I promise to do my best, to be true to myself, my beliefs and Canada. I will take action for a better world, and respect the Brownie Law.

Sunday, September 09, 2012


Parents Newsletter - September 2012/October 2012

Welcome Back/Welcome Aboard!!

We would like to extend a hearty welcome to all returning and new families of the 2nd Riverside South Brownies. We are so excited to get the Brownie year started again!

Meetings

Our first meeting will be September 13, 2012. Unless otherwise indicated, our meetings are in the gymnasium at St. Jerome Catholic School, Thursday 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm. Please ensure that your Brownie is there at 6:00 pm sharp, using the gym entrance through the back gym door. We will use the sign in/out system. Proper non-marking indoor footwear is essential as we will often participate in running games.
 
Our schedule for September is a bit jumbled with camp and our tree-planting event, but it will become more regular in October.

September/October Meeting and Special Events Schedule

Thurs. Sept. 13
Opening Night Take Flight into a New Guiding Year
Thurs. Sept. 20
NO MEETING
Sat. Sept. 22
TD Tree Planting morning at Andrew Hayden Park (see attached consent form)
Thurs. Sept. 27
NO MEETING
Fri. Sept. 28 to Sun. Sept. 30
CAMP WOOLSEY!!
Thurs. Oct 4
Key to Brownies – Guiding Archives Tour at Guide House
Thurs. Oct 11
Door-to-door cookie sales (TBC)
Thurs. Oct 18
Key to Brownies - Enrolment
Thurs. Oct 25
Halloween Party!!

Dues

Please have your Brownie bring $1 each week as dues. These funds pay for the costs for crafts, badges, crests, etc. for your daughter for the year. For more information on how your registration fees, cookie money and dues help the unit, please see the table at the end of this letter.

Uniforms

Girl Guides of Canada is a uniformed organization. For the girls this means a Brownie t-shirt (short/long sleeved); neck scarf; badge sash or vest and dark blue/black shorts, pants or skirt (bottoms do not need to be official Girl Guide wear). All items can be purchased on-line at https://www.thegirlguidestore.ca and you can expect delivery within 3 to 4 days. There is a shipping charge of $11 for all orders, although group orders would reduce this cost.

Please note that although a new style of Brownie shirt is available this year, the previous orange shirt is still perfectly acceptable.
 
Brownie Program

The Brownie program consist of a number of “Keys” which we have split into a two-year
program to allow each girl to complete the program over her two years in Brownies. Some
keys are covered every year such as Key to Brownies and Key to Guides. This year we
will also be covering Key to Camping, Key to the Living World, Key to Active Living, and Key to I Can. If you have any questions about the program please talk to one of your Guiders.
 
Interest Badges

Each “Key” includes a number of special interest badges. The unit will work on some interest badges during the year but the girls are encouraged to work on any of the badges that interest them and present their knowledge on the selected badge. We will provide a regularly-updated list of badges that we will be working on in the unit in our future newsletters to reduce duplication of badge work.
 
We will test for special interest badges at most meetings starting in October. This will be new to many of the girls so we will be discussing interest badges during one of our first meetings. We are looking for badge testers! Please let us know if you are available to help occasionally throughout the year.
 
For badge testing:

If your daughter is bringing a badge for testing at a meeting please ensure that she brings the following and adds her name to the badge testing sheet when she arrives:

a) Her program book with your signature beside the badge which she has completed – the leader who does the testing will also sign the book so you know that it was examined.

b) Any items pertinent to the badges (i.e., for the collecting badge bring in the collection, for an art badge bring in what was completed, etc. – for large experiments, cooking etc – a description from the Brownie is sufficient).

c) Please ensure that the work is completed by the brownie. It would be great that anything written down is done by the Brownie. If she is not able to discuss what she has done (i.e., too shy, forgets) this allows us to know that she understands the badge components.

Upcoming Events

Fall Camp: The weekend of Sept 28 – Sept 30 some of our Brownies will go on an adventure at Camp Woosley. The September 27 meeting will be cancelled due to the trip. We will have a short discussion before our trip to remind Brownies what is needed at the camp. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have questions. There will also be another camp in the spring.

Fall Cookies: Selling Girl Guide Cookies is a long fund-raising tradition in Girl Guides. Our fall cookies will be arriving soon and our unit has 30 cases to sell! When the cookies arrive we will be giving at least 1 case per family and would ask that you pay the full cost of the case ($60) upon pickup.

Girl Guides offers incentives for girls who are eager to sell cookies – this program is called Cookie All-Star. The following are the prizes that were awarded last year. We will be keeping track of the number of cases the girls sell individually this year.

·         Girls who individually sell seven to 14 cases will receive a specially designed crest.

·         Girls who individually sell 15 to 29 cases will receive the specially designed crest and a $20 Movie Voucher

·         Girls who individually sell 30 to 39 cases will receive the specially designed crest and a $75 gift card for Indigo Books and Music Inc.

·         Girls who individually sell 40 to 79 will receive the specially designed crest and a $125 gift card for Future Shop.

·         Girls who individually sell 80 or more cases will receive the specially designed crest and a Netbook Computer**

 
A few fun links you may enjoy visiting with information about Girl Guides

This is the main site of Girls Guides of Canada.

 
This is the Girl Guide of Canada Blog

 
The Girl Guides review and recommend books for all age-levels monthly. You can find
the books at this link with information.


This is an on-line community for girls in Girl Guides only. Your daughter will need their
IMIS number to register for this group.

Where do your fees go?

Registration Fee ($150)
$19.00 to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies
The remainder goes towards administration and gym rental
Cookie sales ($60 per box)
$12.25 to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies
$0.75 to the Ontario Council membership fee subsidy fund
$20.50 to Ontario Council
$4.75 to the National level of GGC
$21.75 to Dare
Dues ($1 per week)
All proceeds to the 2nd Riverside South Brownies to cover the cost of badges, craft materials, special guest speakers, etc.