How To Host An Event

 

1. Plan your event with your girls

2. Decide “What” you want to do, “When” you want to have it, “Where” will it be held,  and “Who” will be invited.

3. Fill out the Event Checklist and send it to kelmckcra@gmail.com so it can be posted on www.crsu.com.

4. Read the information below, it will help you figure out what you want to do.

5. Review the Girl Scout Leadership Essentials and National Outcomes to see what the outcomes of your event will be.

6. If you have expenses from an event that you helped host, click here for the Expense Reimbursement Form.

 

 

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

What will make your service unit event excellent and worthy of being a Girl Scout Event? Your event needs to include many of the following qualities, and must include some of them.

· Girls will have fun with their friends and make new friends.

· Your event will be safe as described by Safety-Wise, and will demonstrate a high level of emergency preparedness and risk management.

· The event will support the needs of Girl Scouts, introducing new or innovative program or providing program hard to supply in the troop setting.

· The event will involve girls in planning, decision making and leadership development.

· The activity (s) will help girls develop confidence, courage and character.

· The activity (s) will be age appropriate, progressive and help girls develop skills.

· The event will help recruit new girls to Girl Scouts and pron10te retention of girls in Girl Scouts.

· The event will be financially self sufficient and affordable to everyone.

· Girls will be asked about their preferences for the event with a needs assessment or survey, and a plan for an evaluation by girls will be included in the overall event plan.

 

· The site is accessible for all, and the needs of all participants have been considered.

· If adult training is required, completion of that training is verified.

· The event will be welcoming and inclusive.

The event will involve the c~mn1unity for service projects as well as program support.

· The event written materials will graphically reflect the mission and goals of Girl Scouts.

 

 

FUN & FRIENDSHIP Each Girl Scout Event should allow both time for girls to be with their friends and members of their own troop, but should also promote meeting new friends and taking part in activities with girls from other areas and other troops.

SAFETY-WISE Every part of the event follows Safety-Wise standards. This includes the progran1 standards, the activity checkpoints, group planning and basic safety guidelines. Girl Scouts do no compromise with safety.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS The planning group establishes basic plans in advance stating what should be done in case of various emergencies. Plans should be established orally as well as in writing and should be posted in a highly visible location. At an event, all participants should be made aware of these plans and practice what to do in emergencies.

RISK MANAGEMENT The steps taken to remove the possibility of danger, harm or loss. Routine risk management includes:

· Providing for the required girl-adult ratio according to Safety-Wise

· Verifying that required adult training has been completed. Organizing girls in the buddy system

· Providing for a first aider

· Establishing and publicizing behavior rules, and making sure they are followed

· Making certain that equipment is in good working order

· Girls have instruction in necessary skills... Providing for special certification if it is required

· Activities are age-appropriate

· Non-Girl Scout members are insured

· Posting emergency phone numbers by the emergency phone.

· Emergency transportation is available.

· Fire codes are known and observed.

· Fire Extinguishers are available.

 

EVENT PROGRAM & PURPOSE OF THE EVENT

The program activities at a service unit event should support:

The broad program needs of Girl Scouting, such as Bridging, Earned Awards, Award Ceremonies, Thinking Day, Girl Scout Week, Juliette Low's Birthday

Introduce new or innovative program, perhaps programs like Science: We Like It! Math: It's Fun and a Whiz!, SEE the STARS!

Help girls access program difficult to arrange by a troop, such as Sled Dogs of the North, Canoe Canada, or It's a Rocky Climb!

 

Help GIRLS BUILD CONFIDENCE, COURAGE, and CHARACTER Events should support the Mission statement of Girl Scouts.

 

GIRL PLANNING and DECISION-MAKING needs to always be part of the plan for a Girl Scout event. Even if it is slower and more complicated, the purpose of Girl Scouting demands the highest possible involvement of girl and adults in partnership to plan and make decisions.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT The Mission of Girl Scouts demands that we use every opportunity to help girls learn leadership skills. Service unit events are perfect places for girls to practice leadership in a safe environment with help from dedicated adults.

AGE APPROPRIATE Service unit events should be planned so the activities are age appropriate. This means that STUDIO 2B girls are involved in program described by the age level program books for them, and are not always presenting or joining into program for younger girls. It also means that the Brownie Girl Scouts are not taking part in program that should be left to older Junior Girl Scouts. Event planners can count on the published Girl Scouts of the USA and council program books for guidance in what is appropriate for each program age level.

PROGRESSIVE Program at events should be progressive, meaning that girls learn beginning skills before starting an activity, and before taking part in more difficult levels of the activity. Girls should learn, for example, basic canoe strokes and emergency procedures and practice in a safe place before attempting an actual canoe trip.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT Program events should also promote activity skill development. We want girls to develop skills in group living as well as learning life time activity skills. For example, a group of girls on a winter wonderland day event learn to cooperate as a group while learning to skate, ski and cook outside in the snow.

RECRUITMENT Make every event a recruitment event. Invite girls who have never been Girl Scouts and girls who have dropped out. Give prizes and incentives for bringing non-Girl Scout friends. Give special prizes to leaders who recruit new adults and their daughters.

RETENTION Some events are planned especially for retention of girls. Examples are bridging events and fall back-to-troop events like hayrides or Juliette Lo\v birthday parties.

EVENT BUDGETS and FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT A service unit event must be as affordable as possible so that it is possible for every girl to take part. A detailed budget must be developed and approved by the service unit event coordinator, SUM or staff. The service unit treasurer has oversight for event budgets and expenditures. Event fees are held in the service unit bank account and the treasurer pays the bills. There cannot be separate event bank accounts.

TOKENS OF APPRECIATION for event staff should not be costly. In most cases, thank you notes are most appropriate.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT Ask girls in advance what they would like in an event. A needs assessment has to be age appropriate. Daisy Girl Scouts can make a choice between two or three activities and Brownie Girl Scouts can choose Try-Its for a Try-It Trail. Junior Girl Scouts can take part in planning for most event functions, and take the lead on presenting parts of an event. STUDIO 2B Girl Scouts can plan their own events and take the lead in planning events for younger girls.

 

EVALUATIONS Make sure girls evaluate the events they attend, and then you need to compile the results of the evaluation for the service unit event files. Evaluations and needs assessments are the beginning of planning for the next event.

 

SITE ACCESSIBILITY Our Girl Scout commitment to inc1usivity says that the sites where Girl Scouts gather need to be accessible for everyone.

TRAINING Some events will have activities that require training for the leader. This is a risk management issue, and if training is required, that requirement should be verified. Examples:

Events with outdoor cooking require a leader with outdoor training.

Events including learning to paddle canoes require an adult with Small Craft Safety/Canoe certification

Most events require an adult with first aid training.

 

WELCOMING & INCLUSIVE Welcoming and inclusive behavior needs to be planned into the program. Helpful hints for new leaders about how to find the site, assigning a buddy troop to help a new troop get acquainted, making sure everyone understands the established behavior rules...plan for these hostessing activities as well as for games. Establish those behavior rules for events on a service unit basis for all events, and leaders can review them with girls before events.

Inclusivity also means that event planners consider religious holidays when setting dates for events, think about including other family members for some events, and carefully consider cost.

SERVICE Service to the community is a basic part of Girl Scouts, and it can be built into every event. Girls can bring food shelf items, make hygiene kits for shelters, make blankets for a home for children. Planning for the service project could be the leadership project for a troop.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATION Building a partnership with the community at large is good for Girl Scouts. Plan for involving people outside Girl Scouts as role models for girls and to enrich the program for girls. Be especially aware of female role models in your community. It is important that community collaborators support the mission and goals of Girl Scouts.

Community collaboration guidelines are included in this booklet.

GIRL SCOUT LOGO & GRAPHICS You will probably need to publish a flyer or informational card to advertise your event and to provide for a registration process. It is important to reflect Girl Scout values on any written materials. This includes the correct use of the Girl Scout logo, correct grammar, capitalization and punctuation. It also means that any illustrations, examples and wording reflect our national commitment to inclusivity. Your written flyers, cards and packets of information must be approved by the service unit event coordinator, SUM or staff before it can be distributed.