Pathways/Recruitment Comments
Comments are presented "as is" from the survey. They have not been edited for spelling or grammar.
- Juliettes were always allowed--the change to Pathways and changing the name of Juliettes was not a good thing.
- I think that there needs to be more emphasis on mentoring 1st year leaders so that they can also provide better program. Better program = Better retention.
- I think our Council is awful at recruitment. They are not well networked in our area and do not focus enough on publicity. The recruitment materials need a lot of work.
- Girl Scouts has always been about the troops. That is the best scouting experience. Stop trying to please everyone, keep true to your roots and what you do best. Troops.
- We have always had girls who participated in a variety of ways. We just did not call it a Pathway. We always had girls who registered to go to camp. We have had girls who did short term, grant-supported outreach programs, a lot like Series of today. We had some individually registered girls. But primarily, girls began in troops and then morphed into membership of other kinds.
- Girls always could participate in ways such as these. I like the addition of virtual.
- Regarding being a member for only one event: allowing girls to become members to attend one event might encourage them to participate more fully.
- Speaking for my area, girls want to be in troops and service units understand how to run troops. The occasional Juliette, or independent girl, is OK ... but Girl Scouts is a group activity. The Journeys need groups and the girls need to have teams to do B/S/G awards and groups teach social skills. My council does not have a Juliette Advisor and the rules for Juliette Girl Scouts seem cobbled together and sometimes seem to contradict what is expected of girls in troops. 2) It is nice that a girl, any girl, can benefit from a trip or event by registering as a one-time Girl Scout ... but what is the point? If we are a movement, a program, an organization that Builds Girls of Courage Confidence and Character who make the world a better place are we doing that by having a girl go on one trip? NO. These one-time Girl Scouts seem to say we will take anyone, for any reason, to boost our membership numbers. 3) As for virtual and on-line Girl Scouts ... I am still waiting to see if it works at all. This generation of girl is more comfortable with on-line that I am (though I am no Luddite) so maybe it will work. But ... and this is a big but ... I have not seen any programs or trainings or examples of how to make it work.
- Troop membership is a great way to learn leadership skills. However, it seems the trend is for single school grade troops so there is little chance for girls to learn from their more experienced peers. Also, with the level changing (Brownie, Junior, Cadette, etc.) every 2 or 3 years it would be difficult to have that leadership/learning for ones peers in the same Girl Scout level as the girls would only be from 2 school grades (3 for Cadettes).
- Pathways are a good way to involve girls that normally would not be members. I personally know lots of girls who only do camp or events. There is NOTHING wrong with that.
- Girl Scouts will not exist with the girls. Get them to sign up for anything, anyway, they want. Whether they want 1 trip a year and nothing else, or just virtual experience, or troop experience, or camp experience. The more you tell girls they can only participate this way and that way, the more they (and moms) back out. Isn't that what society tells them all the time? You can only make this much, get promoted this much, run this fast, look this way... because you are girl. Let Girl Scouts be the place they are never told they cannot.
- Pathways are a great idea.
- I don't like "buy a girl" programs (that's what I call the "come to one thing and you're a Girl Scout" programs) unless they are very intense, like a week of day camp or a carefully planned and jam packed full weekend that really might make a difference in a girl's life. Going to a few-hour recruitment event where you magically leave as a Girl Scout and never do anything else in the program for the rest of the year is just taking advantage of people and is not honest and fair.
- I think the pathways are just a way to get numbers vs a girl who truly wants to be part of GS....
- The Pathways all need to be supported with official Program and awards. Staff recruitment should strive to hire longtime Girl Scout Volunteers above all, because these people know what is important and what Girl Scouting is all about. We are straying from our mission, and need to get back to what Girl Scouting is all about, outdoor adventure, and learning teamwork and leadership in the out of doors.
- Do away with Pathways... The only Juliettes we have are 2 girls who had a bad experience with a troop last year. If there was no Juliettes we could had just move them to another troop and they would be ok with it.
- I love the Pathways! They finally recognize all the ways a girl can be a Girl Scout, and roll it out nationally! I've been either a girl member or a Leader in every way but the virtual one. They are all good, they are all valid, and it's about time National pushed the sticks-in-the-mud to recognize this.
- We don't see anything from the pathways.. it's just circles to fill in. Focus needs to be on finding and supporting leaders... If you have the leaders then the girls can find troops.
- "Do you feel your council places too much emphasis on recruiting girls and not enough on providing a strong program for the girls already enrolled?" There was no appropriate answer available for this question, so here's my own: I feel my council places little emphasis on recruiting girls and doesn't provide enough programs for current girl members. Honestly, too much was invested in the Journeys. Great concept, but poor implementation and WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. My girls have participated in 5 different Journeys. With all 5, my girls rarely used their Journey handbooks (such a waste, especially when $7 each)....they were often bored (even as I utilized the Leader book suggestions to the best of my abilities). The only Journey that I felt truly made an impact was the Brownie Quest because that does lay out the steps simply for the girls on how to choose and implement a community service project...a HUGE part of what Girl Scouts is all about. The other Journeys, though....no noticeable impact on the girls whatsoever.
- I like the pathways however, with the rural area I'm in there are no very few events, camp opportunities, series, etc. So in other words, its troop or nothing.
- Pathways is fine. But there need to be more information to volunteers about the requirements and expectations from the girls that participate. Series are great. Summer camp is great. But a girl should be expected to help plan and money earn for a trip, not just show up and 'get to go' As I understand it currently, the scenario above is allowed.
- It is nothing more than a demographics game to make the GS numbers look better to recruit a group to play basketball (for example) - if that is all the group is doing - just one special interest, the girls never get the benefits of the program, they just get a specific activity, supported by Girl Scouts. It is a drain on the girls who have been supporting GS with cookie sales and other fundraising the publicity support, while those girls never actually participate the in the program.
- I think that the future of Girl Scouting can NOT be part-time Girl Scouts. I wouldn't object to all these pathways if I thought that the purpose of them was to pull girls into Girl Scouts and encourage them to continue with the Troop Pathway. But it isn't. It is to recruit and register as many girls as possible. Many of the Pathways don't use the program - Journeys, Badges, Higher Awards - so what I see is that the older girl emphasis isn't delivery of the core program, but how to get them to register to increase the numbers.
- Hand out pamphlets at schools and colleges.
- Girls are busy, so I agree with keeping membership open, even if the girl can only go camping once. We need to be "Sister's to every Girl Scout." Which means understanding others schedules.
- I think there should be several different pathways for girls, some enjoy the troop experience, while some join to go to summer camp, and some join to do a patrol.
- I have had girls in high school who have stayed registered only so they could work on the Camporee staff or work as a program aide at day camp. They are involved in too many things and aren't interested in Journey's or badges or Gold Award, they just like working with younger girls and this fits their needs.
- I like the different pathways.
- I love the Juliette Pathway. I think the troop pathway is great for some people, but doesn't allow girls to choose their own activities. The fact is, Girl Scouts offers programs and activities in virtually every aspect of life (theater, outdoor skills, science, arts, sports, etc.). A girl may be placed in a troop that is very science-focused when she would have preferred to go camping and backpacking. Conversely, a girl who loves the sciences, may be placed in a troop who does a lot of teambuilding, self-esteem, and media study. Unless troops are going to advertise "these are our main interests" girls may sign up for GS with one idea in mind, and be placed in a troop that has a completely different idea. The same goes for Journeys, Awards, and Badges. Some troops don't earn any, and some earn as many as possible. To some families/girls this is important, and to others it is not. Girls should be able to choose how many badges/awards they want to pursue, and the juliette option allows them to do that.
- I think it is critical for GS to have different pathways so girls can participate because troops are so hard to maintain and we lose so many at cadettes due to competing needs of school and sports and troop attrition. at least event and Camp Girl scouting allows girls options to continue to participate when there is no troops available.
- I have seen in isolated instances a deep and wide communications and expectations gap over what constitutes a program pathway, a membership and participation experience and "girl led" verses the policies (old SAFETYWISE), group dynamics, and the "girl/adult" partnership. You cannot have it BOTH ways. Girls in functioning troops and girls that come "one time" and are gone. You may for a short time increase a number, but in the long run you will lose membership, both in girls and in adults.
- The different pathways are not clearly explained, the majority of people filling out forms check everything off w/o reading or understanding it.
- Too much about recruitment and cookies. Once they are recruited there is little concern to keep their interest. New leaders are inexperience which does not help to keep the interest. Too much emphasis on cookies, sales. 2) Can we consolidate the uniforms so parents are not burdened to purchase new uniform every 2 years. Need simpler representation of each level
- I think Virtual/Digital is a very lame idea for someone to be part of GS.
- My concern is that many Girl Scouts already in troops will also chose to do these activities. There is nothing wrong with that, but if it keeps a girl with no troop from participating at all, it could be a problem.
- I hate getting flyers to what looks like a fun event, only to discover on reading through it that it's for recruiting. I feel as though prospective members get much more time, attention, and resources than current members.
- >>Do you feel your council places too much emphasis on recruiting girls and not enough on providing a strong program for the girls already enrolled? for at least the last 40 years
- I already have a full troop and keep saying I don't want more girls and I keep getting asked if I can take more. Start a new troop or something.
- I don't have a problem with girls getting a taste for Scouting through Pathways. But there are certainly not enough troops nor are there enough leaders to provide troops. The story is always that girls lose interest in Scouting as they get older so they drop out, but I believe that what happens is that leaders lose their mojo and provide fewer fun activities, and when Scouting isn't fun anymore....that's when girls drop out. Leading a group of 5th graders feels a lot different than leading a group of kindergarteners! We don't do enough to retain and encourage our adults as their girls grow. We train them once when they're starting out and then we assume they know what they're doing. But many of them don't come to neighborhood meetings, don't take further training and don't socialize or work with other leaders. So they don't learn to change what they offer and how they run their troop as the girls grow. Or they get burned out as the dynamics of their troop changes over time. But by then they think they're supposed to know what they're doing, so I think they're afraid to admit they're struggling. I think we need mentors for older troops. Or at least a better way to encourage leaders of existing troops to talk to each other.
- I don't think it is the council that is placing to much emphasis on recruitment... it is the people above them!
- Let girls be Girl Scouts however they want. It should be social in some way though - it is a sisterhood.
- Juliettes, aka Independent Girl Scouts, are on their own - and I don't mean that in a good way. My SU is virtually oblivious to their needs; they're not "invited" to events, etc.; my Council has not notified me/my daughter that the cookie program is starting, nor the Fall Product sale. It's as if we didn't exist…
- I have a hard time with a girl getting a spot for an activity when she is not in a troop and the girls in troops can't get registered for activities because there are not enough spaces. I think the troop girls should have priority.
- Don't have too much to say on this since I have my girls in my troop involved as much as their schedules allow. I do have a Juliette that joins us when she can and does product sales with us who has benefited from the pathways program.
- I know the emphasis for recruiting is on girls K-3, who tend to be mostly interested in being placed in troops. I have a hard time recruiting them for troops when there is no existing opportunity. Also, these younger girls are too young for many of the other pathways, so it seems as though it is troop or nothing for these younger girls.
- I think there is more of an emphasis on recruitment rather than retention, especially as the girls get into middle and high schools. This is the time in which the girls need a safe and secure environment to explore who they want to become, and build each other up as leaders. This doesn't always happen when a girl joins scouts just for one event or trip. In many cases, girls have worked hard towards that event/trip financially and/or badgework and to allow a girl to sign up and go, demeans the rest of the troops' efforts.
- I think for long-term sustainability, that troops are the best solution for keeping girls in the program long term.
- Adults & girls should have the Pathways better explained. Many might be interested in occasional opportunities that happen through the year rather than a year-long program.
- The question about girls signing up for only one event is a little vague. I know several girls that go to GS camp in the summer but don't attend meetings during the year - mainly because they are heavily involved in sports, etc. I completely agree with that. As far as whether it is wrong or not for them to sign up for one event, it depends entirely on the event. Without adding that context the question is too open-ended.
- Troops should be the primary focus and programs to be done with troops. Programs for individual girls are fine as long as the girl is in a troop and wants to do something in addition to what the troop is doing.
- Camp could be great pathway to recruit and serve girls, but it seems that in our council, this avenue, which was once very effective, is no longer effective since the camps that are still open do not appeal to many new girls.
- GSUSA should consider allowing or attempting to build some troops using the BSA model, with troops of mixed levels having a life beyond a single cohort of girls (in another life, I was a BSA troop and council-level leader).
- I do not think girls should be recruited until their parents agree to lead their troop.
- I don't think girls need to come to every meeting. However I truly don't believe a girl going to one event knows anything about Girl Scouts. And it's not doing anything to shape her into a young woman.
- Girls should be in troops and not on their own. Registering as a gs for one event only inflates the numbers. This does not truly reflect the number of gs. Again, it is all about getting more money.
- Not enough knowledge of the pathways. They are not talked about in trainings. I've been in for a long time, and couldn't tell a new girl what virtual/digital scouts are or do!
- I sometimes feel there is more emphasis put on recruitment than retention. As my girls are getting older I am constantly hearing that we need to bring more girls into the troops while I am fighting to find ways to keep things fresh and keep the girls I have.
- The GSME Northern office holds lists of girls and does not disseminate them to troops in a timely manner. Some girls have been waiting for a year and an open troop is available in their community. The direction to recruit girls and send their names into council so council can place them in a troop is absolutely stupid and without logic, other than to generate money for the council.
- We have a lot of good intentions from council staff, but not a lot of follow through. The girls end up on waiting lists and never get the chance to participate, in spite of volunteers who will help recruit adult leaders and will work with girls on an individual basis or through 6 week school based programs. The information does not get passed to the volunteers.
- Having the different pathways will help but those alternate pathways need to be adequately developed by Councils with more assistance in the area by GSUSA. Education that being involved in that Girl Scouting is not just being in a troop anymore.
- Pathways are an excellent way to keep older girls in girl scouting and also help them realize that it is not all or nothing so if they want to do band, or sports they can do that AND Girl Scouts maybe by being in a pathway and doing something besides the traditional troop or maybe like my daughter who is in a troop, a travel pathway troop, a chorus pathway, and also a nature center pathway they can do more then just a single troop activity.
- I think there is a lot of pressure at the service unit level to recruit. There is very little support from council on leader recruitment, troop development and leader training. I feel that developing a strong training program would help potential leaders step into the volunteer role more easily.
- I think that having a girl joining to participate in one activity is just a way to boost numbers and look good. They should not be labeled a member but a guest. I made phone calls to recruit for camp last year from a list of "members" and I could not believe how many parents/ girls told me they were members... When questioned they said they maybe attended an event of some sort.
- Girls should sign up for a full year of Girl Scouts and be encouraged to immerse themselves for a whole year, rather than just attend an event or two. Then they can truly make the decision as to whether or not scouting is right for them.
- Pathways = just another way to increase numbers to make it look good. If you register to participate in one event that. Increases the numbers - it is becoming more about the numbers so you can keep the grant money coming.
- Almost all communication from council relates to registration and pushing fall product/cookie/merchandise. $$$$$$
- Maybe recruitment should be more focused on recruitment of leaders
- I think that parents are surprised when they find out that the girls are not the only ones being recruited. I wonder if recruiting is ever done at the local colleges or service groups to develop a partnership with the Girl Scouts. I also feel like old Girl Scouts could be targeted to lead the next generation.
- More is not better....why are we so focused on increasing the number of girls enrolled and not focusing on providing quality, fun, interesting programs for the girls currently enrolled? If you are spending time and money providing great programs, the girls will WANT to join....Recruitment has too much emphasis, our council really has a dearth of programs that relate to badges when compared to a lot of other councils (I've browsed a lot of council websites for ideas when it comes to badges/Journeys and am blown away by the options offered compared to the options offered for our girls).
- I am pretty neutral on the idea of pathways outside of troops. In my suburban life, there are plenty of places I can spend money on on-off activities for my child. What makes Scouting special is the ongoing troop bond and programming. I was a Scout from early elementary through High School, and a troop leader both in my late teen years and as an adult, and I think that the troop is the core unit, as well as the part of the organization that makes Scouting affordable to kids who may be priced out of many other local for-profit after school activities. If the other Pathways to participation are useful somewhere in the system, I won't argue against them, but I think that Girl Scouting lives and dies with the success of local troops, and and don't think that the changes of the last few years have delivered for local troops.
- Too many girls are being preregistered that want a troop and never get in. Many parents are angry and now want nothing more to do with girl scouts.
- We can always get the girls, and our council is attempting to move away from the waiting list concept and putting them into already established troops. I started this year with 8 girls returning, and by November we were up to 20 girls. I don't mind taking the girls, but it is difficult to plan activities when you have new girls every week.
- Pathways are a bit unclear to the average person.
- Regarding the question about girls joining for one event, my feeling that she will still benefit depends on her being involved in the entire process of that program, from planning to execution to evaluation. Otherwise, there's no point.
- Girl Scouts has gone down hill since the re-alignment and the complete change of all program. Closing/selling camp properties has greatly influenced this decline.
- Travel pathways in our council brought more girls the opportunity to travel. Not sure about the other pathways.
- If you have good programs, that recruitment will fall into place because of the word going around.
- Our council only cares about membership #s, not about maintaining and growing relationships.
- As a leader at the troop level... I think it would be helpful if council stepped up their leader training. Before you can ask me about pathways, I need to understand what that is. I approached a Brownie troop leader to see if my girls could work with her troop so they could earn their LIA awards. Leader asked me what LIA was... then proceeded to ask what a "Journey" was. And while on that topic... how about a little help on training us on how to teach the Journey programs????
- Choice should be Juliette or Troop. If these girls are signing up to go to one event...and taking the space from a girl in a troop or juliette who wants to attend it's a disgrace. Take care of our own first.
- Recruitment is lacking for the middle and high schoolers, our next generation of volunteers. I would like to see this recruitment in the spring to capture a larger audience , work with older girls on leadership training, recruiting their help for younger troops. I am unsure if this has ever been tried anywhere else. Having a floating registration, ex. June to July, October to September, would help this as well. We should always be recruiting. Just this week someone ask me if it was too late to join. For me it is never too late to join Girl Scouts.
- Girls in girl scouts is good at any level.
- As much as I advocate for girls to be in the troop setting, I think the Juilette program especially benefits high school aged women.
- Very little is done to recruit in our area at all, and when it is they have been pushed toward individual enrollment rather than the troop pathway.
- I do think it's important to recruit girls and encourage them to join troops. But, I think council pushes that a bit much sometimes. We shouldn't be focusing all our energies on getting MORE girls until we know why current members are dropping out and why parents don't want to become leaders.
- I said I was ok with girls signing up for only one activity/trip but would prefer to see them get the chance to participate more extensively. I would like to clarify my thinking here. I am okay with this as long as councils do not use these numbers to justify their decisions. I girl who registers and participates in one activity should be counted differently in terms of usage rates. Counting these girls in the same way as girls who register and are committed to the program skews the data. I also think we pander far too heavily to girls to join specifically for one program rather than giving girls who are committed valuable and meaningful activities. Our activities for girls beyond the Junior level are particularly abysmal and boring.
- I wonder when the virtual/digital pathway will be rolled out? Various councils I talk to around the country have no clue about it. That would be great for teens, girls that have to move alot because of a parents job.
- This is alienating the few remaining good leaders we have.
- In my council the Juliette pathway no longer shows on the registration form and is not offered.
- There is more than one pathway to leadership. I work with an interest group of Girl Scouts who like to backpack. If it were not for this pathway, they would not be Girl Scouts at all.
- I think the little ones need the troops, but the older girls might be encouraged to participate via an activity. Perhaps councils could have 1/2 year registration fees...or some other way of registering for the event, but not the whole year. People could be given the choice, perhaps - and they'd be registered if there was another event that GS year. We haven't really done much of this in our area.
- Service units and troops need to be put back in place. We have been without them for too long.
- Our camps fill up fast, and I don't think it's fair that a girl can register just to go to camp and take a spot for a girl that's in a troop and tries to register and the camp she wants is full. GS camp should be for Girl Scouts, not girls that register just to go to camp for a week.
- If you recruit the girls then make sure if they want to be in a troop that there will be one for her. Don’t recruit just to get numbers up and then leave them hanging.
- Spend certain amount of time on this than focus on the girls who are registered to move on!
- I participate in our service team recruitment and we are currently 150+ short our goal and it's almost January. It seems to be our council's number one propriety for us SU members to continue finding more girls. I don't have a problem recruiting at a school at the beginning of the year, but by now my focus is on my own troop of girls. I'm not a paid staff member and already wear 3 different hats for my SU. We can't find enough leaders to meet our current numbers anyway.
- I'm not sure if this is where it fits, but I think pathway passes should be available for a longer time frame. I think they should get rid of the cheap incentive (had quite a few not work and missing pieces) and go with less or more pathways passes to use towards programs and camping.
- It is in a long term troop setting that the goals of GSing are accomplished.
- It's frustrating to do recruiting events and then say to parents that we need leaders to lead or there won't be troops for all the girls that sign up. It feels like you are blindsiding the parents. I think it should be more clear that it is a recruitment for both leaders and girls.
- More programming from council needs to be provided to all ages. Programming should be affordable- not like our cookie craze this year!
- We always allowed girls to register for single events or work independently, but we always encouraged troops. I think that the troop is essential to the program, but any way the girls can benefit is good.
- I know our council sometimes had events for underserved areas and would register girls with grant money for a short term program. These girls often did not continue in a troop setting or with other program options, but they counted toward council membership numbers. Sometimes it seems like the # of registered girls is goal rather than providing those that WANT to be in Girl Scouts with meaningful program.
- I understand the reasoning behind pathways. Troops are something that is slowly dying. Pathways is a way to adapt to the need of getting more girls enrolled, but in the long run, is it a viable program?
- I'm fine with the various "Pathways." Even when enrolled in a troop, older girls often come only for the one or two trips or events they are interested in, or have limited time between one sports season and another, so why not just accommodate that?
- think that we need to be careful about padding numbers by registering girls for single events (especially through in-school programming like BFF) who are not really being offered the opportunity to be a Girl Scout. I don't have an issue with Camp or series or even Zip/independent/Juliette/Virtual pathways where girls get a genuine Girl Scout experience even if they choose not to join a troop. But I don't think a couple of classroom or auditorium sessions where Girl Scout staff are more of a guest speaker about bullying or self-esteem than providing traditional Girl Scout programs is really giving those girls an honest GS experience. If feels more like an underhanded way to add numbers without substance.
- Seems to be a way to make the numbers look larger than is true.
- I would like to see all girls in a troop and enjoy coming to the meetings. I feel that I made it to every meeting so the girls could to.
- I think pathways are a great way to enhance the program for girls in troops but I don't think they should take the place of troops. By the same token I would hate to see a girl not participate in Girl Scouts because she couldn't get into a troop. Perhaps there should be more support for the leaders we have so they don't leave and more time spent recruiting leaders so the girls who currently are in the program but not in a troop can get into a troop.
- Let parents know its ok to sign their girls up just to attend camps or specific events as a GSI. Maybe these girls would get excited through attending these events and want to become more involved.
- I think any girl will get more out of participating at the troop level. The relationships the girls make with leaders and each other that they will take with them for a lifetime! I don't know what is being done for recruitment but whatever it is, it is not enough our service unit is shrinking quickly.
- I think the parents need to understand the Pathways better. Most only think in terms of troops which may not be convenient or the best way for their daughter to experience Girl Scouts.
- The recruitments are a joke now. It is all a big business numbers game instead of giving the girls a reason to be a girl scout, they are just worried about how many more girls they can get.
- You should not be able to join GS and participate in just one activity--unless it is Summer Camp. Summer camp is different than just one activity--like I want to go camping so I join GS, am assigned to the troop and when they are done Camping I do nothing, or I just want to go on a trip to the football game. We are not teaching making and sticking to a commitment by allowing them to be able to join for just one thing.
- Our council did provide recruitment outreach form with a Spanish side this year and it saved me the time it takes to run the form through a translator and find a Spanish speaking person to review as a check for clarity. I really appreciated it.
- Recruitment and kick-off, such as it was, was WA-A-A-Y TOO LATE this year. And, Recruitment Specialists our SU were told not to set anything up when school got started. What was that about?
- It is becoming so much the numbers! Now the big push is retention %. If the previous year saw a troop or 2 bridge to adults- retention numbers are impacted. We live in an area where a lot of people are moving in and out- this also impacts retention. I truly believe that if more emphasis is put on good girl program- more girls will want to join and will stay! In my opinion- Journeys have hurt our retention of older girls.
- Locally they say there are all these pathways, and yet they complain of low sign up for the Summer Residential Camp programs. Then when you suggest they ADVERTIZE to the public (And have the price be the regular price plus the GS Registration fee) they say it's "Not possible/too expensive/ against policy!" If there's space left after a reasonable lead time for current scouts to register, LET THE PUBLIC IN! It assures the camp succeeds AND can get more girls to actually JOIN a troop after having so much fun at the camp!
- New leaders need to be mentored more.
- I honk it devalues Girl Scouts as a whole when girls are allowed/encouraged to become a member just to attend camp, an outing, etc. I feel those girls don't have a reason to truly 'buy into' the essence of Girl Scouts, traditions are lost, and they do not feel a real sense of belonging/sisterhood. Plus, I think it sends the message that all GSUSA is concerned about is money and membership numbers.
- I think it is best for girls to have the opportunity to be in a troop if they want to but it is nice to have flexibility for those who don't want to be in a troop or can't make it work for some reason.
- Pathways are good to an extent. However, by registering for only limited events does not make a Girl Scout. It is the same as registering for any activity offered by any group or municipality; not instilling GS philosophy, if it indeed exists any longer.
- I wish that the girls had more time to raise money you give them 2 opportunities to raise money what about the rest of the year. the girls need to raise money for summer camp and other activities they want to do but girl scout rules you can’t do most of the fundraisers that are FUN in the fundraiser.
- My Service Unit/Council used to have an all-day recruitment event in the City of St. Louis where they spent the day registering girls who lived within the city limits and the since many of these girl's families couldn't afford the registration fee, they used the scholarship program to pay for them. I don't know how many girls registered--hundreds perhaps--but I don't know if these girls actually did anything GS related after the event. Seems like a waste of money to me. If you have girls who are genuinely interested, I think those girls will have a positive experience. If you're just trying to reach a recruitment quota, why bother? Why not spend that money elsewhere, benefiting the girls already registered and participating in GS events. Point two: I have no problem with girls registering just to do one thing (GS summer camp), if it means they're seeing Girl Scouting in a positive light.
- If a council was doing their job before the merger, how is Pathways any different than SOP?
- LOVE the pathways. Sometimes girls don’t have the time or support to do troop. This is a great opportunity.
- Girls have so many options now that were not present years ago and kids are so overbooked with soccer, dance, karate, piano etc. They don't see the immediate benefit for scouts and many think "well soccer's going to pay off because she'll get a scholarship so choose that one". It's sad but we either have to adapt in some way so we're the organization that gets chosen over dance/soccer or we have to be happy with the numbers we have now and get over not growing larger.
- I think the Pathways stuff is confusing. No one ever explained it to me as a leader, and it is not explained at Round Up.
- If there is no troop, this is a great way for a girl who really loves the program to stay active. Also the pressures of High School in many areas, academics vs sports vs Girl Scouts, it enables the girl to choose GS on her timeframe.
- I know nothing about this. I have been a leader for three years.
- If the troop leaders in my area understood about the Program Implimentors in the city and the fact they get paid to do the same work, they would quit!
- My council does not seem to do much with Pathways. It barely appears on their web site.
- I like the option of being either in a troop or being an individual scout. I'm not entirely sure about the other options as I haven't seen first hand how they work.
- Given the multitude of activities available to girls nowadays as compared to 1912, I believe Juliette Low would have wanted us to morph into an organization that promotes membership in whatever ways the girls can manage. Their Girl Scout experience is invaluable and memorable in whichever format it arrives!
- Pathways seems to be a good idea, but the execution is probably the issue. Recruitment of girls is less an issue than recruitment of adults to work with the girls. Don't recruit girls unless you have a place for them.
- It is unethical to charge a girl a full year's membership to attend an event. It is unethical to charge a full year's membership to attend residence camp. This is not Honest and Fair, and has no place in Girl Scouting.
- I think every girl should participate as much as possible. Obviously scheduling conflicts occur. Flexibility is key. And Girl Scouting is a commitment. I could find something to do for each of my Troops every weekend for a year. But, that's TOO much. I know of Troops who do nothing but crafts. Boring! There need to be ways to strike the balance.
- I think girls develop confidence and character when spending time with others. Connecting is harder and almost impossible when girls are allowed to join as Juliette. What is their goal - to earn the awards for college applications? I feel these girls lose the ability to figure out how to work with others when they are allowed to join as a single girl without troop support.
- I think most girls think of Girl Scouts in a troop setting. The pathways aren't the problem. Getting girls to think of the pathway as replacing the troop is.
- I feel like I could get more moms to join in our areas if they knew they did not have to travel so far to our monthly service unit meetings. It financially hard to travel so far every month to meet with the other ladies. Why are we stationed with a group that is 30 miles away?
- Having girls pay to register for one event has lead to some of them coming to other events and eventually into the troop. Troop participation should be required where ever and whenever possible. There is a lot that can be learned from being in a troop that Juliettes would not get a chance to learn. A "Juliette" affiliated with a troop has lots more options.
- When too much emphasis is placed on recruitment and numbers, it gives us current leaders a very negative feeling toward our council, as if the numbers matter WAY more than the real girls in our troops already.
- At recruitment, they take registration money from parents and then the girls do not get placed in any troop or program. One parent who has a daughter in one of our troops took her younger daughter to a recruitment, They happily took her $25 and this parent has been calling the council to see if there was any progress. The girl has health problems and is in and out of the hospital so the mom feels she is not a reliable person for the leader role but would be willing to help. She was rudely told that if she did not want to be a leader then there was no troop ( I know there was an interested leader who was left unsupported) and she could participate in the individual council programs if she wants. She did that a couple of times but cannot afford that. This family is seeing one happy girl and one very unhappy girl. Is this what we want to be sending as a message?
- I see a "chicken or egg" problem. Here, most troops meet at schools and are generally made of girls who attend that school. If a girl's school doesn't have a troop, it is hard for her to find one, especially in the lower grades as many meet right after school. On the other hand, one reason many schools don't have troops is lack of volunteers. However, in schools where there is not an on-going program, people don't know how to get one started....
- Pathways are fine but the public doesn't understand them. This is not what girls or families think of when they think of GS. In fact, to many girls in troops, they think of GS as "their troop" and they don't have a sense of "doing" GS outside of the troop setting -- no matter how many catalogs or emails the Council sends them. If the troop leader doesn't organize a trip to a Council-run program, then very few if any girls attend. There are some who do, yes -- but a very small percentage.
- While the pathways allows for more girls to participate I do not agree with them signing up and doing just one event. A lot of programs are subsided this takes away from girls who do participate in the total package. It has also been my experience that girls sign up at an event and think they will be placed in a troop. While my council is very clear that registration DOES NOT guaranty troop placement they hope to be put in one at some point and it never comes to fruition; thus leaving a bad taste in their mouth. Once their child is counted as a scout for statistical purposes and that very little effort is made once they got their registration fee to find or create a troop. I also think that leaders should take the pathways approach on a troop level. Being more flexible within in their own troop will allow them to retain more girls. As the girls in my troop get older we meet less, do more on their own, and use various forms of communication to meet he needs of their varying schedules.
- I believe that there are many in this current organization who know or understand pathways. I am not sure if they are presented in our council. I do know that we still have 'Juliettes' a term that went away with the roll-out of Pathways in 2010.
- I think Pathways are an acceptable means of getting girls, however without troops girls have no sense of belonging. They also don't learn to get along with all types of people every week, and they don't learn how to give and take, since their pathway is uni-directional.
- I don't know much about pathways.
- If a girl is going to be charged full membership then the opportunity for her to have a full program should be in place. Recruitment for numbers sake is bad form.
- Keeping multiple pathways open introduces girls to scouting and may lead to girls later on participating more in traditional troop setting.
- Way too much on recruiting and not enough on smaller group local events. Feels like a cattle call at most
- New members bring in money. Retaining members costs money. It is sole math to figure out where some of the council priorities are.
- I am okay with Pathways, but they need to pay their own way. So long as the bulk of GS income is from troop cookie sales, the bulk of the resources should be invested in the troop model. We desperately need more rural program, as it introduces potential volunteers and girls to our organization in a fun way.
- We have had many PCs/MDEs over the past several years. Our last one was excellent and we had her for a very extensive year and a half. She just left. There is too much dissension and change in our council although it is improving thanks to our new CEO.
- What little effort, other than cookie training and bank stalking, our Council extends, is strictly for recruitment. They do NOTHING for our girls who in the program. I watch other Council's Facebook pages and our Council is pathetic!
- We have had very bad experiences with our council and their travel opportunities, as they mocked girls for wanting a leader or parent to be in the group travelling to a foreign country with them. It is continually a belittling experience to deal with council staff on their travel programs.
- PLEASE offer great programs for the girls already here. The recruitment options will come. GSCNC offers great programs, but they fill up within HOURS of being posted. You must have a leader who will get up at 4am and get the spots for the girls (that is me). AND for those of us with large troops, please help us more. We had 18 active Brownie and Juniors for a couple of years. As other troops would disband, we would pick up the girls. That was fine for activities which our adults planned, but signing up for council events was tough. People did not want us to take up all of the spots or there were only 15 spots, so we would take those and then hope that others cancelled.
- There is very little support for the pathway girls and even less support for the troop pathway - especially the older girls in troops!!!!!!!!!
- The emphasis seems to be on "how many girls are enrolled as Girl Scouts" and not "how can we provide a great program for the girls we have enrolled".
- While these activities (Events, Travel, Camp, Series, Juliettes, and Virtual/Digital) have been "talked" about, there have been few offered.
- Again, parents around here only want troops for their girls. The other pathways go WITH the troop pathway, in their opinion. They are looking for the troop experience, nothing else.
- Our council is slowly dropping all if its large, traditional council programs, ostensibly because of a lack of participation, but with the communication and registration difficulties my council is having, I believe there are willing participants who didn't hear of or couldn't register for the events. Cancelling events is a death spiral. Troop leaders cannot provide all the quality Girl Scout program that a girl should have. Troop leaders and Service Unit volunteers have the same time limitations as parents. Council should provide plenty of big events with the support of paid staff to run them if necessary.
- My daughter was a Juliette, I am thankful that option was available. I led a k-12 troop in a small community. We need to reach girls ANYWAY we can. I am glad to see these options.
- I feel like the same troops are always called upon to take more girls rather than reaching out to communities to recruit more leaders. Established troops are busting at the seams with membership and are made to feel guilty when they have to tell someone no. Not all of the pathways instill in girls GS values. If you don't have or understand the values through the promise and law, how can you call yourself a girl scout??
- Some of the pathways are ok. The sailing programs and horse programs, I feel are excellent for girls to pursue this interest only, and if they decided to not be in a troop that is ok. I don't feel girls should be able to join scouts for one event or trip. A girl doing this may take the spot of a longtime girl member who would also like to participate but not able to due to someone with a passing interest taking that spot. I'd rather girls have a loyalty to the Girl Scout program and not join one time to do something "cool".
- There are communities who run successful trip programs for older girls (Cadette & up). Troop Girl Scouts have gotten friends to sign up for trips - they first have to register as Girl Scouts - but they do. Some have gone on to join troops. As I understand it, the girls themselves often recruit their friends to come with them. They don't have to officially advertise in the schools. The catch is that you need a large enough group of registered girls to begin with. I think Pathways are a good idea. But, this is mostly a means to keep girls in as they get older. It is difficult to recruit new girls after a certain age. While it is important to get a lot of young girls into Girl Scouts, we need to work at keeping girls in grades 4/5 involved. Grade 4/5 is where the largest attrition begins, because of competition from other activities (which start demanding more of their time) and the "cool" factor. Perhaps creating opportunities for girls in Junior and Cadette to "bring a friend" might help.
- I understand the reasons for pathways from a short term business perspective, but I don't think it strengthens the organization. I think it is a watering down of the program. In our area, it allows parents to sign their daughters up for summer camp, because the parents need affordable child care, without investing in the organization. I think our Council does a great job investing in the age groups where the money is: Daisies and Brownies. The overall national and local program feels like it is targeted to younger girls. Yes, finding volunteers is hard. The best way to get new volunteers is to make it a better experience for the volunteers you already have. Take better care of the people you already have! I honestly feel that recruiting new members is more about getting more income rather than reaching more girls with a meaningful experience. Girl scouts is 100% dependent on qualified, engaged, invested volunteers. No volunteers = no girls.
- I don't think my area offers too many opportunities for girls to participate in 'Series' or 'Event' pathways
- My niece is in high school and had to become a Juliette when they moved when she was in middle school. It has worked out well because she can get together for trips with her old troop but does her own work in meetings with her younger sister's troop. I wish our troops were easier to get placed in. When I was growing up we had two Brownie troops that met at two of the four elementary schools and the other two elementary schools didn't have enough girls for their own troops so their girls met up with our troop after school at our school. It would be easier if it was that easy. Now Girl Scouts aren't seemingly that inclusive because it is SO hard knowing where and when a troop will meet and that can make a difference on whether or not a girl can participate! I tried to get one of my nieces involved in scouts in Tulsa about 6 or 7 years ago after her mother died at the request of her maternal grandmother because we knew if she had that then she would be better off than hanging out at home by herself or her mess of a father, but I couldn't get her any information without being her parent. That didn't workout well at all, so it never happened and I can't help but think this niece's life would have been much different and better if she had been able to be a Girl Scout. There needs to be a way for at-risk youth to have access to Girl Scouts too, whether it be a school or family sponsor. I'm sure that our society would be better for it!!!
- I feel our council is not balanced in scheduling programming for girls in my rural area. With a council of more than 40 counties spanning half the state, P2P seems to focus on programming in the major city centers, which are at least an hour away from our community- usually more. There is rarely anything offered in our area, and we can't transport lots of scouts on several hour away trips most of the time.
- It is a multi-faceted problem and I feel our council has been doing great job of trying to make it work.
- Please considering allowing a troop of 2-4 for cadettes. Once you lose the troop, you lose the girls. Consider this. The 4 top sellers want to keep our troop, averaging 200 boxes per girl plus one girl convinces them to do a booth every every year. Juliette's don't get to keep their money, so there's no incentive to sell, no money to spend.
- I work with teens and am tired of girls who only show up when they want something related to their Gold Award. Girl Scouts should be a two-way street; girls need to invest in GS by attending meetings and doing service projects. It is not fair to let them believe they can go for the Gold without helping or interacting with their sister scouts.
- One event attendance is not getting the GS program. You may get numbers and registration dollars, but the girls are missing the greater part of the program. Allowing them to participate in a single event loses the whole connection. I still have friends from my Senior GS days. How can a girl learn GS values if she only attends a single event? At the least these should be gateways into the full program, or they are no different than any single event anywhere.
- I think in today's world it is important to have flexible ways in which to participate, but I also think this creates demands for support that we are not always able to meet.
- Different pathways have always existed and will make no difference if not developed fully
- Pathways are good, but Service Units would benefit from contact information (including emails!), so these girls can be offered opportunities through the SU. Our service unit does activities all year round (Decorating trees at the VIllage Square for Santa, Food drive for the areas needy, a spring activity (Sock Hop/Bowling Fun day/Skating fun day), the 4th of July Parade, Pool party kick off (early August) and we do a SU Encampment (had 130 out for the weekend with another 19 day trippers). We have a very active service unit, and a lot of our units use their profits from the product sales to participate. I wish we could let these pathways/juliette's use their proceeds to cover some of this!.
- The program seems to highly cater toward younger girls - Daisy through about Junior. There are a ton of cute items for daisies and brownies, and extra activity ideas. The program guide contains little to nothing for cadettes and older, and very few additional items in the store that interest my middle and high school girls. Not every girl wants to travel, and not every girl wants to do a higher award. So if you don't fall into those categories, what do you do? They hate the journeys. Registering a girl just so she can do one camp or activity seems like nothing more than another way for GS to make money - not really to help the girl. We are about empowering and changing the lives of these girls, and you can't do much of that in one event.
- Pathways are a good option when a traditional troop will not work.
- It has been difficult for me as a leader when Juliettes suddenly show up for one of our events or trips and want to participate. These are often girls who don't know a lot about scouting and have not been to our pre-event safety discussions. I would prefer not to have to deal with them. Also, they do not contribute to the troop (dues or cookie money) but suck out resources. It seems like another way for spoiled kids to get what they want without having to earn it and without building friendships or the support system that we strive to build within our troop.
- I hope that Pathways eventually lead to troop placement, but the lack of troop volunteers is the real problem.
- The only Pathways/Recruitment I recognize above is the Juliette program and I think it's a great idea. I believe girls should be able to be a girl scout without a troop and earn badges and their bronze, silver & gold awards. Not everyone is able to make it to meetings nor do they all have troops to join so I think it's a great program!
- Recruitment just to say girls are scouts but not having them in a troop, pathways program (like Lego League), or specific event has changed our field directors into glorified sales persons, not coordinators for volunteers and girls.
- I think pathways helps to make numbers look like they are up but do not really serve and end to means of supporting girls long term.
- Pathways feels like a grab for numbers and registration $$. Given that GS is about leadership development, I don't see how participation in one program really helps GSUSA accomplish those goals. That being said, if participation in just a couple of programs pulls girls in to full involvement in Scouting, then I'm all for it. I am a former troop organizer/leader recruiter, but I don't know how our Council is doing overall in recruiting leaders.
- I think that a girl really benefits ( society benefits) from a girl who has had the give and take of a troop experience. This is the training ground for her leadership skills. The troop is so basic to the scouting experience. I am saddened at the decision to allow a girl to enter at the Senior/Ambassador level to the sole purpose of pursuing the Gold Award. We are not existing to pad resumes and open up scholarship opportunities. This entry point again leaves behind the troop and its importance to the program.
- Questions are worded poorly. All girls have the opportunity to sign up for more, but some either don't have access to a troop, or don't want the time commitment to participate in a troop.
- As we do not have a council structure, we haven't really allowed this to happen, so not much of a problem.
- A girl who never learns (or even hears of) the GS Promise and Law is really not a GS, in my opinion. How can one meeting, or a 4-week session of science activities compare to a GS experience?
- Our council has a lot of great programs, our SU leaders are very supportive of the troop leaders and work hard to develop programs and encourage all girls and leaders. We would like to see more outdoor opportunities, outdoor focused badges. Would also like to see camps kept OPEN, not closed.
- I don't believe recruiting girls should be our focus. We need to focus on the girls we have and serve them first.
- I think councils need to do more to advertise non-troop pathways to the general public. Especially older girls.
- What is this virtual/digital pathway I keep hearing about? I haven't actually seen it.
- I have no problems with Juliette's. But a troop is a TEAM and poor participation should not be okay
- I am perfectly fine with the whole Pathways concept. Not every girl has time or chooses to be fully involved. My council is one that is heavily weighted towards traditional troop participation. The girls I recruited when offered several options, chose the traditional troop because it offered the widest options and opportunities for new experiences.
- We need to work to retain the girls and volunteers, donors we have. Give them reasons to stay and invite others to be a part of our movement.
- Love the new pathways!!! Something is better than nothing!!!
- We need to do more communication about all the successful women who have been and who are Girl Scouts! We need to communicate to parents about the skills they will learn through Girl Scouts as a volunteer.
- Pathways - Great to get more girls involved in ways they want to be involved, like camp or extended travel, over a period of time that allows them to experience what Girl Scouting means. Horrible if it's being used to get numbers without truly providing quality Girl Scout program, like 1 day workshops.
- More emphasis needs to be in getting our alumni back to volunteering, not just to donate money. Also resident camp staff, girls who age out of the program, etc. Events, camp and series are great, but let's not forget about them. Let's try to get them to participate in a troop setting. How can they make lasting friendships (that will keep them involved in Girl Scouting) in a 6-8 week (1 hour per week) series?
- Pathway girls are treated unfairly when selling products, they only earn the lowest rate because the money "doesn't go to a troop"
- We have had pathways for years. Some girls only want to do summer camp and no longer want to be tied down to weekly troop meetings, but still want to participate at summer camp. We put on several events that our girls can attend even if they are not participating in a troop. Girls have the choice to be in a troop or be independent girl scouts. Either way they are still girl scouts with all the rights and responsibilities of being a Girl Scout.
- Selling memberships-to increase numbers-does a disservice to the girls, but also, decreases the integrity of GS as a whole. It lessens the public's perception of the GS brand and the trust in GS.
- *I like that the girls have options to be a GS without having to be in a troop. This will eventually be my daughter's path as she gets busier with school & outside activities. Our troop realizes that we will have to be unconventional with meetings are the girls age (we have 6-10th graders). *To recruit more people, the programming needs to be hold their hands & give them very specific step-by-step instructions on being troop leaders, etc. By giving specifics, it makes volunteering easier.
- The pathways allows girls to try out girl scout activities without committing to a troop right away - if they are interested, they will probably join a troop, if not they at least are getting some options to do Girl Scout activities.
- Pathways is a way to attract girls to Girl Scouting and gives contemporary girls access to Girl Scouting. Of course, I would like them to be in more activities, but tapping into their interests is the way to attract them. Any exposure is a benefit!!
- Strong attention is paid to girl retention and quality programming in our council. We are proud of what our council offers our girls.
- How can we keep recruiting girls when there's no leaders for their troops and it takes council 4 months to register them anyways. They want winter recruitments??? They wouldn't be registered until the next season!! I feel it's all about the cookie sale and that is sad
- Participating in a troop is the best way to experience GS. I don't have a problem with Juliettes, it gives the girls a chance to do some GS activities and earn badges etc. BUT they need to be supervised by someone besides a parent. I don't like that girls can be signed up for a short term program and be counted in the total number of girls registered. It seems dishonest.
- The current system is all about numbers. SU goals are ignored. We can process leaders faster this way. Girl registration and placement is a nightmare. Girls are floating in space if parents register them. Leaders have not found all the girls coming to their meetings. Some are in the wrong SU. We get list of girls who are coming to meetings, some registered, some not. Some parents cannot follow the on line instruction, others are unfamiliar with the nomenclature. I also do troop organizing. It is terrible.
- I do new leader welcome training. New leaders are overwhelmed by the information dump they get with no support from council. The paperwork requirements are overwhelming. Not enough emphasis on recruiting parents to participate and help lead. Leaders are often o ear rudeness and end up doing everything themselves/flying solo. We need council to run more programs for girls that we can go to as field trip. GSCNC has been a huge disappointment in that regard.
- Throughout my years involved in GS, girls have always been involved at different levels (troops, just going to camp, independently registered) So, giving a name to it, "Pathways," is just semantics to me. I believe promoting and registering girls for just a day event is just a way to temporarily boost registration numbers and get that extra $15. I do believe GSUSA has spent too much time and money finding ways to attract girls instead of finding out what girls that are already involved need/want to stay. Why should they stay in scouts today, when there are so many other activities for girls (as opposed to 20/30/40 years ago)
- We are trying an older girl program called Adventure Girls. It provides opportunities for girls in 6th -12th grade to do outdoor activities on an individual basis. They do archery, canoeing, climbing, etc. It is not wildly successful because the adults in charge are not brave enough. They stay within their skill level. This is where I think hiring enthusiastic college students or a professional company might be better. We don't seem to have the right leaders to get the girls excited about participating. I also think we need to look to the dads. Boy Scouts are able to get the dads to do more. Dads are more energetic and enthusiastic many times. Girl Scouts are not too welcoming to the dads. Now I know I said I like an all girl program, but at my all girls college we had male professors. It is still an all girl program. Maybe we need to be reaching out to more men to become leaders.
- As far as pathways go, I feel every girl should have an opportunity to participate as much as she wants. That being said, I do not think that it is fair for someone to only attend special events if that space is limited and girls who participate in the troop program are turned away. After all, their cookie and nut sale profits have paid for the facilities being used. I could more see something in the way of interest patrols where girls who share a common interests like animals, science or music meet periodically and some would belong to a regular troop and others might not. My biggest reservation about a girl being a virtual member or only attending an event or 2 is that she is missing out on the fun and camaraderie of a troop. Some of my daughter's closest friends are her troop sisters!
- Not enough people know about the pathways program.
- I'm concerned about the high turnover rate at my local service unit level. You know there's problems when I, after 1 year of being a leader, get a phone call asking me if I want to be the Service Unit Chairwoman. Seriously?!
- Recruitment has always been a problem area. I was the registrar for our neighborhood for many years and remember well that more emphasis that was placed on expanding the numbers than on improving the quality of the programs. We were always supposed to have a certain percentage higher than the previous year. I also think that Council doesn't stick up for the leaders which hurts recruiting more adults. My first year as a leader was marred in September because a few parents didn't like me personally. My troop was taken away from me with no questions asked because they complained! My co-leader and the other parents supported me and asked for my reinstatement which convinced our neighborhood chairman and field executive to do so. They were there to hear the parents, not to support me. I know of other personality issues that have happened also that have hurt recruitment of adults and girls both. In some of those issues one asst leader caused her leader financial problems within troop business. The leader was in the right but the field executive left her on her own to handle the problems. Bad form and seriously bad for recruitment as well as retention. Council needs to listen to the leaders as well as parents.
- pathways is just a word to describe other ways girls can be in scouting, if not in a troop. if a girl signs up for an activity or event, then it is the council who should keep her informed of other ways to get involved, as a troop leader does for her troop
- What about College students and young professional building their resumes. Also recently retired adults.
- Join a troop unless you live in such a remote place that you have to be a "Juliette."
- I love that we have so many ways for girls and adults to participate. Being part of a troop isn't for everyone.
- the online system has MANY issues that need to be addressed. We need a tutorial for parents/new leaders .our parent are filling it out and assuming they don't have to pay for registration- and think the girls are registered…
- It's about the girls. U seem to forget that a lot. U don't listen to your volunteers.
- If you boost your programming, there isn't a need for recruitment because it will recruit on its own. The only reason we have to focus so much on recruitment is because the programming is too weak to carry itself.
- We have a camp pathway, but no real camp program.
- I was asked by a council near by my own to come and develop travel pathways for their older girls as they did not have anyone who was interested in doing this.
- Would like a free to co-leaders and leaders an info training session online, even if only an hour program, once every 2 or 3 months.
- Pathways are a joke. It's just a money-maker. A girl can pay $15 to register for membership just so she can go to one event. Well, now GSUSA has $15 more in its bank account and another number to add to it's statistics. It doesn't matter that the girl will never wear a uniform, perform a service project, or learn anything.
- I understand wanting to bump numbers but if the program and enthusiasm was strong the girls will join
- I firmly believe that you should build a great program and the girls will come. It seems these days there is a lot of focus on recruiting, building #s. But we should first concentrate on building an awesome program, within each city (community), this in turn will draw in the girls. Make it more exciting, more personally rewarding.
- Membership Dept. is larger, with more staff and money than Program. And Training for adult volunteers has even less!!! As with many alums, I wish all girls the GREAT GS experiences I had as a girl. Without a troop experience, what will tie these GSI girls to Scouting? For many of us, it's the people experiences we all shared, camping experiences and all the great things we did. Not so much the awards and badges. It's the feeling.
- Pathways would be a great way for girls in troops (primary registration) to expand on the GS program, not be the only way a girl experiences Girl Scouting.
- There needs to be other ways to communicate then for the troops to do it. They need to advertise on Television, newspapers, magazines and other items. I have not seen anything out there by the council.
- I don't like that girls have to sign up for GS to attend an event. They should be allowed to register as a friend of a scout to see what scouting is about and maybe they will like it so much they will join. I think the registration fee should be added to that event fee as a non registered scout and then if the girl wants to join it can be credited towards that. Otherwise I think it pads our numbers and it also makes parents uncomfortable to commit to something so they might just miss out.
- Girls and parents of girls who subsidize the camps and programming through Fall Sales and cookies are frustrated to see someone come in and just sign up for Girl Scouts solely to go to camp and the extra fee is just the membership amount. If you do sales you should not pay the same amount as those that don't.
- I think that non-troop pathways receive lip service. They are very adult intensive and there is not enough money in a council to put a staff person full time in each region to serve this small population. But of course, if you do not have that staff person then the program will never grow. We need a targeted plan on how to provide program on a regular basis to these girls. They do not have the same commitment to our program either so it is hard to see that you are having an impact.
- I feel council provides a good balance of recruitment/program options, but at the Service Unit level, that's all we hear about from the MSE.
- Since it is my understanding that all the money that comes from registration goes to GSUSA, it is strange that there is such an emphasis on recruitment at the local level without balancing out retention and adult leadership training.
- Activities, recruitment and otherwise, are usually left to the volunteers to come up with, support financially, and carry out. There is little to no support from Council.
- Even the public sees an emphasis on getting girls registered on paper, and then ignoring them. Attending one weeK of often mediocre program during lunch at school has NOT given any girl a true Girl Scout experience. We have seen several non-Girl Scouts selected for FREE trips and conferences not available to our girls, and they never once looked back or shared that experience - even told kids at school that it was a good way to trick Girl Scouts into giving them something for nothing. Sadly, what this does do is convince these girls that Girl Scouts is as lame as they have heard it is. Yes, a week at Girl Scout camp would be sufficient, Juliettes are an acceptable alternative when the girl CHOOSES to go that way, and special interest groups that would once have been labeled special interest patrols are great IF they meet more than once or just a few times. Come watch a movie with us, or go whale watching with us, or go to a minority leadership conference, and say you are a Girl Scout? No.
- Brilliant! Love the Series Pathway! This is the new "troop!" Parents, volunteers, and the general public NEED to know the Pathways EXIST!! Please market THIS, not our supposed connections to "scandalous" agencies. Make some noise about HOW girls can participate and all the cool activities they can do!
- Many programs are not offered for the individual girl. I know I held a zombie survival weekend and I had several pathway girls. but our council also held one and they required the girls to have the adult/girl ratio. If you have a pathway girl, that girl would be there without the adult/girl ratio and it should have been provided by council or tag her to join another troop. I know our girls the adults had to come, which defeats the purpose of the pathway girls. Many programs are not set up for the pathway girls.
- I'm not sure who is planning the events at GSNEO, but my troop hasn't been interested in anything being offered in several years.
- using the "we need something for a girl who is in soccer(or what ever the conflict is) and can't participate for the two months of the sport" does not hold up. Any experienced GS volunteer will tell you we have been accommodating this for ever. Many girls do not get to EVERY meeting due to other conflicts, but come when they can. By having 6 week troops, we do not have girls who really are becoming a part of the program - it takes time to become part of a team.
- I know that 5 or 6 years ago, when I was Product Sales Person for my service unit I saw names that were just registered for camp in my area. These girls before camp is over need to know that maybe there are troops in their area so they can continue on the Journey of Girl Scouts.
- I don't have a problem per se with pathways, but watching the council staff get rearranged around multiple times just to try to get people in place for pathways, the confusion and increased volunteer requirement at the Service Unit level when volunteerism is so low was just a bit unnecessary. I do have a problem with recruitment for numbers sake. Always have had a problem with that. It seems to be more prevalent now.
- I like the idea of the pathways, but I see them being rolled out before they are fully enough set up...so a girl joins, sees a pathway that isn't really doing much or communicating well(virtual or travel), and then she drops back out. At the younger levels, the introduction to GS really needs to be at a troop pathway to help get them set to be able to take advantage of other pathways later on.
- I think part of the Girl Scout experience is in the team building of the troop. I, for one, don't want to take girls just on the fun activities we do if they are not there for the work - service projects, etc. I have a daughter who is a Juliette this year and have to say she is having a sad experience as a scout - she is so busy with High School (with 2 college-level courses and SAT prep classes and volunteer activities) that we keep putting off doing GS stuff - how is that helping her?? And we bleed green in this house - imagine if we were laissez-faire about it all?
- I like the idea of allowing girls to register to just attend programs, travel, camp, etc. There was always a heavy focus on girls in Troops and I am glad that GSUSA has relaxed enough to allow girls other avenues to participate.
- While Pathway increases our numbers, we are not building leadership skills in a single day event. This should be recruiting and not just add to our numbers.
- I started in girl scouts with my daughters almost 20 years ago. I went through 4 program revamps and 1 major program introduction with the Studio 2B program. When the Journey program came out I said, " Enough. My daughters are grown and out of the program, I am not learning a new program, purchasing very expensive books ( in a recession no less) for a poorly designed curriculum. I experienced how long Studio 2B lasted ( 3-4 years max!!!). GSUSA needs to get back to basic programming based on the Girl Scout Law
- I think Pathways are a nice idea, but in practice only girls in troops stick around.
- Again, it's all about adding to the numbers. Have one big "fun" event - sign up a lot of girls to make us look good, but then those girls are never seen again.
- I know one small school that hasn't had a recruiter in years. Why is that?
- I work on the recruiting committee for my neighborhood. We added a lot of new girls this year, especially in the Daisy and Brownie levels. At our school, the girls who are not Girl Scouts see how much fun Girl Scouts are having and ask our girls how they can be a part of it. Our girls started wearing their uniforms to school on meeting days this year and it's made a huge difference.
- Cost for many to attend events prevent them from even considering it. Although we have many events we are not reaching rural areas. Leaders often comment on how far they have to travel to get to an event. Since the merger less and less is being offered in our area, councils that merged with us had NO training program so leaders are resistant to going to one -- especially when they have to travel 1-3 hours to even get to it. Because they didn't have trainings finding someone to commit to becoming a trainer in those area is very difficult. The council only has 2 people dedicated to the training program and do a wonderful job -- but they need more staff dedicated to the program. Moral with staff is low, turnover of GSM's is overwhelming -- many due to not being fit for the job, others the demands of the job, having to increase numbers while still not enough time to individual volunteers.
- It's fine to let a girl go to a GS camp or other GS activity if she's willing to register as a GS to do so, but calling this a pathway - NUTS. GS should be centered around troops and camps. GS needs to focus more on making GS fun and relevant for teens rather than collecting younger and younger girls and skewing the GS program younger and younger.
- I still would like to see what the virtual girl scout program looks like. I have not seen that supported in my council yet.
- Girls belong in troops. That was the experience Juliette Low developed and it is the way girls learn to work as a team and interact with others. You aren't going to have many memories or a sense of signing up as a leader later in life if your only experience was as a Juliette. As far as Travel troops, I think that is a very elitist approach. In most cases only girls with money get to be involved and it doesn't really cover either the old or new program. I don't get the point.
- In particular with registering for one camp/event per year and not participating on any other level: I would like to see some preference given at registration to the girls who do participate in many pathways. We have a community day camp that 'sells out' for my daughters grade level in about 30 minutes. I have given up trying to send her. I know that some girls who do get in only do this one event, no other troop/Juliette/etc.
- would like to have a trained volunteer bank BEFORE we go to recruitment events. Parents don't bring their girls, because they know they will get asked to lead.
- Stop recruiting girls. 1. make a great program and they will come on their own. 2. Get Adults as trained happy leaders first- then open the doors and watch the girls run in.
- I don't see anyone in our area, schools, meeting places trying to recruit girls, adults - and to only focus on k - 5 is ridiculous - the little recruitment I see and then you won't even consider anything that might not bring your 'target' area in.
- I don't know very much about Pathways
- We just don't sell the benefits of leadership nearly enough. We don't approach women's clubs, professional organizations, corporations, churches - we only recruit through schools, where the interested parents are already swamped with PTO, sports, etc.
- Giving a girl an option of how GSUSA can best serve her is an excellent idea. This is a great way to expand our program and our mission. However, calling a girl a Girl Scout because she went with our group to Great America once, is ridiculous. That does not make a Girl Scout. Adding her to our numbers, just to get our numbers up does not follow the first portion of our law: To do my best to be Honest & Fair.
- I think there is way too much emphasis placed on recruiting girls and beefing up the numbers and not enough on programming. I really believe that if you have a solid, fun program word of mouth will do the recruiting!
- Girls joining just for one event might make the total enrolled numbers look good, but it seems like a waste of effort. Improve the whole program and maybe you'll get girls who want to join and stay!
- I think councils are responding to GSUSA's directives. I think the one event( but you must register as a Girl Scout to participate) is to increase the membership numbers - hopefully that event also benefits the girls , but the main reason is to up the membership numbers. I do think it is important for girls (regardless of the way they participate) to have the safe environment of working and playing with other girls and women. But a long-lasting troop experience can provide this environment better than a one time event.
- It always feels like GS if focusing on getting more girls than serving the ones already in scouting. I think expanding the program is important but if it isn't a solid program, girls won't stay. Girl Scouts should be about developing a life long attitude and commitment, not cycling girls out as it comes up with new programs. I stayed dedicated to scouting in spite of the program changes, not because of them.
- I hate to see the "one shot wonders" - I know you need numbers but the girls that are IN scouts need to have some of that money spent on them! Rolling programs could keep the short term girls in longer?
- Not every girl can participate in a troop on a regular basis, but they might be able to attend activities once in a while. My niece is the perfect example.....her mother is going to school full time and doesn't have time or know when the local troop meets. (She wasn't involved in scouts growing up so doesn't know how fun it is.) But I was able to take her to a couple of events and she is already hooked!! She is already looking forward to going to camp next summer! If she lived closer to me, I could be her troop leaders, but since that isn't possible, we go to what events we can.
- Less time should be spent on recruiting new girls and more time spent on giving girls, especially teen girls, more council sponsored programs or events.
- It's fine to offer various pathways. But people signing up for a troop should not be giving their money, and then not being placed. This is a constant issue posted on the national facebook page, and is a public relations nightmare. The best recruitment is word of mouth from happy customers! If girls are excited about their fabulous opportunities, they talk about it - and others want to get involved. Stop focusing on numbers. Start focusing on quality programming and the numbers will follow.
- I don't think enough has been done in our Council to make Pathways successful. We need to do more to recruit leaders but need partnerships with the colleges and business leaders. GS isn't like it was for many mothers and they don't feel the old GS feeling so they are less than enthusiastic or are disappointed and pull their girls from the program. (As an adult development coordinator whose title and training changes almost annually I see and hear this as I do conflict resolution and parent concerns.) I was recruited as scout to run an Junior troop back in the 1970's so I know what a problem it was to get leaders, but the problem isn't too many bowling leagues, it's too cumbersome, too time consuming, to frustrating with changes all the time, etc. etc. etc.
- The recruitment events don't seem to be doing much. There either need to be more or they need to be more effective.
- Other pathways should be paths to troops & camp.
- they don't tell the girls about this program
- Please see the above comments. It is not working. The program doesn't take into account regional differences and cultural groups. Get rid of the MBAs.
- For many programs it is very difficult to register the proper adult/girl ratio because so many single scouts and a parent have registered. Troops should have first choice. I know of several girls who do not attend troop meetings but go to the council activities. Where is the leadership training in that?
- I like the pathways idea as long as people aren't abusing it. This should not give the right for any registered girl to go to any troop meeting at any time (as I have heard reported in other places). It should provide fun opportunities for girls who may not be able to participate in a troop full time but still want to attend camps. As a family that frequently moves, I appreciate being able to continue the program with the daughter while we are between places we live and, therefore, troops.
- I understand that GSUSA is playing the numbers game. They want to garner respect and financial support for the organization and so they want to be able to say that they serve a large number of girls. Making every girl who wants to participate in even one event register bumps up the numbers. However, I have discovered that when a girl only comes to events once in a while she misses out on all values that girls in troops learn. For example, in our troop is is known that mean girls are not cool. Everyone respects each other and treats each other like sisters. When you go to a council sponsored event and there are girls there who are not in troops, you can tell. They are often judgmental, cliqueish and even mean. They do not behave like girl scouts.
- I wish there was a focus on all levels, not just the little cute Daisies and Brownies. :(
- In many areas, parents want to have their girls involved in activities that will aid in their future education. Information about prominent women who were former Girl Scouts and statistics about graduation and college attendance rates would be very beneficial for recruitment.
- Scouts need to sing. The songs of my scouting days have been at the core of working through some tough times. The songs of my camping days were the lulabyes I sang to my babies.
- Adult Recruiting should be more of the focus. Get the parent excited about scouting and they will often encourage the girl. Many parents do not see the significance of GScouting and with all of the dramatic changes and bad press, they are less likely than ever to be excited about it. They move on to other groups.
- When I was an older Girl Scout, I registered just to go to camp. I'm not sure how registration has changed, but if girls now want to register just to do one event, I feel like that is ok.
- I am not sure Pathways are the reason recruitment is difficult. It is hard to be a volunteer when you don't feel much support. It is nice to feel valued when you are giving your time.
- I was a unit leader for day camp this past summer. There were a couple of girls who attended camp who were trouble makers and completely "dissed" the GS Law and any traditional GS ways. I soon found out that they were just there to be able to attend camp and had no intention of joining Girl Scouts. They made things miserable for the girls who were there to earn badges and who had previously enjoyed being a Girl Scout. 2) I have been a leader for several years, but I am not able to take any training because none are available in our area. It is ridiculous that these are required in order to take my troop on various activities, but it is not available therefore the girls in my troop will have to miss out on many activities that they would like to do. 3) I have had many instances where my phone calls and e-mails have been completely ignored. 4) I still actively try to recruit both girls and adults, but I completely understand their frustrations when they too don't get phone calls and e-mails returned. I know of one child who has been interested in joining scouts for several years now, but no one responds to them with anything, not even a "we are trying to get a troop started in your area"... nope, nothing. 5) That really needs to change. I believe that some sort of response should be made in LESS than 24 hours. Paid staff should be taught to respond to all e-mails and phone calls FIRST thing every morning. Not after meets etc. First thing. Even if it is something like I got your message and will respond with an answer by the end of the day. Then actually respond with an answer by the end of the day. Not a week later. This should be repeated before going home at the end of the day as well. At least twice a day. The NON paid VOLUNTEERS are why they have a job to begin with. They should make every effort to keep them happy. Also, enough with all these staff meetings! Having six or seven staff meetings a week is ridiculous! Why would you need more than one a week? Why even that many? It is no wonder you don't have time to respond! When do you actually get any work done? Or is that why you are asking volunteers to do your work? Really??? You need volunteers to come in and answer your phones and file papers? You need volunteers to go to the various schools and recruit? What is it that the staff actually does do other than sit in staff meetings? Why close the store while you are having these staff meetings? When a volunteer lives 30 minutes away and can only make it to the store at certain times to get her needed items and they are closed due a staff meeting, that is ridiculous!
- Like outdoor programming....much can be gained by being a member of a troop. Girls who participate independent of a troop, miss much of what GS is all about. Friendship....team work....learning to support each other....working toward common goals (as well as individual goals).
- If we are encouraging girls to join for GSUSA numbers sake but not supporting their participation at a full level, then we are diluting the overall strength of the program. Saying "I am/was a Girl Scout" could mean anything from a one-time event attendance to a full time commitment to the entire program and awards over multiple years. The girls with limited participation aren't really getting the full GS experience.
- The pathways program seems like it could weaken the Girl Scout experience. It does make Girl Scouts more of recreational organization rather than a year round program. I don't think there is anything wrong with having girls sampling Girl Scout programming through a camp or day event but to call them members seems to be a bit of a stretch. I'm sure it makes the Girl Scout membership numbers appear larger. But, is that truly transparent/honest?
- unfortunately, our council only emphasizes registrations - not retention - which is huge to me and an indicator of success; they don't seem to care when girls leave as there are always younger girls to take their places. they are very slow in answering questions from potential scout families (our service unit is so much faster) that it's embarrassing; they also like to pit service units against each other, which is ridiculous.
- i think the pathways are a great way for girls that want to be Girl Scouts but can’t find a troop to participate and get a scouting experience. and hopefully it will lead the parent to volunteer and start a troop.
- With "one-shot" G.S. experiences the girl is practically guaranteed to miss G.S. ethics and philosophy.
- I actually think we do a poor job of recruitment. It's very difficult to get started as a Girl Scout. We also do nothing for retention.
- The concept of Pathways is great; what I have an issue with is the girls (not that they're at 'fault', really) who sign up to do, say, Winter Camp. They pay their registration fee, and an extra $15, which makes them a member. A girl going to a one-time event does not understand the concept of the GS Promise and Law, and has no interest in GS other than the one program she wants to attend. This makes a mockery of those girls and adults who do live by the Law. There is no reason - other than to make another $15, and pad the member numbers - to make these girls members; extra insurance will cover non-GS members.
- I am sick of seeing my council recruit girls, make them pay and never work to put them into a troop. As service unit manager I talked to these parents last year and they were disgusted. They never heard back after they signed up their daughter. Those who called the council about it were told it was being worked on. I've heard from other SU managers that have the same problem with the council. I told the people at the council that these parents need to have their money reimbursed and they told me they weren't authorized to do that. Is that honest and fair?
- I find that the council does not reach out to the troops to participate in council activities as much as they could or should. As troop leaders, we have to do the research,go on the website and go through all the programs. There should be a listing they send to all leaders broken down by age. All junior leaders would get the junior level programs etc. They should also be sent based on when you need to sign up, so all the fall programs would be sent in the late summer and so on. Troop leaders are busy people, this would just make it easier to utilize council resources.
- To focused on getting new girls registered and not providing opportunity's for existing girls. Majority of programs are focused on younger (daisy/brownie) age girls and very little focused on older girl (cadette and up) to keep them interested. Especially since these are the girls you need to retain and are most likely to be losing.
- Our council does a good job programming for younger girls, but not for the older girls. I believe that is part of why you see older girls drop out. They have all done the programs as younger girls, and there is not much to interest them at the Senior/Ambassador level. They always get lumped in with the Cadettes and they have more than likely already done that program a couple of times.
- I believe that if more emphasis was placed on programs, the girls would want to join and you would not need as much effort placed on recruiting. In the past, girls / parents were excited about Girl Scouting, now they may choose to pass on GS for other, more 'fun' activities, as opposed to a program that seems like more schooling. My council has at least double, possibly triple the amount of employees working on recruitment as they do programming. Our service units also have more volunteers working on recruitment than events/programming.
- Concerning girls registering as GS for one event or activity: They are NOT learning the meaning and ways of Girl Scouting through a short contact with one activity. They are only numbers on the registration count. The Girl Scout Law and Promise are overlooked by girls with limited contact with Girl Scouting. 2) More needs to be done with the virtual/digital pathway. Girls are definitely plugged in to media.
- I was totally against getting rid of the word Juliette. Calling a girl a Pathway instead of a Juliette is so impersonal.
- The pathways are a "modern" way (catering to over-busy families and short-term interests) to take pressure off girls and families to follow a traditional scouting path, but I believe that a more traditional scouting path (troop-based) is what benefits girls most.
- I think it is okay for girls to be girl scouts so that they can participate in Camp. I'm not sure i agree with Girls only being members to take advantage of destinations. I know we have quite a few girls in our community who are independent girl scouts, i don't feel we have any knowledge of how they are participating in the program. We also do not reach out to them to participate in community events. It would be nice to have a means to communicate with them.
- I absolutely believe that troops are NOT for everyone. We currently struggle with morale in our troop because half the girls fundraise and participated in most of the activities and then there are those that just show up when they want and fundraise little. Being part of a troop has its benefits, but it also has its responsibilities. If people just want to pick and choose based on schedule or interest, they should choose a path other than troop level.
- What does it matter if a girl joins just to go to day camp or be on a robot team? Remember sister to every Girl Scout!
- I am not aware of any council recruitment activities outside of setting up a table at back to school night.
- I think it's great that girls can participate in only 1 thing BUT I do wish the numbers were kept separate for those girls vs the girls in a troop. I know it would not be an exact representation, but I feel like GSUSA did this to show a certain number/percentage of GS to further promote their organization.
- Many outsiders do not even know where or how their girls can possibly be involved with scouting. There is NOT enough PR and recruitment of ALL demographic of girls in our service unit.
- We have always had a strong emphasis on older girl program with special interest groups--dance, horses, backpacking etc and this is what has kept lots of girls (including my own daughters and girls in my troops) in GS for the long haul. The troop has benefited from the girls being interested in the special interests which has kept them interested in GS.
- I don't think the Pathways are a bad thing. They probably have always existed to some extent but in different terminology. Troops have had different areas of focus, especially older girls. Interest groups have existed for a while which is similar and there have probably always been girls who attend camp but are not involved the rest of the year. I would guess people just might feel a little misled when numbers enter the picture and membership numbers include girls who participate in a wide variety of ways or if there is an imbalance in supporting existing troops and recruitment. I don't get that sense in my area.
- As the girls get older, their time ends up split between Scouts and other activities. If you make them pick one or the other, Scouts usually loses. So allowing girls to participate as much as they can allows them to learn to manage their time and to really figure out what is important to them.
- girls become Girl Scouts when they have leaders and stay in the program. they do not become Girl Scouts by attending one or two Girl Scout-run events. They do not become Girl Scouts by going on one trip that happens to be called a Destination. We are not building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place by sending the girls on a trip, or if they sign up for one cool program.
- Too much emphasis on SHARE requirements and recruitment requirements from Council
- I have seen a lot of girls stuck in pathways when they really want troops. And for pathways to work, there needs to be more staff to help implement and deliver these forms of programs.
- Drop the recruitment goal thing. While maintaining and growing membership is important, it should not be a pressure on volunteers. Staff also can only do so much. I am former staff and remember the intense pressure put on by the CEO and National. There is only so much one can do if one can't find enough volunteers.
- At least in NNJ, the biggest issue is not recruitment but retention. There's a huge drop-off in membership after elementary school; barely one troop per grade makes it to high school and those that do have only a handful of girls. It's partly leader support -- parents are tired after elementary school or feel that it's not worth the effort. This and also girls' interest could probably be helped by more older-girl-oriented programming and publicity -- a lot of girls don't even realize that Girl Scouts goes through high school. More community- or council-wide, multi-grade events could help this. My troop has tried to spearhead events where older girls run program for younger girls (our silver award involved teaching camping skills to 4th and 5th grade Scouts) to increase visibility and encourage them to stay in Scouting. More council or Service Unit involvement in that sort of program could help a lot.
- I think troops as a whole need more communication and leaders need recognition.
- Girl Scouting is a volunteer based organization, just like any other volunteer based organization - Big Brothers, Big Sisters .... Little League .... Soccer ... Cheerleading - generally, parents step up to the plate because they want to connect with their child. The goal of GSUSA is to get more girls to experience Girl Scouting, because all girls should have the opportunity to build courage, confidence and character. Because of this, recruitment and retention are incredibly important to the core business model of Girl Scouting.
- I'm fine with the pathways if it provides quality programming. Girls without a troop who use their membership for camping, international trips, or experience they wouldn't otherwise have, wonderful. Girls signed up through school, using grant money, for a one time financial literacy program to bump their numbers up is not acceptable.
- I think Pathways are awesome. It helps the girls in so many ways. You need to find more ways to hand out more to the girls.
- I do believe that girls who join Girl Scouts, even if it is just because they want to go on a trip, participate in an event, go to camp, etc. benefit from being involved in the program. I had a girl join my troop just to go on an international trip and she ended up staying and eventually getting her Gold Award. However, I believe that the current set up for awards and badges is too limited for girls who want to participate in a troop setting, but don't want to earn Silver or Gold.
- Girls and parents today are busier than ever. This allows a girl to try something new without a "full time" commitment. It could lead to a girl exploring areas she did not know about before and possibly. Staying with the program.
- I don't really hear too much about it, and when I tried to pursue the Juliette path for my younger daughter, my call was never returned. As all things GS, there was very little support in this.
- While I understand the need for options for girls to take part in GS, I feel many girls are missing out on so much when they are not part of a troop. And one time events don't really represent GS at all. There is no continuation, no chance for growth and development in one time events.
- I am not a paid salesperson and I will never be involved in active recruiting. the girls who want to be in the program will find the service unit/troops.
- I forgot what pathways are.
- A girl signing up for just one program does not generally have the background to appreciate and live by the Girl Scout values. THis can make a program/trip a little tense, if all the participants do not respect the Girl Scout Law
- My daughters only do the events and travel. They are Juliettes. The Juliette program is very weak (took 2 years to get anything on it from council). I think we need to work on digital / virtual participation via Google Hangouts and Mozilla Open Badges. I also think we need to provide a monthly program for girls considered independent so they can feel like they are part of the organization instead of being forgotten by it.
- Some council members are true Girl Scouts and should be recognized for their response to scouts and us leaders. Recruitment programs are ineffective at best. When we were being trained, out of date and incorrect videos and paperwork were used.
- I like the variety of ways to participate -we just had a member become an independent scout. I do agree that she will miss out on the relationships formed by the troop setting - but if a time conflict causes her to not be able to participate in a troop meeting - this would be the way to get around that and still allow her to go to girl scout events.
- In our region, (region removed) (San Gorgonio Council) we have a great volunteer that is doing all the recruitment. In the last year, she has been able to recruit about 100 girls and start several new troops. We were having all kinds of problems with our council and recruitment. They were sending girls away when we had troop accepting girls. The communication was very poor between troops and council.
- I got tired of each monthly meeting being a constant push to recruit more girls and reach. Target number and hold a recruiting event! If we can't get leaders, what is the point in recruiting girls for a waiting list? Most girls want to be in a troop in my school. I always suggest Juliette's if a troop is full, but the reply is always that a girl wants to be in a troop setting. If we do better with recruiting leaders and preparing them to run an interesting troop, then we will retain girls and leaders.
- Girls learn so much from interaction with others! Too many kids today rely on Facebook, texting or emails for friendships. Troops are the foundation of Girl Scouting! Why in the world would you discourage it?!
- I think placing girls in troops has always been a struggle to find placement quickly enough.
- I'm appalled that communities are allowed to turn girls away from scouting. That's probably the single biggest mistake made by Girl Scouts. And if the training & program materials were better & more self explanatory (not to mention fun), it may be easier to recruit & retain leaders. Not to mention being treated as valuable members of the scouting community instead of paper-pushing nincompoops. Seriously--the sheer level of paperwork for EVERYTHING is nuts. If I charged my troop for the time spent doing paperwork, just for cookie sales & at my lowest possible billing rate, the girls would LOSE money. They get so little & there's SO much paperwork...WHY do you care about receipts between parents/leaders when it's pretty clear that so long as a troop pays council, THAT is what they care most about? It's all just too much.
- Another thing that should be explained to new volunteers is the difference between being a Leader and being a co-leader so that maybe there won't be so many problems between them once a troop is formed. My co-leaders think they are the exact same as a leader, but maybe this is something that has changed over the years.
- Our service unit got better this year (new oaks) because we have a new customer service manager (name removed is awesome) who tries to help us find leaders. In the past we were barraged with demands to sign girls up. It didn't matter if they sat on waiting lists. Just sign them up and help meet a membership quota.
- As a leader it is difficult planning events when we have girls only participate in certain events. I think girls should sign up and participate all year. Pathways are beneficial to some areas where there isn't a troop for the girls to participate in. I think that in my council not enough emphasis is placed in recruitment.
- I love the Juliette program. When we moved, this was the way my child and I could still participate as my service unit drug their feet to try to place me into a troop. I love still getting to participate even if my whole troop can't. My troop is not very active where my daughter and I are very active so it's great to have the options for her to do on-line things (she loved making a video game) and go to events, to just be all around more active than her troop.
- Personally, I think Girl Scouting has ALWAYS done Pathways, but without a name for it. I was a teen Scout in the 80s, and did some things on my own & some things with other girls. Not everyone wants to sleep on the side of a cliff, but why should I not get the opportunity when I do?
- pathways are ok troops environment is the best kids need a peer structure and troop stuff to see what’s going on
- The recruitment is not strong enough in our area
- Most of our pathway girls don't choose to be an event GS. They end up in that pathway because there is not enough troops (leaders for troops) to have options for the meeting day and time. ie: if you are a 2nd grade Brownie, we have a Wednesday afternoon troop for you. If you have dance on Wednesday afternoons, we can't help you unless your mom steps up to be the leader. Ten years ago our small town had 7 options for Brownies. Today it is 1-2 options per grade.
- The little I about pathways is that there are many ways to be a GS which is a good thing. Not every girl/troop needs to define GS in the same way.
- Pathways are great if people actually knew about them. The only pathway that is put out there is being in a troop. Girls that choose other pathways, like Juliette, have little support from council.
- It upsets me in this area that after they get the girls registered and can add them to their numbers the girls don't get placed in troops. No one follows up on them and they wonder why they don't return the next year. In the last 5 years our unit has only retained approx 35 girls out of the 350 we started with. The girls that have continued have parent involvement.
- As a multiple level troop leader I completely dislike the journeys. In my council they have wonderfully taken the time to break down the journey into 1.5 hour increments, which I personally find is helpful to a troop leader. However to meet all of the requirements it takes up to 22 meetings to complete a single journey this way. As the average troop in my area has only 18 meetings per year this makes completing a single journey impossible in a year. If a troop wants to complete all of the journeys they will be unable to do so at all. It also then leaves less time for completion of the other badges. As the girls in my troop prefer to complete as many badges as possible per year this has posed a problem.
- It is a great program but it takes volunteers that we can't get.
- Too much emphasis on money and not enough on program.
- Girl Scouts is viewed as a cookie pushing business and not as a beneficial program for Girls anymore.
- In an effort to.include more girls, the new.programming.tends to alienate the girls who.are already enrolled. Those that were excelling at the stringent requirements for.our wide variety of badges, meant to stimulate and.challenge them, are now feeling that it was all for.nothing. The new requirements have hardly any effort, discovery through research/networking or sense of independence. The girls feel all they have to.do is a few activities, possibly in one meeting and earn a badge. There is no element of difficulty or much room for.interpretation to make the experience their own.
- There are older girls who want to be involved but can only participate in a pathway due to the competing things in their life. Thus a pathway is better than losing them all together.
- I would love a bigger virtual/digital program in our area. If this area opened up and exposed more girls and parents to GS, it would provide a bigger market share. Also, older girls like to "test drive" something before they join, thus Bruno g more girls into troops.
- Our council's recruitment activities are nothing short of pathetic. Sign up nights should be happening much earlier in the year, and the emphasis needs to be on recruiting GIRLS not leaders. They basically scared everyone off in the spring with the initial outreach to preschoolers by focusing the literature on "leading your daughter's troop" when preschool moms aren't ready for that level of commitment. Sign the girls up in spring and summer, and recruit leaders separately.
- My hope is that girls that register for a short term thing will get a positive experience and join a troop.
- I feel that Pathways is a way to get more money and doesn't really serve the girls and families who are already committed.
- Recruitment is passed down to the Service Unit Managers and their team to coordinate & implement. There is little to no support (other than recruitment supplies) from Council. I am in a large Service Unit with over 50 schools. There isn't enough rapport between GS and schools.
- I think there needs to be just an much emphasis placed on adult recruitment to work with ALL these girls we are trying to recruit. Recruiting them and them making them sit around wait for a leader is SAD.
- I have over 50 girls in my troop from Daisies to Cadettes. This is hard on me and I could not do it without co-leaders but it is very hard to find dependable co-leaders as everyone is so scared to make a true commitment.
- Since the new journeys so many older girls have dropped out of scouting I think it should be encouraged for the girls to participate partially -- their are no active troops for older girls so Juliettes is the only option. Since camps have closed, troops have broken apart, STEM is available at school, and service hours through church (and also required at school to graduate) what does GS have to offer in our girls' busy lives? GS does not have a recruitment problem - it has an identity problem. It doesn't know what it wants to be and so it is no wonder that GSA is having difficulty in recruiting and more importantly retaining members. The world is going back to the Earth - getting kids outside and off of the computers. Parents are encouraging our kids to explore again - where can they do that? GSA should be filling that void but it will be too late when all of the camps are gone. Go back to the roots of scouting -- keep the camping and outdoor focus, there is no other big players in that game and parents are willing to pay for it.
- I think that girls should be able to participate in as much or as little as they want.
- I think emphasis needs to be placed on not just recruiting, but nurturing new leaders to get them started in the right direction, and staying with them until they feel confident enough to lead. Otherwise, it is just too intimidating to convince anyone to sign up. The idea of independently registered girls has promise, but currently there is no way to track these girls at a local/regional level. Only at a council level. Council manages programming for independent (non-troop) girls, but there is little or no programming for girls outside of the metro area, so most girls have no access to programming beyond summer camp if they are not in a troop.
- Pathways seems like just a money-grabbing method to make families pay that membership so a girl can attend a one-time event or summer camp. They do not get the full experience of Girl Scouting, but GSUSA gets the money and can say they have "X" number of members now. It's all about recruit, recruit, recruit--no matter how you have to do it, get them signed up!
- Recruitment material needs to be made available at all times, not request it months in advance, which usually means last minute plans to go to an event to recruit has very little material.
- Pathways can be an effective ways to market Girl Scouts. GS have always linked girls to the land. Girl Scouts has been the pacesetter for developing outdoor leadership program. We need to take back the lead. Promote our national council camps, Promote our resources. Get out of New York.
- Where to begin..... When I was a SUM, we had paid staff that would present a program through another organization, like the "Y". We would blitz in, register the girls who were present, give our program and disappear. What part of that truly represented Girl Scouting to those children? What did their parents learn about our organization? Why should they ever trust that we cared about their daughters? I worked with a staff member to deliver program in a "targeted" apartment complex. We had about 12 girls. They were excited about earning badges and wearing vests and going camping. How frustrating to hear that those activities weren't really financially supported by council. They wanted those 12 black girls to fulfill some ethnic goal. It was never about the girls at all. Horribly frustrating to lead the girls to develop a program they wanted, to talk about planning the year and creating opportunities to fundraise and then not be able to help them make that plan happen because of lack of council support. Then when that person left, the next person to take over only presented those program-in-a-box activities. Soon, none of the girls were attending. DUH!!!!
- pathways is ok but the girls still need to get that social interaction that as become synonymous with scouts. Get them outdoor and caring about the environment.
- I think pathways are a good concept, but I think it still has a lot of flaws that need to be worked out. I think travel pathways could be really good if the information was out there and council supports the girls.
- We are doing a decent job of retention but we are not doing enough recruitment of adults. We have plenty of girls that want to participate but not enough adults who feel called to lead or help
- We spend little time recruiting, and where girls are recruited, we lose their registration paperwork so there girls don't get to participate.
- GSUSA just wants their registration money and to pump their numbers for PR purposes. Once they are registered it is up to the leader to pick up the pieces and figure everything out.
- Pathways work better in large cities than in small communities. There is not enough communication/staff/program/interaction of girls with other GS. Big cities have the communication resources, helpers, financial bases to do more Pathway recruitment. Outside of the city, those resources are not available, especially communication.
- The lack of incentive and all the "requirements" and training for volunteers scares them off! Safetywise requirements are intimidating and make volunteers fearful of planning troop activities or trips for fear of not complying with the numerous requirements. Some of these requirements are ridiculous. All the medical forms, registrations, etc that are required at events are never even verified for accuracy - a waste of time!
- I tried to get my daughter a brownie troop 5 years ago but the council was awful about helping to find a troop so I just dropped it. She was never a brownie.
- The only problem I have is there are not enough over night programs for the Juliette's. They seem to still need a chaperone, I feel council needs to supply the adults so more girls can participate if they are not in a troop.
- Pathways is not clear.people still think of GS as troops. If a girls joins GS to go to camps, she should be encouraged to join a troop in fall.
- I would like to see a National Virtual Troop for current Cadette and Up girls to join.
- The pathways sound like a great idea. I have not seen them work, in my experience. Every girl I've met wants to be in a troop; although, I am starting to see girls choose another pathway after years in a troop, that is, they loved being in a troop as daisy, brownie and junior, but now they are trying something else.
- I was a Girl Scout as a girl, and wish the Pathways had been available then. My troop disbanded after we finished the Cadette level, and I was very disappointed. I would have benefitted from the Pathway option then, and I support it strongly for that reason now. I actually had a conversation with a girl who was in the sixth grade who told me she LOVED Girl Scouts, but her leaders had stopped wanting to be leaders the year before. "I'm sad, but I can't be a Girl Scout anymore!" she said. I was excited to tell her about the Pathway options, and encouraged her to think about getting involved again (she did go to summer camp!).
- Troops are great ... but they do not fit every family's schedule and resources. We leave out too many girls if a Troop is the only way that they can participate.
- Our school went without recruitment for a year after our troop started. Some girls missed out. One Troop does nothing at all the members are very upset. Our leader hand picks her new girls from her clients or says we are too full to those she doesn't want.
- On many occasions we hear from parents that would like to enroll their girl(s) in Girl Scouts, have signed up during membership/recruitment drives or contacted council directly, and never hear back from anyone. Makes the whole “Recruitment” thing sort of feel like a waste of time.
- I would say any issue with adult leadership has more to do with the adults not wanting to take on the responsibility or another "job" than anything else. Almost all parents work today, but it is the level of commitment and beliefs that set forth the volunteers.
- The only pathways I'm familiar with are troop and summer camp. I've seen the other options listed on the national website but haven't seen our council promote anything other than camp/troops.
- GSGLA requires 50% participation by troop members in BOTH fundraisers before we're allowed to do our own fundraising - so this means I have to decide, do I let a girl come to one thing or a few things and know she won't help with the mandatory fundraisers thus harming the other girls chances of learning through their own fundraising? Otherwise I'd be happy to have girls registered to do a bit of this or that but not everything.
- Younger girls should be in troops, as the girls get older, you need to have options.
- I think my council places 'slightly' more emphasis on recruiting, however, the reason I couldn't select that option was because it said it didn't impact the quality of the program. I find it difficult to take advantage of the council provided programs due to limited level specific offerings, high cost, and lack of date options. The ability to do smaller, less expensive things, which may be offered multiple times, on different days/times would make them much more usable for our group.
- I actually do not think my council places enough emphasis and resources on girl membership and troop leader recruitment! Membership in our school keeps dropping!
- Girls can be in troops and still experience many pathways. I think this issue is different across the country.
- I think it is fine if a girl wants to participate on her own, but I think this is a very small percentage. I believe most girls want to be involved in a group experience. Especially the younger girls.
- Girls should be required to register as Girl Scouts, when registering for a single event, such as Camp or Cookie Sales. If they are going to participate in Girl Scout events, they need to be Girl Scouts. This opens a door to other activities and begins to offer them program opportunities.
- I think pathways is just a way for national and councils to pad their membership numbers Council activities are too expensive. A troop can coordinate the same thing at half the price
- constant money earning for an international trip took too much away from the family. weekly meetings for troop and one weekend a month for travel troop to fundraise is too much.
- Since the re-alignment, there is not programming being offered in the outlying areas of our council. Everything is planned for the areas that were in the largest council, causing 2-3 hour drives for most programs. Girls, parents, and troop leaders are not willing to drive that far to participate in a 2 or 3 hour program. It is also too expensive to transport back and forth that far.
- I think the pathways could good, but I see little use of them in my area, except for in the main population hubs which are an hour away for my troop, and not at a convenient time (after school will not work for those who need to travel 60 minutes each way)
- Bring them in, bring them on, and support them however they come to us!
- In my area, GSUSA has not been successful in setting up a troop. There was a very minor effort that had promise but no follow through. In addition, this is a rural area without a critical mass of same-age girls. My daughter would not have been able to participate if being a troop member was obligatory. I have no problem with giving priority to girls in troops, but I would also say that the events and camp are potentially gateway activities to interest girls in scouting.
- I used to help with recruitment in our local area and speak at the parent meetings. I do think there is a heavy emphasis on this because of the United Way money. The more girls in your area, the more money you receive. I was friends with the recruiter who had an annual goal and she was usually trying to meet her goal for the year with a total number of girls for your service unit based on the population statistics for our area. Unfortunately, it doesn't take into account all the other activities that are offered to kids through optimist sports, club sports, church, drama clubs, middle school activities, cheerleading, gymnastics and the YMCA.
- It SUCKS!!
- I like using Pathways to get girls interested in Girl Scouts. I have two Pathways that were started as series and are doing well. Both were suggestions of girls and because it was girl suggested and promoted we have more participation that if I had gone out and recruited for it. Pathways work. Finding the right key and person makes it happen.
- I am getting very tired of hearing about recruitment and the numbers they would like us to reach. I have a VERY large troop for our area and I am overwhelmed and they keep asking us to take more girls. I would like to be able to focus on providing the girls that I have with a quality program.
- Further, we'd prefer to be consulted before any Council recruitment so we have input on what is presented; we'd also like to be asked to attend and fully represent our own community.
- The Pathways term is confusing. Why does it even need to be used? Can't a girl in a troop participate in travel or an event or go to camp even if the rest of her troop doesn't want to? I don't see it as a big deal to offer these special activities to girls who aren't in troops as long as they are run with purpose and integrity.
- I think its awesome that a girl doesn't have to belong to a troop... you don't have to wait to be place in one... you can go at your own speed. I do think it might be good to make events for pathways girls ... so they can meet up and interact with other scouts every few months or so.
- Is there really a virtual/digital?
- Pathways is a failed experiment!
- Pathways is a wonderful way to have girls participate in meaningful, healthy programs; but I would not want to limit the girls to just that program. It can be used as an entry and then the girls can venture into other areas through this gateway.
- My objection to registering a girl as a member when she attends just one event is how the Council and National use that occurrence to overstate membership. The experience is valuable for the girl but as a volunteer it's way too similar to my experience in the business world where everyone manipulates numbers to make it seem like goals are being achieved.
- The push for recruitment and then not being able to place interested girls in troops makes GSUSA look desperate for money. If GSUSA is, in fact, desperate for money, perhaps it ought to reconsider how it's doing fund development and where its income sources are coming from. The majority of a Non-Profit's earnings should not be from membership fees.
- I like that girls do not have to be in troops in order to participate however, I do not believe that each pathway is equally emphasized to members of our community. More emphasis needs to be placed on camps, virtual and travel.
- I sometimes feel that Pathways are just a way to bring money into the council and not necessarily place the girls. We had several issues this year with this. Parents pay the dues to register and no troop develops. We are having horrible Public Relations issues due to this practice. In the past, we did not accept money until a girl was placed into a troop. This seems like a shady practice. The girls want to join Girl Scouts to be in a troop. The whole idea of Girl Scouts for most of us is to join together with other girls and go to events and form life-long friendships. Girls and parents do not want to to be part of pathways and have no anchor. THEY WANT TO BELONG TO A TROOP!!!
- Must improve advertising and program. Seems as though all council wants is the $12(?) for sign up, and puts little effort into program
- There are times and places that it is appropriate for girls to have the flexibility of participating in other pathways ... but it is my firm belief that a Juliette should remain that, a Juliette! But emphasis should be on Troops ... it's where a girl can make connections with her peers and learn to Be A Sister To Every Girl Scout. Our girls need more "face time" in this cyber world and Girl Scouts is a safe environment for them to learn how to handle themselves in the real world. Troops should be the core of the GSUSA .. and the care and education of those girls and the volunteers who help them should be the number 1 priority of every council.
- There needs to be a way for a girl wanting to attend an event to easily go to a Council website, pay the money to become a member, and register for the desired event. It is VERY hard to find someone with a paper membership registration form.
- I think there is difficulty finding leaders, like in other volunteer organizations, because it is hard to get someone to commit their time. There are so many things competing for our time. I have had several moms who I asked to help lead a troop that told me they would not be a leader because they knew someone who was a leader and that person said it took too much time. It is sometimes difficult to get them to realize that being a GS leader is worth it.
- The problem is getting girls to join because of the Pathways all the parents in my community believe that to be in Girl Scouting they must participate in all of the events offered by the council, which they are unable to do because Girl Scouting is not the only organization they participate in. Without the comfort of troops they do not know what girl scouting means because all of the grandmothers of these girls were also in girl scouting which is confusing your Generational Girl Scouting families as to what Girl Scouting means today. One of the pathways is also through Camps which with the selling of camps means that this peatal has no point so from the publics perspective you are saying that they can go to camp then once they get in they realize there are no camps to go to.
- It is very frustrating to members to have GSUSA "advocate" camp as a pathway, when camp closings are limiting this option for troops/girls.
- There are only 6 pathways. this survey includes juliettes, Girl Scout Independents, as a pathway but it is NOT. Juliettes is a way to register, not a way to participate. Pathways give ways to participate once a girl is registered. The survey seems oddly biased.
- Focusing on retention via programing is a better long-term solution than recruiting the baby girl scouts.
- Only 30% of the girls that I meet join troops because we don't have the perfect "troop" like you can get the perfect "coke." You never know the girls that fall in love with Girl Scouts and what their impact to the next generation of Girl Scouts will be.
- I think there should be more recruitment
- The registration form should have a place to indicate Juliette as the Pathway they are enrolling in. If you really want to increase your numbers, you should provide better process and tools for registering girls on your wait list as Juliettes until you can get them into a troop. It would be nice to have a little Juliette handbook for each level to tell the parents what they can do with the girls (maybe fill in the blanks for websites and contact info for your SU and council), what uniform and insignia pieces to get, where to get them, FAQ, how to sell cookies etc. I would suggest that a short recruiting video be produced to cover the things that are consistent across all councils, such as the Leadership Experience, Journeys, Badges, Mission, etc. Right now it's up to the recruiter to explain things and you get different messages and tones depending on the person and their personal experience. Have suggested formats for recruiting events. All you give us is a fancy logo that's in color so it's too expensive for us to use it on any of our printed materials!
- Girls scouts is looked at as more of a "boring" group to be in. I think because we as leaders aren't given or told of the opportunities that companies are willing to provide for our girls. Other councils in the state are given outlines of the exact dates and times each company has a girl scout event. We definitely need this. Because of the lack of information to leaders we can only do so much. It is not our job to call a company such a Johnson Controls and ask if they hold an event. It should be the council who tells us.
- They have lots of activities for younger girls and the girls in the larger cities but not much for the rural and older girls.
- I think girls who are registered and participating in multiple pathways (troop/Juliette, camp, etc) should have first dibs on signing up for camp and destinations/travel. However, girls who want to attend camp but don't want to be in a troop for whatever reason should be able to have those opportunities too.
- I haven't been involved with non-traditional troops or leader recruiting in some time; obviously anything that made it easier to get leaders involved would be good though. I can't tell you how many women are scared off right from the start by the paperwork and training requirements.
- Juillettes is good and so would be an online troop idea ( sane troopiness online form) but a trip or the like no,
- Think GS spends too much $ on recruitment. Should be putting that $ back into the people that have worked hard to earn it for their groups.
- Lives of our kids has become more active. If a child can only do a certain portion of GS, at least she was touched by GS. This could change the following year and they would want to become more involved. We have girls that cant do half of our year or miss certain things but they love GS and come as much as they can. We encourage them to come as often as they can. It gets harder the older they get esp in high school as their activities expand.
- I think the real program strength comes from the service unit level in my council, where we run our own events and there is little overlap with other service units within the council.
- If a girl registers for Girl Scouts to participate in just one event or trip (for example, camp), there should be more information on how she can continue her involvement with Girl Scouts. As a child, I had trouble accessing this kind of information, and as the child of two immigrants, if I didn't have this information, I couldn't participate in the program, because they simply were not able to understand it. I wish more had been done to show me how I could have joined Girl Scouts outside of camp involvement, since most advice was just "you can join a troop through your school!" and my school did not have any Girl Scout troops.
- If adults were recruited for a specified length of time for a specific skill for a group of girls, they (the adult) may be willing to volunteer time with that group. Perhaps staff could help in setting up interest groups and leaders for short term interest groups, or badge groups? In my experience many adults are only involved as long as their daughter wants to be, and do not see the bigger picture of helping girls in general to help strengthen our society by developing stronger girls. There are valuable program outlines in all badge work, and adults trained properly could lead groups of girls on a specific interest topic, but would need to know girl age characteristics as well as appropriate teaching methods and skill in group dynamics.
- Whether girls are in troops or not, I believe a better job could be done in informing all membership of the opportunities and activities available to members.
- Our council no longer supports program activities provided by SR/AM troops to younger scouts -- in fact, every year it seems that getting approval to offer these activities is more and more difficult. Interaction among all levels of scouting is a very effective retention tool. Council does not offer exciting/interesting programming for older girls. Giving older girls the chance to plan and execute programming for younger levels IS fun/exciting for older girls and an amazing learning experience.
- I think that if a girl is going to register as a Girl Scout and only participates in one activity for the year, she is not benefiting from all the activities provided. She is only getting the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, and isn't benefiting from the camaraderie and teamwork she'd get from participating more with and among other Girl Scouts.
- Staff are too concerned about numbers rather than program. Programs that are offered by the council are expensive for girls to participate.
- Often, girls sign up to get their membership validated so that it looks good on a resume'. yet they haven't benefited from the program. It just looks good on the all-important Numbers sought after by Council
- The pathways are not effective in arr area because council isn't providing programs in our area.
- Stop trying to serve EVERY girl in EVERY situation. Focus on those who want to be Girl Scouts and offer them a quality, effective program. They will tell and bring their friends. Instead, you are spreading yourself too thin trying to reach everyone and programming, volunteers, and girls are suffering for the effort.
- Signing up for GS just to do one event is NOT participating in Scouting; It's paying money to the parent organization to do something fun. GOOD Scouting includes balance and participation.
- The only issue I have seen is that the "rules" for GI's seem to change depending on who you ask. Some day GI's can work together with one parent there, others say they can't work together at all or that at least 2 parents need to be there. Some GI's keep their own finances, others use a coordinator to keep track of finances. My own daughter is not a GI, but I know several girls who are and no matter what they always feel like they are breaking some rule.
- As I stated above, there is a huge communication gap between recruitment Specialists and Service Units in our area. At the Service Unit Rap last week, this was a HUGE topic of discussion.
- Trainings are oftentimes hard to find.
- If we want more girls to be involved in girl scouts in any area (camp, troop, etc.) then we need to be recruiting to non girls scouts. I think we do a fairly good job of sending out information about programming to registered girl scouts, but to bring more girls in we need to send information to non- girl scouts.
- I was told there were no more Julliet's allowed. I think this should be allowed still.
- I feel like there's such a push for recruitment because it brings in money, whether the girl or adult continues or not. We need to find out why girls don't sign up or don't continue with Scouting, instead of trying to get new girls all the time.
- If a girl does join just to do a program or trip but do not fund raise for it, the parents should pay and not get scholarships. Scholarships and grants should be used for fully participating girls and troops
- Part of Girl Scouting is learning teamwork and leadership skills. You get that by being in a troop, not online. This isn't a cafeteria, it's a feast.
- Individual girls as Juliettes, or just going to resident camp -- great, if that works for them. Recruitment for 1 summer activity for a large group at a summer school program for example just looks like a vehicle to boost numbers. I stopped volunteering for this after it became obvious that these girls had no choice about being there & often were very negative about it being Girl Scouts. Adding to this the huge amount of money spent for this in staff time, bus rentals, feeding these kids, etc. it did not impress me as worth the effort involved.
- I encourage getting girls involved any way that they can but ultimately, I think the best experience should be with a troop. I also think that GSUSA should be encouraging Councils to recruit older girls. With so many school systems requiring service hours, GSUSA is missing an important selling point. We practically invented Service Projects and opportunities! There are girl who would/could be interested in trying something new if they understood that it was available to them. I also believe that by making it more accessible, by actively recruiting in schools, GS can evolve into ‘the cool thing’. From what I hear, most girls in middle school and high school don’t like to admit that they are Girl Scouts. That is not the case with my troop. Most of my Cadettes actively sell cookies in school. They brag about their adventures and wear GS t-shirts and jewelry to school. Their pride has brought older girl interest to our troop.
- Other pathways were introduced and the original and traditional pathway has suffered. If there are program opportunities they are usually regionally based. Not everyone in our Council is from the city and not everyone can make the trek. Regional programming needs to be done to meet the needs of the older girls especially. We NEED leaders!
- There is too much time spent on recruiting and not enough time spend on the girls who are already girl scouts. No wonder girls drop out after a year or two!
- Part of being a Girl Scout is being part of something bigger and feeling accepted. Why let girls who aren't willing to participate in troop meetings and most events tag along for the ride on all the big exciting events? Also, As important is recruitment is, the program itself is more important and always will be. What is the point of recruiting girls if there's issues with the program? Lastly, Juliettes should have more opportunities to join in with local troops when they have the ability and time to do so. Being a Juliette was hard. I much preferred when I had the time/transportation to take part in troop activities. Being a Juliette ended my Girl Scouting over all.. You almost lose that sense of comradery.
- More needs to be done to recruit leaders and girls and the girls already in Girl Scouts need to be better served through event with a peer planning board.
- Pathways: could we have a well known month to month guild line to help our troop reach their full pathway goals.
- There is almost no visibility to the recruitment efforts in our area. What I do see is totally ineffectual. A symbol on a sign is not going to attract anyone, much less give any information about the nature of the program.
- When I was young, the only pathway I had available to me was camp. I would have loved an online option in order to stay more involved during the year
- In my experience, many leaders aren't certified in or don't like participating in camping/outdoor activities. So girls aren't getting the outdoor experience like they should in Girl Scouting. I'd love for all leaders to be certified in these activities so all girls have the chance to try camping and outdoor activities.
- The major problem with Pathways is that once the girls sign up, communication slows to a crawl. The service unit doesn't keep up with the girl and Council does not communicate well with the girl either. It is then up to the girl or her parents to find out how to participate.
- Good Idea but hard at a local level
- I love the different Pathways.
- I think Pathways has it's place but it is pushed in my area which is more rural and we have a lot of troops. The active leaders aren't interested in putting more time into pathways.
- Juliettes is not a pathway but a membership status.
- A stronger partnership with the school districts would help develop a base for recruitment and also fill gaps that the school may have in service delivery.
- I feel like Pathways is a Band-Aid to keep up the numbers, but doesn't give the girl(s) a traditional Girl Scout troop experience. And the parents don't get any sort of training to teach the girls how to earn badges or participate in other activities.
- Councils should do more to provide programming for the girls that are already registered, instead of just recruiting girls to sell cookies to bring more money into the council.
- why not make it a day where parents can come learn, sign up and maybe start with a leadership course while thier girls are pared with older girl scouts in girl scout activities?
- Charging a registration fee for a girl to "attend" online or maybe attend one event or trip ???? Only serves to boost membership numbers to qualify for United Way or other funding and, of course, milks the girl for a few more bucks. Money, money, money...
- Pathway idea is a good idea. There are several issues with the current operation of the program though. I don't believe whole troops should be able to sign up each individual girl as particiapants. There are programs specifically for troops.
- I agree with the concept of the pathways- but the girls in our council do not have access to them all. the units are required to set recruitment/membership goals but the council registrar cannot compete work quickly. we have at least a 3 week gap when paper registrations are submitted.
- Girls are very busy these days. Without this flexibility, the girls in our troop would not be able to come together on projects that interest them. They would not have another venue to turn to in a safe environment to help others and learn the life long lessons that they take away from each project they choose to participate in.
- While I think it's good for opportunities for girls without access to troops, I think there should be a bigger focus on building troop involvement. Girls are more likely to stay involved when they can interact with other girls.
- Not an answer to that question, but a comment on one above. We have an open troop; every girl in our area can register for Girl Scouts and become part of an active troop. Our council routinely runs short-term programs (without telling us or coordinating with us), then at the end refers all the girls to us. They typically do this near the end of our program year, so that girls come in excited about Girl Scouts just as it is about to end; other girls are finishing up awards, and those girls are not getting them. We don't even know they are going to show up at a meeting because we don't know the program is going on. We do our best to make it a good program for all the girls, including the new ones, but because of the council's approach, I am sure that there are some who go away thinking that Girl Scout troop activities are confusing and dumb.
- I think the Pathways are okay but there needs to be a balance between Troop activity and Pathway individual work. Some girls will excel at individual work but others need the connection of the troop. For some girls the troop provides them with a safe place to grow and learn. This was my experience. My home wasn't always safe so I pretty much did what I had to do survive. In Girl Scouts I was safe and was not only allowed to be who was I truly was I was encouraged to come out of my shell and be me.
- We have good programs but they are too expensive and often too far away for us to go to them. Pathways sounds good but it creates disjointed troop bond. Girls are not aligned and working as teams so much if they all do different things.
- Pathways concept is very confusing. At recruitment events, parents assume girls will be assigned a troop. Most Parents & girls are not going to show up at activities without knowing other girls or the adults in charge. Plus at the CST level, we don't have a way to track those girls to keep them in the loop.
- If you mean register as a Juliette and not be part of a troop than yes register and attend a council event.
- Girl Scouting has become a business setting metrics even at the service unit level, retention, number of girls, number of cookies etc. Yet I don't see any assistance with how to retain girls or how to keep troops active. We know that between 4 and 5 it is hard to keep girls yet no help.
- We used to have cool council programs for troops, like Renaissance camp, behind the scenes at the aquarium, etc. Now little is offered through council. The "Destinations" list is weird and organized by journey instead of month which makes planning cumbersome. We just ignore it mostly.
- The missing virtual pathway prevents success.
- Virtual Troop is an excellent benefit to those girls who have to move out of the troops area and it keeps stability in the girls life. We had a Girl who had to move to Oklahoma and did not get a good response from the locals seeing how she was a Cali Girl. We kept in contact with her via cell phone and made her feel as if she never left the troop. I STRONGLY feel that Virtual is possible & could erase all bulling and help self-esteem while girls are doing what ever they have to do.
- My Council focuses more on girl numbers than adult numbers. Nearly all the activities they sponsor are "bring a friend" events and the "friend" is signed up be a scout and then may wait months to get in a troop....by that time the excitement is gone. The Gold Award program is poorly run. My daughter was told to submit her program without meeting with anyone on council to discuss it. Took too long for a response. Changed the rules midstream. Very disappointing.