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Below is an alphabetical list of words and terms you’ll hear at Service Unit meetings. Some are unique to our Service Unit; some are broad Girl Scout Terms…If you have heard a word or term you are not familiar with and it is NOT listed here, please e-mail us and we will find the meaning and add it to our list! Thank you.
Bridging / Flying Up
A traditional ceremony, sometimes combined with a Court of Awards, celebrating a girl's graduation from one level of scouting to another. In our Service Unit, we traditionally have a mass bridging ceremony to recognize all girls at once. Girls who complete a specific set of requirements designed to make the transition easier for her receives a bridging patch to wear on her uniform. Flying Up specifically refers to Brownies moving to the Junior level of Girl Scouting. Only Brownies
receive wings when they move up to Junior Scouts (there are no other requirements for Brownie wings). A "picture perfect" opportunity to invite family members.
Calendar Sales
Troops earn money for sale of calendars. The campaign runs in Oct/Nov. There is not a lot of pressure for calendar sales, but you can pick up some much-needed dollars for your troop!
Cookie Sales
Start recruiting a good Troop Cookie Manager (TCM) right away. The Service Unit will train them in December; the campaign runs from the first part of January through the end of March. Troops can earn several hundred to over a thousand dollars in a well-run cookie sale.
Encampment
Normally in April or May; it’s a chance for the entire Service Unit to camp together. This is the ideal environment for troops who have not built up their confidence in the out-of-doors!
Girl Scout Birthday
Happens the week surrounding March 12th, and includes "Girl Scout Sunday" when girls are encouraged to wear their uniform to their house of worship.
Gold Award
The highest award a Senior Girl Scout can earn. This award requires a Senior to earn 4 IPs (badges at the senior level), the Career Exploration pin, complete the Senior Challenge, learn about leadership and earn leadership hours and design and plan a major service project which benefits her school, community, or religious institution. Many compare it to the Eagle award in Boy Scouting. For those who were in scouting as a girl, it was previously called "First Class" or "Curved Bar".
Green Angel
An experienced leader who pledges to help a new leader get through the first year. See full explanation of this program in this book.
Honor Troop (TOP OF THE TOTEM)
In order to encourage a well-rounded Girl Scout program, GSTC offers the Honor Troop Program. Look for the program requirements, distributed early in the scouting year. Each girl whose troop completes the requirements will receive an honor troop patch and year bar the first year it is earned, and the year bar alone in subsequent years. (Don't forget to indicate both the number of patches and year bars required by your troop!)
Investiture/Rededication
A traditional scout ceremony, normally held in September or October. A girl or adult is invested, and receives her Girl Scout pin, the first year she becomes a Scout. Each year after that, she is rededicated. Check out the Service Unit Library for ceremonies you can use, or troop can make up their own ceremony. This is an excellent time to invite family members to a troop activity.
Juliette Low’s Birthday
Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouting in the US in March of 1912. She was quite a fascinating woman, and we celebrate her birthday, which falls on October 31st (yes, Halloween!). Sometimes the Service Unit will have a birthday celebration, sometimes you can just do this in your troop.
(See the Brownie Handbook for information on this). One suggestion: a birthday party for Juliette - have the girls bring "birthday gifts" for the troop based on a list you give the parents of stuff you may need for troop crafts or camping (e.g., glue, scissors, dishwashing buckets, etc).
Leader-in-Training
A Senior Girl Scout who has received training from Council as well as a number of hours of observing different troops. She receives her LIT pin and is ready to work with a leader in assisting in planning meetings, field trips and camp outs. After 50 hours with a troop, she receives her LIT patch. This program provides not only invaluable leadership training for
the Senior Girl Scout, but also much needed help to leaders.
Program Aides
A wonderful help for troops - especially to young troop or to new leaders! Some guidelines: Aides are Cadettes or Seniors who have been trained to help with GS events and/or troops. They should NOT be left alone with the girls while the leaders are off doing something else. They can help in planning games, songs or program for troop and then present what they
have planned. Some Aides have taken additional training and can also 'teach" outdoor skills, science activities, etc. Aides are NOT maids! Don't take them to camp and use them as 'gophers' or to do the kapers the scouts should be doing. This is not why they are there! Leaders need to be careful when using Aides and keep in mind that they are GIRLS - not short adults! Sometimes, they will make mistakes (Don't we all!!!) But keep in mind that Aides are at an age when 'words' can be
especially harmful! Aides and Leaders can work together to plan - they still need some guidance. As a rule here, Aides DO NOT pay to accompany troops at meeting or camping trips - they are there to help you out. Brownies especially love having an Aide around - it's an older girl to look up to. It's important for Juniors to see Aides helping, too. It's a great retention tool -- a lot of girls will stay in Scouts because they
want to become an Aide, too.
QSP
QSP is a magazine-sales program that happens usually in the fall with calendars. Council does NOT want people selling magazines door-to-door, like we do with cookies, but instead, encourages scouting families to use this program to renew magazine subscriptions they were going to get anyway. Currently, Totem council does not participate with QSP sales.
Safety Wise
Guidelines published by GSUSA concerning safety and program standards. Should be your constant companion, and first point of reference when planning any and all Girl Scout activities!
Scouts’ Own
A ceremony, most often associated with the end of a camping event, where they girls design the ceremony, say a poem or something that ties in with the weekend, and often each scout shares what she has gained. Always conducted with quiet dignity; almost always a moving ceremony.
Service Unit Team
The "team" is made up of those troop leaders and adults who have raised their hand (or otherwise been begged) to serve in a leadership role in the Service Unit. We always have room for more…please volunteer! The Team normally includes the SU manager, registrar, treasurer, secretary, librarian, orientation specialist, troop level consultants, encampment coordinator, PR director, and fund raising chairs. (Note: some of our
leaders hold 2 or more of these jobs, so there really are plenty to go around!)
Service Project
An integral part of the Girl Scout Program, service to the community can take many forms: local to global, simple to complex. Choose projects that suit your troop's interests and abilities. Service opportunities are published at the service unit meetings and troops are encouraged to develop their own service projects. We normally also have one to two Service Unit Service Projects each year.
Silver Award
The highest award a Cadette scout can earn. She must earn three Interest Project (IP) patches related to the project she’ll do for the Silver Award, earn the Dreams to Reality Patch OR complete any five career activities, in any IP. She must also earn the Cadette Girl Scout Leadership Award or the Leadership IP, earn the Cadette Girl Scout Challenge, and then
design and carry out a Girl Scout Silver Award Project (requiring a minimum of 30 hours.)
SWAPS
A Girl Scout tradition, some say it stands for "Share With A Pal". They are small items you trade with or give to other scouts. Sometimes they are theme-based, sometimes it’s just whatever you have on hand. They almost always have a safety pin or jewelry pin so they can be attached to a hat or shirt. The idea is that they should be VERY inexpensive, and
made by the girls where possible. (Often made from felt, fun foam, stickers, pompoms, beads, etc.)
Thinking Day
A date close to February 22nd, the official Thinking Day around the world. Each troop chooses a country that has Girl Scouts and/or Girl Guides and we all meet as a Service Unit, giving girls a chance to show off what they’ve learned. Typically, a troop prepares a table or poster display and offers either food or swaps that represent that country. Brownie Leaders can easily tie this into several Try-it activities! Troops
also normally make a flag of their selected country on a poster, try to learn a song or dance, and often come up with make shift costumes to represent their country.
Uniforms
A Girl Scout is considered to be in uniform if she is wearing her Girl Scout pin (over her heart). Complete uniforms may be purchased at the discretion of the parents. GSUSA asks that a whole uniform be worn in its entirety or not at all. Please see the Uniform Regulations booklet for information about placement of recognitions on the uniform. Travelling Girl Scouts should always wear a complete uniform or 'troop' uniform.
WAGGGS
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. GSUSA is a member of WAGGGS, which is why we wear the WAGGGS pin as part of our uniform. Traditionally, a Scout receives her WAGGGS pin after she attends Thinking Day , which is a function that celebrates the international world of Girl Scouting. All Girl Scout members are members of WAGGGS automatically, this is not an earned recognition.Return to the Leader's page!