the letters mailed before the middle of February.  So if the girls can start working right away, that would be great! 

Here is the link to the sign up page:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-bronze

Thanks everyone!  This is going to be great for the girls, and can be something they brag about for a very long time.  (Imagine being able to have this on their resume, when they're still only in 5th grade!)

Aleks

Draft of a letter to a Fire or Police Department or Safety group

Dear FIRE OR POLICE OR SAFETY ORGANIZATION,

We are Troop 8035 Girl Scouts.  Our Troop has forty 5th grade girls from 3 different schools—Highland View, Canterbury, and College Park elementary schools.

To earn our Girl Scout Bronze Award, we need to make a difference in the community.  One problem we saw that could use a change is bicycle safety.  We did research and found that in Wisconsin one bicyclist is killed or injured every 10 hours!  Between 1/3 and ½ of those are children and those crashes mostly occur on local roads.

To help solve this problem, on June 9th in connection with the Greendale Education Foundation, we will be putting on a bicycle safety clinic in downtown Greendale.  We plan to have demonstrations of bicycle safety tips, places for kids to decorate their bike helmets, bicycle repair or check up stations, a bicycle safety obstacle course, bicycle helmet fittings, and opportunities for kids who don’t have or can’t afford bike helmets to be given one.

We need you to help!  The best way to help would be for professional safety experts to help teach kids about safety at the event.  This would be a great way to build good community relationships with the kids in Greendale.

We would like to schedule an appointment with you to talk about our plans and how you can be a part.  Please let us know when you are available.  Please contact us by email or by phone.  Our Troop Leader is Aleks Skibicki and his phone number is 414-595-6668.  His email address is kwaterk1978@yahoo.com

Thank you very much.  With your help we will fulfill the Girl Scout law to “Make the World a Better Place.”

Sincerely,













The Girls of Troop 8035 Girl Scouts