Additional Comments
Comments are presented "as is" from the survey. They have not been edited for spelling or grammar.
- good luck with the FB page and getting the Ivory Tower in NYC to listen.
- I think the organization needs to work more in all aspects if they are going to survive. They need better Fund Development staff working on planned giving and other fundraising efforts. They need better publicity and people that understand how to work with volunteers. I think the program itself is strong and well developed, it's the leadership that needs to change.
- GS needs to be more like Boy Scouts. Quit changing everything and stay true to your roots.
- It is totally unreasonable that our councils are being measured in how well they support the GSLE by the sale of journey patches in their shops.
- Along with helping our young women learn facts, the life-changing aspect of scouting is learning to work with others, learning to plan and follow through on those plans, learning to "Help where they are needed and to be a friend to every other Girl Scout." Where's that in the STEM program? When and where do our girls get a chance to play, laugh, run, and sing in a safe environment surrounded by mentors that are there solely to help THEM grow, not pay pensions?
- I think paid staff has become oblivious to the fact and forget, with out the volunteers there is no GS. Their priority should be to supporting the leaders instead of dismissing them when they disagree with the thinking at the local levels. GSUSA has lost a large amount of volunteers because the volunteers speak up with an opposing opinion, which according to GSUSA is what we expect the girls to do advocate for what we feel is wrong.
- GS needs to get back to basics. Pursuing donations by allowing funders to dictate programming is absurd at best. The Gold Award and CIT program are the best leadership programs around, yet our council says its funders want more STEM. STEM is an educational issue. Girl Scouts is outside of school and should offer many avenues for girls to explore and pursue their interests.
- GSUSA seems to change things without telling the membership. The most recent example is the bridging patches. I can see no reason they were changed, and we were not told they were going to be changed ... or asked if they should or could be changed. Small example. One badge. But it is part of trend that seems to "inform" the membership after decisions large or small are made.
- My experience as a girl member was wonderful! Some of the best times of my life were spent in Girl Scouts. I would like to see more outdoor emphasis in today's programming.
- Camp Tweedale should not be closed. Closing it is short-sighted and not in the best interest of the girls.
- I receive so little information from my council that I know almost nothing about some of the areas of this survey. Communication is key!
- I love Girl Scouts! (name and e-mail removed)
- When our local councils were realigned, we were forced to move our cookie sale from the fall to the winter. This has caused endless problems with a customer base that wanted their cookies before the holidays. In addition, our girls are now forced to conduct cookie booths in the dead of winter when it is cold, the weather can turn such that booths have to be cancelled for safety reasons, and it gets dark too early. This change has hurt our sales tremendously.
- Thank you for doing this. Somehow we need to get Girl Scouting turned around. . .
- I'd like to know the results of this survey. I will pass it around as well...
- I think Girl Scouting is the best group for girls out there. However, there are some things that MUST stop. #1. We must not turn away any more from Juliette Low's vision, which included Outdoor Education. We need to immediately put an Outdoor Journey out there for all levels. #2. There should be an immediate moratorium on further camp sales anywhere in the U.S. #3. Girl Scout Member-Volunteers should NEVER be "fired" from being a volunteer just because they have a different opinion from a CEO. I have now heard of at least 4 long-time volunteers having this happen. This is terrible and must be stopped. And the "fired" volunteers should be given back their volunteer positions. A Girl Scout is a Sister to all other Girl Scouts. We (on so many levels) need to remember that! #4. All staff needs to take trainings in Girl Scout history and the important traditions of Girl Scouting, plus go to events and learn about Girl Scouting. Girl Scouting is unique. We stand to lose everything, lose this wonderful Movement, unless we do this.
- Please quit closing our camps! Our girls love them and enjoy using them. I think that more community involvement in camp maintenance would be given if: 1) it weren't so difficult to volunteer to do it (I.e. All the excessive paperwork) and 2) the needs were pushed Down through troops.
- I loved Girl Scouting as a Girl in the 70's however the program now is really boring the girls. GSUSA wants to continue GS then they need to rethink the program. They also need to ask why do they need to change the program so much when BSUSA hasn't changed theirs.
- Volunteers are not as valued as I believe they should be.
- I'd love to be contacted further to discuss this. I love Girl Scouts and everything they've done for me and I have lots and lots to say on this topic. (e-mail removed)
- I think the Journeys and the Girls' Guides in and of themselves are a good idea; but there was a major misfire in cutting down the number of badges.
- I LOVE scouting! I have been part of Girl scouts, Cub & Boy Scouts! Blend the program, and supplies and we would have and excellent program for EITHER(not both) Girl or Boys! The potential is there to change the world.. but helping these kids. I miss the info at the local level, the support we had. Now we are just a fund base. It shouldn't take 5 phone calls and 5-10 emails to get ONE question Answered! There is no customer service! No support of girls.. it's all a line on a spreadsheet!
- I think they are trying. Economy has affected the number of people employed and programing. The camps re for sale but not at a cheap price. I do not see any problem selling part of Innisfree if it is not in use. My big beef with camp is not having the activities to add on to troop camping at Innisfree. The lake swim, boating, fishing, karaoke, archery, etc. We went and added on activities the last year it was available and was the best GSSEM camp ever.
- I was an active Girl Scout from brownies through seniors and went on to have a junior troop for several years. After I married I let my membership expire as I had all boys and became involved in Boy Scouts. I feel there are many more opportunities available for girls, but the outdoor world needs to be more heavily emphasized.
- I love Girl Scouts and have tried to volunteer where able. I believe in the program and hope it will continue.
- Staff: Many staff members at all levels have no experience in GS. It should be a national policy that GS experience is a requirement for most GS staff positions, especially those that directly support volunteers. Volunteer dismissal: A volunteer should never be dismissed for sharing her opinion. Only serious policy safety or financial policy violations, or illegal actions should be the basis of dismissal. The decision should be made after a formal hearing where the volunteer has an opportunity to defend herself.
- GSUSA should admit that Journeys aren't what they hoped. they don't prepare the girls to do a higher award and the girls find them boring. Leaders are taking big short cuts. And that the new badges are an insult to our girls' intelligence and develop a program that is meaningful. In the Cadette book, I look at the new Tree badge, what the old one required (it's printed in the book) and the BSA Forestry badge and I want to cry. My sons can't earn a badge by gluing pine cones together. Why can my daughters?
- We need more outdoor expedition leader programs. If a girl decides she wants to go to college majoring in the outdoors she may not be ready for it and be highly disappointed when she has to switch majors because she was not prepared like we say she should be. We need to get back in touch with camping. If you would like to see a model for this kind of program, winter camping, certification programs that are needed or an example of promotional recruitment please email me at: (e-mail removed). I majored in Communications Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and have 10+ years experience in the outdoor field. I don't want an amazing organization that I have a great passion for to die off because of poor planning, lack of communication, not enough/right programs for girls and selling out for a profit. If we can make it a 100 years I think we can make it another 500 years.
- I know our community is desperate for leaders and co-leaders, volunteers for the different areas but if you have negative leaders, how do place positive outgoing people into this??? I have very hard time, I run a multi million dollar consulting engineering company, I have a positive attitude because it is best for my clients and this go for GIRL SCOUTS too. Positive goes further and longer then negative. Please forgive any misspellings and or grammer faux pas Thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve my Region and my community with my daughter it is a blessing to see her get so much from girl scouts.
- Please, please, please do something about the content and organization of the journeys. I am well-qualified to assess curriculum, and this stuff is not good! There's too much repetition between different levels. Why not have more badges that aren't specific to one level? Multi-level troops are a reality in an era when we can't get enough leaders. It would be so much easier to have different requirements for different levels on a single topic. Thank you for asking these questions.
- Move toward the future, the organization has to stay relevant! People who want to "go back to the old days" need to get off the bus.
- Girl scouts used to be about giving girls all the opportunities that boys had in scouts. Now I have no idea what it's really about and I think that it is way too political.
- My biggerst hassle with the new program, was the new requirement for Cadettes was that you had to get your LIA before you could take PA training, and the requirements for LIA were in the Brownie book. So with the change in program ( every 3 years while my daughter was in) no Cadette leaders were aware. So since we use program aides at day camp (ofter 90-110 girls who want to volunteer ) were had to figure out how to make this happen, since we were not made aware of it until November 3 months before we started registration for PA's.. Sometime I think that National needs to go a Gold award to they understand the whole process instaed of just starting it and finally changing their minds and going to something else ie: Studio 2B. "we have a vision and we will get the program material to you in 2 years"
- Please get back to the ways of JGL. I do understand our world is changing. My girls are just tired of all the career focusing and business focusing. They are just Daisy. They get bored and uninterested with this, the petals, and the journies. They want to have fun. Games, Art, Outdoors, animals, crafts, and friends are just some of the things they want to do and think are fun. I think there is too much stem.
- Feel free to contact me via email or phone for further thoughts/info! (name and contact information removed)
- Would like to see the Girl Scouts participate in CERT training & volunteer to be "victims" in a Local Emergency Planning Committee exercise. Especially if a girl is looking to be a part of the medical field or an emergency responder- this would be a good experience. There are many ways to volunteer that could benefit their county.
- I am concerned about the future of GS. This is directed at details a leader has to follow just to volunteer. It needs to be simplified and less threatening. I am the Co-Leader and wouldn't be leader for that reason...
- I would like to see development of clear programming for GS virtual and event girl scout at least a mixer at the beginning of the year to educate the girls and parents about program and how to participate.
- I would like to see Girl Scouts go back to basics. Less emphasis on frilly, frivolous things, more emphasis on the basics of the Law. I'm not sure that Juliette Gordon Low would be happy wit h the closing of camps, selling junk like press on nails and dolls in the store, and getting away from our core values.
- In my council, Kentuckiana, the powers that be are scratching their heads regarding decreased membership. Three reasons: tripled membership costs, significant decrease in programming experiences, Journeys.
- Seems the ability to make each registered Girl Scout feel a valued part of the whole G.S.U.S.A organization is being lost. Personal contact with other leaders and girls with shared program interests is the only way I've ever known of to fix that.
- Lots of organization needed. I am a new leader and my daughter is a new daisy, surprise how disorganized of the organization (not the council) and lack of direction for all leaders at all levels. I still believe that the 3 characteristics are very important for girls and agree they need a lot of support to build them, that is why I am still doing my role.
- STOP THE SALE OF GS CAMPS!
- council's need to stop bullying, intimidating and firing volunteers & members that speak out in disagreement with council practices. Many councils behave in very unethical and non-gs ways - as well as not operating like a true non-profit would. They are overly concerned with signing up girls to only have them sell cookies - and the revenue from the sale seems to NOT support services for the girls, because they overcharge for any programs the council might offer.
- Please save the name of Girl Scouting and abandon the Journey's. It will be less embarrassing for you to get rid of them now then it will be in 10 years.
- I find the "progression" idea to be unnecessary and difficult. Why does a girl need to "progress" from painting to drawing to cartoons to collages? That's not progression. Any age girl can paint or draw or make collages according to her ability. The system makes it difficult for a multi-age troop to work on the same activity in one meeting. I think it was better when older girls simply had to do one or two more tasks rather than go to a whole separate topic. Many of the new badges are not thought out well and are silly at best. Many of the older ones need to be revived. Wouldn't it have made more sense to revise and improve badges than to start all over? Also, there are not enough new badges and the extremely important and useful general-topic Council's Own ones are being squeezed out by GSUSA.
- So frustrated with Girl Scouts on many levels! Selling camps, making the program too much like school rather than fun - the organization doesn't seem to be listening to its membership.
- Girl Scouting used to be heavily steep in tradition...the songs, the badges, the camping, the sisterhood. Now it's dumbed down with trendy junk geared to sell cookies and keep open the business. Why don't you use the emails on the registration forms, adjust the wording on this survey, and send it to every family? It's.all.about.the.GIRLS. -- Not about the cookies.
- good luck, I hope GSUSA is listening!
- I am surprised that Girl Scouting Works: the Alumni Impact Study wasn't promoted better. I found it almost by accident and it is such compelling proof that what we are doing makes a big difference in girls' lives! Why aren't we shouting it to the rooftops?
- Girl Scouts is becoming all about # and $ not about the girls. And do not understand why the girls who are selling the cookies and candy get such a small percentage of THEIR sales.
- I sure wish that someone would step in and kick my current council in the backside.
- I think we need to go back to 3 grades per level except for Daisies. It offered a better chance to grow leadership skills. 1st yr for exploring the new level, 2nd year to really get into it, 3rd year to be an expert and lead 1st and 2nd year girls.
- Troop leaders should be registering girls, not the online system we're now using. Too many girls are in limbo, waiting to be "officially" placed in the same troop they've been in for years.
- Quit changing the program! Juliette is probably rolling in her grave at all of the changes just over the last 10 years. Juliette started this to give girls the opportunity to get outside and do things that they normally would not be able to do. Give girls the opportunity to broaden their skills. Bring back more detailed badges and more! Bring back just a handbook and badge book like before.
- I'm very disappointed in the closure and sale of the camps. The Girl Scouts are losing focus on their program and need to put more effort into providing programs that promote life skills for girls that camps provide.
- Girl Scouting is at a crossroads, and I am worried that the girls are losing. We want a good, strong, interesting, fun program that develops girls of confidence and character who make the world a better place, not girls who know how to lead an arts or craft project. There is more to life than being a "leader".
- I, personally, am pleased with how well Girl Scouts is run. I'm lucky though because I am in a great Council and large SU - Walnut Creek, CA with wonderful, supportive SU and GS leaders. We truly are a team here. If I was in a SU out in the middle of nowhere with my Council office and campground 100 miles away, I may feel completely different. In our area there are no wait lists, no major leadership issues, no drama. We have great communication which I think is key. You can't please everyone. You can only go with the majority. The world has changed and GS needed to change with it. GS changed many times while Juliette Low was alive. Those that claim she would be appalled today have no clue what she would feel. Your GS troop is what you make it. If your girls want more outdoor stuff, do it. If your girls want to only work on badges, do it. If they want to make crafts and play, great! GS is flexible like that. Its about teaching them how to make decisions, goals, leading, and respect. Let the girls dictate what kind of troop it is. Each is different. Each is special in their own way.
- Cadette Girl Scout Interest Projects are way watered down & way too simple. My daughter was very discouraged when she read the requirements. She felt their were too baby & thought I had the wrong book.
- Just make Girl Scouts fun for the girls and leaders again.
- I do feel GSUSA has taken a more equitable position allowing gays and lesbians be leaders and members than does the BSA, even after the BSA now allows gay youth; that is one of the reasons why I am now a GS leader and NOT a BSA LEADER!
- Focus on the girls, ask them what they like doing and develop your programs around that, get rid of the journey series and make the handbook realistic and fun.
- My troop would like to know why we are told that we can not have a mixed age level troop after it has worked VERY well for our troops for several years and another troop in our same town can. Our council does not believe in girl led troops - we were told that by our council employees. We as adults are supposed to run the troop and makes decisions - the girls are not old enough. We are talking girls ranging in age from 9-12. Also, why is that once a sum's daughters are no longer involved rules change. Or why when you follow policy you are told not to run any more events that you didn't do it properly - with your sum right beside you all night. Conflicting information, inaccurate stories and not once being able to give your side of the story. Never knew you could be blackballed from Girl Scouts. *Please feel free to contact me as I would love to have the opportunity to shed some light on our council and how Girl Scouts is portrayed in (council removed).*
- Listen to what is being said by the girls and their families -- listen to what is important to them. Stop the lip-service and pay attention.
- I know that GSUSA and its councils need to raise money to support programming. The cookie sale does that. I also think council's could make additional money from their camp properties by creating weekday camping/educational opportunities for seniors or by partnering with other like-minded outdoor organizations to bring in income. Make better use of these valuable resources, don't sell them.
- Bring back the program the Juliette Low began. That is still what the girls want. They can get all that technology crap at home from their parents plugging them into a TV babysitter. Lets get our girls active and help to teach them what the founders of this organization had envisioned. And in the mean time we will help to combat the child obesity problem and the bully problem because our girls will know how to be TRUE friends and will be active citizens in their communities.
- My greatest concern is the lean toward liberal program. The fact that WAGGGS supports abortion and that so many women who I feel are poor role models are highlighted in Journeys and other programs is sad. I believe Girl Scouts should be unbiased and non-political in their programming approach. I do not believe that is the case today.
- There are lots of troops that also do Venturing Scouts thru BSA, there is a reason for that and GS needs to be looking at why. They offer something that Girl Scouts feel they aren't getting in GS. that they have to go another source to get.
- Different types of Leader training. Everytime I go to look into taking a training course - it's the same things over and over. I would like a wider variety of things to learn. Something that I can take back and show my girls that will help complete a couple patches. I am currently having issues coming up with ideas to help them complete their bronze award. There are gold classes - but that does us no good if we can't complete the bronze. The classes for the girls are getting a better variety - but leader's classes are still lacking.
- I fully expect to get a certified return receipt letter after this survey is reviewed. I do not like the new scouts, I think the leadership is terrible, and the Vision 20/20 that you are aligning with (along with Common Core) is a cheap way to get money. If I am told I am no longer a leader, so be it. I will be able to live up to my Great Grandmother's legacy and move my girls to a new scouting organization if (council removed) kicks me out. In fact, the groundwork to move 12 troops is already laid ad when the membership year ends, (council removed) may very well get a nasty surprise when their membership numbers plummet.
- I am deeply concerned about the future of Girl Scouting. I have been a Girl Scout my entire life and treasure the experience I have had both as a girl and a mother of a Girl Scout. I truly love the organization and am proud to be a Girl Scout. I am not proud of the changes that have shaken our beloved organization. We should not be building business plans and strategies. We should be working with our troop leaders at the grass roots level to help them reach girls who need our help. The money we make should be used to send girls to camp and give them opportunities to travel and do things they would never be able to do without us. We should not be paying huge salaries to CEO's who will not even return calls or talk to the people who pay their salaries or to pay for expensive offices and pension plans. We should not be using our little girls to make money to pay more and more employees. We don't need money to teach our girls right from wrong and how to love each other. We are very close to saying farewell to cookie sales altogether and find other ways to attend activities for our troop. We are tired of working so hard and getting so little back, except threats to sell our beloved camp.
- Stop selling out the Girl Scouts, Increase the $ the girls earn from cookie sales, less "prizes" we don't need anymore stuffed animals, these kids work hard for .50 per box and they wonder where the other $3.00 are going. Also if GSUSA is using the brand with retail market manufacturers, the troops should be getting a portion of the sales.
- I believe more cookie profit should go to the girls troop instead of the council.
- I was a brownie, junior, cadette, and senior. I was a leader in college and after college and then tool several years "off" before returning to being a leader when my daughter started brownies. She is now a senior. I hope that after she goes to college I will remain an active leader and some day that my granddaughters will be Girl Scouts BUT if the current trend in programming and sales of camps continue I fear that Girls Scouts will not be around my my granddaughters or will be an organization that neither they nor I have an interest in being a part of. That would in fact be very very sad. Some quotes from the founders of the scouting movement: When asked what the girls should do, Juliette responded "What do the girls WANT to do?" Why should my daughter become a Girl Scout - FUN If you asked her daughter, she would probably reply Because the Girl Scouts have real Fun “A week of camp life is worth six months of theoretical teaching in the meeting room.”
- I've been very disappointed as an older Girl Scout (Cadette-Ambassador) in the number of programs offered and, among those, the number of programs offered that have to do with business, rather than something "fun." It's like as soon as we reach the Ambassador level, half of our badge options disappear and those left are all about business, finance, and sustainability. The only programs available to us tend to be in service, as volunteers helping the younger girls -- which can be fun, and is certainly necessary for the organization, but irritating once you reach the highest level of Girl Scouts and realize that there's not much fun left for you to do, only service. I enjoy working with younger girls, but I didn't spend 13 years in Girl Scouts just to have the Gold Award, a few badges, and some volunteer opportunities be the only things left for me to do. Also, at this point in the educational career, time begins to be taken up with college applications, financial aid, grades, paperwork, projects, finals, homework, homework, homework-- need I go on? My junior year of high school felt like as soon as school began being more work and preparation for the future than it was the joy of learning, so did Girl Scouts. I'd come to scout meetings from learning about economics in school, just to realize that multiple of the few badges available to me were just more economics ("running a business" or whatever). I'd write a paper about current events and world issues for class, and have the journey projects -- required to even start the Gold Award -- focus on social or environmental advocacy. I'm still a kid, and Girl Scouts was turning into work that I was only doing so I could go work with kids, go to summer camp, and earn my Gold Award (i.e., scholarships). You wonder why an alarming number of scouts drop out before reaching the Ambassador level, or stick it out just to do the Gold Award and quit? It's not just the busier social lives or heavier loads of course work. The fact that Girl Scouts stops providing fun, interesting, engaging activities alongside its educational ones plays a part as well (as I've learned from conversing with other older Girl Scouts and ex-Girl Scouts).
- I continue to believe that the Girl Scout program is the best/most cost effective program available to youth. An individual girl's experience is completely dependent on the quality of her individual leader with a very WIDE variation. Councils have good programs in place for recruitment, training and support of volunteers, but it is very difficult in today's climate. Too many adults are taking advantage of the program by stealing cookie money and diping into troop funds without prosecution. I have experienced and heard of many such instances. It saddens me.
- Everyone I know who loves Girl Scouting has their biggest gripe with council. There is definitely a disconnect. The good new is... we WANT to support Girl Scouting and Council... but we want Girl Scouting and Council to support us too! Please find ways to make Girl Scouting less business and more fun and supportive to all of the girls and volunteers that try to carry out this program.
- Bring back the old badges, do away with the Journeys.
- STOP CLOSING CAMPS! There are many historic camps owned by the Girl Scouts who enriched the lives of numerous girls in many ways and that can't be learned by going to public schools.Children need these teachings and experiences to have a better understanding of life,survival and teamwork besides teaching them to think on there own to solve problems and do things by thinking "outside the box" so to speak.
- I feel that GSUSA has sold out the whole program in the name of $$$$. It is no longer a fun thing to do everything is soooo corporate. To be a volunteer is like having a second full time job without pay.
- Girl Scouting has a deep and strong adult volunteer group. Previously, this group was respected and highly valued for its knowledge, commitment and willingness to lead. In my opinion, our council has less trust in volunteers and relies more on staff.
- GSUSA lost my girls and MANY others due to the moral direction (or lack of) the organization continues to drift further down. It's foolish to continue to ignore this, as it's the biggest factor in membership and product sale declines. Fix this, and membership/sales will rebound, easing the financial strain and increasing camp usage. Less advocacy, more activity. I think we can agree on that?
- Save our camps--once they are gone, you will never get them back nor the fabulous experiences they provide for girls.
- Too many levels. Now with additional levels, scouting is pricing itself out of business. The girls love wearing the uniforms, and apparel, but having to buy it every other year is not financially feasible for most families. Then if you do and think you could pass it on they change everything. The "guides" are not priced so that every girl can have one again because you aren't in a level long enough to justify the cost. Plus you need to buy a different kind of guide for everything you do. BRING BACK BADGES AND THE BADGE BOOKS PLEASE with a handbook.
- I LOVE GIRL SCOUTS I LIVE BREATH AND SLEEP GS BUT i HAVE SPENT THE PAST FOUR DAYS CRYING WRITING NEWS PAPERS AND NOW WILL GO TO THE NEWS THOSE GIRLS MEAN THE WORLD TO ME AND I DIDNT DESERVE TO BE DISMISSED
- My girls hate the Journey. I mean, they REALLY hate it. They would rather work on various badges and then do their big projects for their Silver and Gold awards.
- I believe in Girl Scouting and am a Lifetime Member. I was a Girl Scout for ten years, earned my Silver Award. Our Troop disbanded going into my senior year and I wasn't able to go for my Gold Award. I believe if we go back to the way things were, we will not dishonor Juliette Gordon Low. But, if we continue just thinking about the money and not offering the programming, we will destroy this organization within the next 3-5 years.
- The combining of councils was a terrible idea. These new megacouncils are totally unwieldy both in management and geographically. This is evidenced by my own council re-dividing itself into smaller subsections, similar to the way it was before.
- This survey seems biased towards complaining about the direction of GS away from outdoor activities and more into current stem/financial literacy. My biggest complaint about GS programming is that it is expensive. To fully participate, girls have to buy a handbook, 3 journey books (which are terribly written) and 3 interest badge sets. I would rather have a handbook and badgebook. I would also rather have the books bound in a way that they do not fall apart.
- Programming box was gone somehow...I would like to see a more diverse program portfolio. Bring back the signs at the Junior age, and something similar for the older girls. Brownies need more badges. Like that everything is a badge now, just need more diversity. I would also like to see more 'regional' events and more destinations that are not Outward Bound related. Registration system needs to be more user friendly for those of us that run events. Single name is useless without a Troop level sort...this system was developed by GSUSA and we hate it.
- I know I was extremely sassy and voiced a strong opinion, and I apologize. But you need to consider the girls. They are what you are here for, right? I also know this survey is meant for adults, but I feel that I have experienced so many areas of girl scouting (from troop level to international level) that I can back my opinions. Please consider the girls opinions. If you get one thing out of reading this survey, I hope that it is that you need girl opinions more than adult opinions. Thank you!
- Just would like to see more financial support for the troops. And more support with events, programs (high quality programs), etc
- Society and today's media are trying to pigeonhole girls into one-dimensional beings only focused on their appearance, their social lives, and all things pink and sparkly. Girls are multi-faceted and want to explore all sorts of things to figure out who they are. Girl Scouting is the perfect way to allow girls the opportunity to try new things in a safe and supportive environment. They are losing girls because they are narrowing the options for programs/badges to just what is "girly" by the media's definition.
- Currently, American Heritage Girls offers a much more desirable program for families. Look at their numbers...exponential growth while GSUSA is in massive decline. Look at their admin vs GSUSA. I think we and many others are leaning toward AHG unless we see large-scale change soon.
- With regard to structure, GSUSA should over haul the whole thing. Take a look at BSA and how they run their units... Leaders support on another. Training is awesome.... Not saying that GS isn't a great organization... but there are some things that could be improved. Might not hurt to learn from another strong organization and see how they operate and what works well for them. On the flip side.. they could stand to learn a few things form GSUSA. themselves.
- I hope they listen. But I doubt they will. I'll be looking into other options too - maybe WAGGS
- I love girl scouting. It provided me so much as a girl and helped me build a successful career. My local council leadership and I will disagree on subjects and I keep trying to listen and to be heard. Girl scouting has changed so much and it is a challenge to include the new programs, leadership journeys. Our council offers many programs and events for all age levels which I find awesome and wish I could convince more parents to get involved.
- As a young professional, I wish Girl Scouts would contact my age bracket more with volunteer opportunities. I really value what being a Girl Scout for 12 years has done for my self esteem and success in the working world and in my personal life. If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me at (e-mail removed). Thank you for this opportunity to help grow Girl Scouts.
- I feel like the organization has become "all work and no play". As a young Girl Scout I got enjoyment out of doing things for others and our communities. We used to have fun while doing it. Now, I think it's hard for the girls to get enjoyment out of doing a service when they had to go through months of meaningless Journey steps to get there. Also, our meetings are so chaotic b/c we're trying to make sure we get everything done that HAS to be done...the girls don't have time to just 'hang out' and learn about each other.
- I think a program that would train adult advisers in how to invite girl leadership rather than how to fill in forms is needed. When I was still training ( up to about two years ago, I was concerned that so many leaders really had grown up in daycare, had never had to amuse themselves and had always had programming to follow. The advisers need Girl Scouting as much as the girls, maybe more so. Instead GSUSA has taken the easy approach and offered them prepackaged program. It was what was asked for because the adults didn't know what was missing. Let's never have another 'leader' show up at the first meeting with the whole year planned - using field trips, packaged badges, council badge days , etc. That's like saying a sport team captain develops leadership by relaying the coach's directives. More is needed. And the new program by ignoring the leaders development and pushing the insignia is not doing what is needed.
- My council has improved since we recently hired a new CEO, so I am optimistic about the local level (even though they have sold most of the camps!!), but the national program is on the wrong track- it almost embarrassing to be a Girl Scout these days. Trying to call a fundraiser a literacy program is shameful and the brunt of fundraising should not be on the backs of the girls. My council has finally come out with an effective fundraising campaign on line- that's a good start- but we need to reach everyone- starting with alums and parents/grandparents- on major donors.
- Girl Scouting has had a major impact on my life. It has given me a value system to live by, provided activities and travel I would never have experienced otherwise, introduced me to amazing people and given me the opportunity to influence the future. I have volunteered in three different councils and worked for one for 17 years. I get frustrated but I also find my enthusiasm renewed over and over. Now if I could just get over being irritated everytime I hear "Girl Scout Brownie" instead of "Brownie Girl Scout", I'd be a completely happy camper.
- I understand the need to sell camps to help with the pension fund, but I am here to tell you that, at the teen level, Girl Scouts are hemorrhaging girls to the Boy Scout Venture program because of lack of outdoor opportunities. I am working to combat that! :-)
- I am dismayed when I go to a training and the council's leadership (staff and volunteers) are using one-time use water bottles. Setting such a bad example. I was even at an outdoor training where they were SO CONCERNED that everyone use their bandanas rather than paper towels, but the trainers were drinking from those water bottles.
- I was an active Girl Scout through high school in a Mariner troop in Livingston New Jersey. My beloved camp was Camp Eagle Island in Upper Saranac Lake NY. Eagle Island was my soul place - I lived for the experience of summer camp while I was in high school. It was the place I could be fully me - not have to worry about conforming to the boy-girl social mores, not have to diminish my strength and love of nature. A place where we all accepted each other, sang together, paddled through lakes together, climbed mountains, and for weeks lived away from the culture of commercialism - no TV, no phones, no parents! Of all the experiences of my childhood, Eagle Island was by far the most influential. I am still connected with my friends from camp. We went back every year for Womens Weekend in the spring, and helped with maintenance of the camp, helped with fund-raising, and offered much more help, but it was actively, and I mean actively, rejected.
- GSSGC needs to be cleaned up and reworked in all service areas. Their membership would increase two fold if they did.
- The merge did a lot of harm to GSUSA. The management since then has been horrid. In my area it caused a camp that was flourishing and growing again and destroyed it. Now you have a council employee (name removed) that has intentionally limited use of Camp Latonka, let the camp fall into disrepair, turned down donated labor and materials to help fix those repairs among may other things. There is a disconnect and lack of supervision in many cases between the "council" office and those employed to maintain properties. Things must change or your numbers will continue to decline.
- Find a way to save the camps. Timbers in Traverse City Michigan was a terrible loss. We had staff and campers from all over the country...and some international staff. The property is beautiful and has historic significance (former Armour estate)--irreplaceable.
- When doing things such as logging at camp property care & consideration should be exercised as to not interfere with the already planned events at the sight. Recently an event at one of our camps had to be canceled last minute because logging took place. The loggers left the trails and grounds a mess. Volunteers in that service unit had spent the entire summer making improvements to the trails and grounds to make them safe and usuableknow for our girls. They not only volunteered time but materials and equipment use only to have their efforts and progress ruined in a matter of days. Nobody in the service unit was given any kind of notice that this was taking place. The event was to include a night hike and when a volunteer went out that day to put reflectors on the trails she was met by tree tops down on paths, a road to the tent unit that was impassable, and an all around mess! Imagine the disappointment to see everyone all of her work had been for nothing. She is ready to quit, but does not want to disappoint the girls in her troop. She feels unappreciated and that our council cares more about tbeir bottom dollar & getting raises than it does about our girls!
- Please do whatever you can to get Girl Scouts back to its roots. We need to get the girls out of the books and off the computer, and back into doing.
- The outdoor component is a major part of the girl scout experience. DO NOT make the irreversible mistake of letting camps get sold. YOU made a HUGE mistake centralizing the councils - locals like the personal contact of a local council....you lost a lot of people by doing that....DO NOT make another huge mistake that will probably deplete the organization of another large number of members.
- Many things are going right in Girl Scouting! The girls and leaders we have are wonderful.
- I wish the GS program was more like when I was in scouts- more outdoor, more variety of possible experiences. Also the program really needs to go back to a badge book that the girl is responsible for- so they clearly understand what is required, and THEY are responsible for showing the leaders when they have completed something, and taking responsibility for filling in any gaps they have missed. The GS program needs to support leaders by squarly placing responsibility with the girls. As a leader I have been fussed at for using the word 'responsilility'!!!! I truly believe that that is a cornerstone for why so many adults that achieve are identified as having been girl scouts. 2-3 decades from now will that be true?
- I am brokenhearted and disappointed about how something I cherish has lost focus on the true mission - the girls. Our council suffered from the realignment - everything I worked so hard to establish had to be broken down/dumbed down/watered down to accommodate the other two councils who we got stuck with. We were one of the top ten in the country, but now that is all gone.
- I find that while I have many parents who want to volunteer, help out, and attend events, the GS policies of having every person at an event be a registered Adult GS very exclusive. It makes us look like an organization that only wants the registration fees. Many of my parents see no reason to register if they only want to help out or attend 1 event, and to be honest, I don't blame them. I feel that the GS are overly concerned with legal insurance issues, and this will drive away people who feel turned off by this. This however, is just my opinion, and of course I will continue to follow GS guidelines. For example, the cookie rally in our area was billed as a "family event" but then we are told that only registered GS can skate on the ice. How do I explain that one to my families?
- Don't let GSHNJ sell Eagle Island Camp!
- 1. Appomattox, VA has been aligned with the wrong community! We're an hour and a half away from Charlottesville. We need to be aligned with Lynchburg which is 20 minutes away. The bulk of our parents work in Lynchburg and are better able to attend community events and meetings there vs. Charlottesville. We hate it and no one is listening! All we hear from Council is that they had nothing to do with it. Sitting in New York looking at a map doesn't qualify you to align the communities the way you have! 2. Bring back the old badges. My daughter is disinterested in the new ones as they don't get her outside doing things.
- I'm a new leader. So far I feel very welcomed by the team. I'm really hoping to see diversity and changed the demographic for the positive.
- The basics of the program--all girl and featuring a variety of topics decided on and carried out by the girls--is excellent. It always has been and must remain at the center. How it is carried out can be better, but the core must remain.
- It might be beneficial to create an advertising program featuring alumni and how they have benefitted from being a scout. Maybe with statistics and use media or television rather than print. We are a tech heavy society. Show the public what we do and not just cookies.
- I loved Girl Scouting as a child. I have enjoyed being a troop leader. I see the valuable aspects of scouting being pushed aside unnecessarily. Don't throw away what makes Girl Scouting unique and successful to chase trends. Evolve and grow with the times, but please don't let Girl Scouting loose it's spirit.
- Go back to basics and stop rearranging Girl Scouts. An employers know what an Eagle Scout did to become an Eagle. An employer gets a different story for each Girl Scout earning her Gold Award depending on how old she is. We look like idiots and make our girls look like idiots
- I'm proud to be a Girl Scout but I'm disappointed in the current program - I have a Cadette and a Daisy daughter and while the Daisy is loving it, the Cadette isn't anymore. She doesn't like the Journeys and wants more outdoor emphasis, more opportunities to experience different things, more varied options.She's wondering what more GS has to offer her or if it's just more of the same-old, same-old
- I hope this survey is actually taken into account and listened to by GSUSA. Otherwise, what I've had to say is true, and ultimately will spell the demise of Girl Scouting. And that, would be a tragedy.
- I would be VERY interested in the outcome of this survey. If results can be sent out, I would like to have a copy. The relults can be sent to (e-mail removed) or you could send me the location where the results would be available.
- I love girl scouting and am glad to be a part of the program. My concern is that we are getting away from what Juliette wanted the program to be. We need to get back to basics. I understand we need to move forward with technology but don't take away our basics..like sewing, camping, canning, gardening....etc. Thank you for letting me have an opinion.
- I am saddened by the direction of our organization and fear we May not be around much longer. We are so far removed from our core values that Juliette would be outraged. I attended a Brownie bridging ceremony recently. Each girl was asked to tell the audience her favorite GS experience and what she would like to do at the next level. 9/10 girls stated camping as both answers!! From the mouth of babes...we should listen to our girls at all levels!! I think council forgets this is the girls program not the adults program. Btw, this is the best survey I've seen so far...progress I hope!
- How will we see the results of this survey?
- Leaders should not have to drive a half hour to get to the closest council store to buy things when the next council over has a shop 10 minutes from our house. It'd be nice if the close store and our council could work out a way we could shop there without getting guilt for not driving the extra 10 minutes so the correct council gets their cut from products sold. Also maybe enter into an agreement with a retail chain(some sporting good store maybe) that would allow uniforms and badges to be sold in select locations where there are huge gaps between council retail stores.
- Most of the questions have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual GS program. When did we become a marketing ploy? I, at one time, valued the notation of earning BOTH the First Class & the Gold Awards, but the program has gone so far away from those items, I don't think anyone cares that I spent the time and effort to earn them!
- I think the change in troop levels was a mistake. More Juniors are quitting as they enter middle school, more Cadettes are quitting as they enter hs. Having the level change as they change schools makes it easy for them to quit gs. And working with older girls (CSA) who have different badges makes it easy to lose members. There are not enough leaders to not have blended older girl troops.
- I really wish the councils would hire people who can actually do the jobs they are hired to do and support the Service units and troops. Journeys suck! the girls hate them and so do most leaders. The older girl program should be worked on so they aren't' just getting school type stuff and helping with the younger girls. Not every girl is going to go off to college so why make the program so focused on career paths. These girls need life skills that used to be taught in scouts but are no longer a part of the program or at least encouraged.
- I've been a Girls Scout for most of my life and I care very much about the direction the organization takes, not so much for my sake as for my daughter's (she is less than a year away from starting out as a Daisy). I can see why at 100 years old that GSUSA wants to make some changes and keep up with the times. And I am also somewhat aware that GSUSA has been dealing with significant financial issues. I don't imagine that making the organizational decisions is easy. I can see why consolidating counsels and selling camps might ease some of the financial problems but it also creates other ones. Often people don't like change and especially when it means giving up camps to which they have a strong emotional attachment. Also, I belonged to one counsel that was one suburban county and another that spanned 4 or so rural counties in the same state. At the geographically larger counsel where I had an internship it was sometimes difficult for girls to get to activities (we had to drive a girl home after an even and it was over an hour away). 2) Girls Scouts talks about being a sister to every scout. As a girl this mostly meant getting along with girls that I might not otherwise have made friends with outside of scouting. I was aware there were Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all over the world. As an adult it means something more. I can open up Facebook and see how many of my friends were in scouting or went to summer camp with me. I can connect with over 1000 women and girls that love the same summer camp. I can also walk into any kind of event and most likely find at least a few other women who are or were in scouting (even if we don't have much else in common). Those connections are part of why GS traditions matter to me. I think camping and other outdoor programs as well as badges are core parts of scouting. Keeping some traditions the same (or very similar) is part of what connects scouts across generations. Once I had a daughter passing on those traditions became even more important to me. (My daughter is only 5 and I have brought her to visit camp twice already.)
- I feel that the girls should also be involved in helping more throughout our community, rather than everything being about just them. there needs to be a point of humility.
- It needs to incorporate the needs of the modern world with the ideals of the past. It needs to stop throwing out everything good to start completely new programs revolving around already obsolete buzz words.
- I think the fact that I chose "N/A I don't know enough about this to answer." Tells a lot about the lack of communication in the organization. I was a GS all through school, every level. I worked at a camp in Michigan. Why don't I know more?!?!?
- need to focus more on the girl and the troop then worrying about everything else. Why not give the girls more opportunity. More girl scout houses in the area
- My frustration with GSUSA stems from what I perceive as a lack of support from those who live on the East Coast of the US and a disconnect of understanding what we do as leaders from the local Service Center. As a mid-westerner, I believe the girls in my community are receiving a strong GS program that isn't necessarily the one created by GSUSA. Many of the leaders I know only go through the Journey program because it is required. The majority of those leaders dread the program because it's too much like school and the girls find it boring. We are lucky to have a strong support for the camps and camping programs.
- The Girl Scouting organization needs to get away from the big business mentality and get back to the organization of 20+ years ago...an organization who cared about the girls and the experience they get, not how many cookies they sell!
- Really would like to see stronger outdoor program that is "EASIER" for leaders to handle. I think part of it is that adults dont have experience camping. And training is fine but if adults dont have confidnce in theirabilities it defeats the purpose. We are not only developing children but adults as well.
- Staff retention at our council seems to be low, too many changes. This projects instability and leads to loss of confidence in the local council office on part of volunteers.
- I hope they fix it before my granddaughter starts. So sad to see the demise of what was once an excellent program.
- The Gold Award program needs SERIOUS attention. The leap from Silver Award, where the form filled out by the girls is alot of multiple choice and simple answers to a few questions, to the Gold Award, where the girls fill out a project proposal is daunting. The girls are unprepared for the form and all they must do. The All that Glitters workshops do not prepare the girls for this form. As a troop leader, I was woefully unprepared. I have had one girl complete her gold award, and the experience was so awful none of the other girls in my troop want to try. The advisor assigned to the girl was terrible. It is a lot of work for these girls to put together a proposal, and there was NO encouragement from the mentor. She critcized and critized and critized, but never said a word of ecnouragement.
- I have been involved as a Volunteer for 37 years, 25 as a troop leader, I have seen so many changes. In the beginning there is always resistance. I think the canned program as it stands is good for this time and space as I think the original program that I used was all the troops ideas and the girls were really happy at the end of the year to get a small piece of the pie.
- Thank you for offering this survey to us.
- Girl Scouting is a partnership between the Board, Paid staff, and operational volunteers. The board and staff will have nothing to do if all the volunteers go away. Staff are continuously be re-organized so you have no idea who is doing what and the staff has no clue what they are doing in many cases. It appears the CEOs goal is to get rid of all legacy staff. Turnover rate on staff is very high.
- I was about to pay for a lifetime Girl Scout membership (having been active in scouts since 1962, and continuing with camp alumni weekends and always considering myself a Girl Scout) but then the Councils merged and decide to sell camps. I cannot support Girl Scouts where the focus seems to be on paying for expensive CEOs and pensions. The focus should be on girls. Girl Scouts has become too corporate. I know we need to maintain a viable organization, but it is a non-profit and those who work for it should be aware that the goal is involving girls in all activities.
- We love the original premise of Girl Scouting as started by Juliette Gordon Low and hope that those working on new programs continue to keep her goals in mind.
- The new GS program is not working and the realligment is not working. Please change direction before we lose even more members!
- I am a lifetime GS, Curved Bar and All-States participant. I learned public speaking, leadership, teamwork, and volunteerism through my Girl Scout experience. That said, there were no girls' sports or other activities for girls in "my day". Nowadays, girls have many options. GS needs to be a vital relevant option for them. It won't be for everyone and need not try to be. Unfortunately, we are preceived as a bunch of old white ladies selling cookies and doing crafts. It was that when i was a girl, but the program allowed me to explore so many areas with other adults as badge consultants, that i did my Hospitality (Cinderella) badge with my troop leader and still earned all the community, art, and outdoor badges on my own.
- (council removed) has a particularly weak Gold Award process. Recent improvments have been made, but the woman in charge of this is incompetant. I believe her incompetance is tolerated because she is a minority. I love that Girl Scouting is for every girl. But we should not lose focus on our core ideals, as defined by the Girl Scout Law. While most of the modifications to the Girl Scout Law have been improvements, what happened to "A Girl Scout is a Friend to Animals"?
- I have been a lifetime scout for 37 years. I try to lead the girls as I was taught. I feel the program has been marketed and packaged by an ad agency with little regard to the original Juliette Low mission. I have 10 years volunteering with the Boy Scout program and feel they have changed a minimal amount from the original programing that my father and brother completed. I feel the Girl Scout program has changed completely since I was a Brownie - Senior scout.
- As a new troop leader i am very excited. I love have the meetings. I love teaching the girls. and learning about the history of girl scouts. I never had the opportunity to be a girl scout as a child. Starting a new troop cost money and this should be considered. I am not sure how to fix this but, if I was allowed to do fundraisers with my girls it would have made things easier. And my girls would have a lot more experiences. We also need more training classes in our area. Again we are volunteers. I have 5 children, traveling far distances and for several days limit me on how I can get certified
- GSUSA needs to get back to the basics and to the programs of old. Yes, technology is an important part of everyone's life and should be incorporated, but the new programs have gotten away from basics and things people call "folk" art. Things like sewing, knitting/crochettin, baking, canoeing, hiking (with rock signs, etc), rope skills, love of outdoors, etc. I believe that Juliette Gordon Low would be very upset, not so much with the direction, but the total disregard for the basis of the group.
- My main issue with the current direction of Girl Scouting is that the girls hate the journeys and are frustrated by the limited selection of badges they can do.
- Please look at the quality of what you sell. Pins break before you even put them on the girls! The journey book pages rip and cannot be put back in the binder because they are just paper. Can't we find some way to make things last? We certainly pay enough for them!
- It's time to give us more options than Cookie sales. We should not be pushing cookies, it just doesn't fit with the overall Girl Scout philosophy. At the very least, give us the option to sell Washington apples! Or other healthy products.
- Again the cost of everything Girl Scout related is too much. And we do not get enough in cookie sales!! $.65 to $.75 is NOT ENOUGH for all the hard work the girls and leaders do.
- If you believe in GIRL POWER then you will return the POWER TO THE GIRLS. Adult leaders are pressed for time probably more than any generation before. One can't blame them for seeking easy and time saving solutions. First, they grew up in a watered down GS program, then the training is too concerned with keeping them happy and on board then with actually helping them provide strong programming in a "doable" way. Troops that meet once a month are ridiculous. Communication by email only to adults/parents? - might as well take the girl out of Girl Scouting.
- I still love scouting, and our troop tries to focus a lot on camp and 'doing' where possible by modifying the badge steps or journey components. As my girls age however, we will be looking for other outdoor programs such as Explorer posts.
- thank you
- The Journeys need to GO AWAY the girls feel like they are in school.
- I love the Girl Scout program and hope it gets back on track. I believe it will. Listen to what membership is telling you. Yes, people don't like change especially drastic change and usually rebel against it. If the changes are truly for the better then most people come around or at least grumble in their own corners. When the change is not for the better well...then...you have to make more changes or bring back some of what wasn't broken.
- Thanks for asking! Let's keep building our program up for the future - the girls deserve it!
- When a fellow volunteer died this year, I couldn't find a good way to honor her memory in the GS Community. I called one of our councils as directed by GSUSA and received no response. There needs to be a clear and simple way to honor the memory of our volunteers. (e-mail removed)
- I love Girl Scouts. My husband is a Boy Scout volunteer, and our son is a Life Scout working on his Eagle. I wish we would do more to promote our Gold Award. When people hear our son is working on his Eagle they are so impressed, but when I mention our Silver and Gold Awards, most people have never heard of them. While I find GS is much more forward thinking than Boy Scouts, (their registration process is a nightmare) I wish we could remember that not all girls live in the city. We need to allow archery, firearms training, fishing, and outdoor skills. I have seen how the Boy Scouts' outdoor skills program supports the boys as they develop leadership skills and an inner confidence. While my girls get a similar benefit from cookies and our volunteer led camp programs, I feel we 'bubble wrap' our girls a little too much and we lose some great young women to the Boy Scouts' Venture program. I worry the ones we are losing are the bold, innovative, and confident girls we really want within our ranks. Not all girls like fluffy pink shiny program pieces. Bring back some dirt and grit--it's way easier to teach courage, confidence, and character when there is a little sweat and dirt involved.
- I love scouting for my daughters and it is wonderful, but PLEASE put more resources toward events that I can take my troop. I'm not lazy, but GS run events are fantastic for those of us who work and are leaders/advisers. The opportunities to become part of the global scouting movement are created beyond troop events.
- I do not like the way the program is headed. Seems to go downhill every year.
- I am proud to be a Girl Scout, and my daughter is also proud and not afraid to say that she is a GS. She wears her GS shirts to school and has no problem telling others the opportunities that GS has provided her (she is a 9th grader!). While I don't like all the programs and direction that GS is going, I still feel like Girl Scouts is a great organization. As a troop leader, I am able to adapt the programs to what my girls want and need. But it would help if the program wasn't constantly changing!
- Many of the events that girls have enjoyed immensely over the years have been phased out....let's bring some of those back, inject some fun back into Girl Scouting and quit stretching staff so thin recruiting and doing activities that service units should be doing.
- I love my council- GSEM and am very glad to be in it. They have lots of varied programming for the girls, and the camps are great! They work very hard for the girls. I wish GSUSA had more skill badges and especially in the outdoor area. You cut out way too many and now the girls are limited. Leaders don't have time to research and develop programming that interest the girls- that's what you did by providing the badges. And then you took over half of them away. And the journeys are like school and the girls find them boring. BUT, I still love Girl Scouts and my council. There is nothing better than the GS Promise and Law. They are posted on my fridge- my husband thinks they are great. I try to teach my girls those values every day.
- I wish I had the answer to all of GSUSA's woes and the difficulties in my council. Things are so different from the era when my stay-at-home Mom was my GS troop leader and we met once a week after school. My own troop meets only every other week on Saturday mornings because we are all working parents. While I decry the lack of outdoor experience, I don't often encourage my own daughter to go outside and play. There are no other children in our neighborhood for blocks and she's an only child. My daughter's best opportunity to interact with others and learn about the wider world in a supportive all-girl environment is with Girl Scouts. She enjoys destinations (she's attended 2) and loves resident and day camp. She has finally completed the CIT program (which changed while she was working on it!) and hopes to be a camp counselor next summer. I'm sticking this out for her. And I'm almost counting down the days for the next year-and-a-half until she graduates. My council should be worried that it is losing volunteers like me, but the staff has had such turn-over, they don't even know who are the volunteers are that they should treasure.
- I am and always will be proud to be and to have been a Girl Scout. The program made me who I am today. She has great bones. I think she has however strayed. I would not at this time, as girl choose girl scouts. I know you are trying to grow strong women. I think the trouble is when things become too corporate we lose the magic. The magic is gone from the experience. We at the local camps try to keep it, but it is hard. I would suggest help, but do not overwhelm leaders, let them lead, let the girls lead.... Programs are ok but too many parameters take out the learning experience, we have sheep and method followers,no discoverers.
- I so appreciate that Girl Scouts has not had the media exposure on negative issues that Boy Scouts has unfortunately had. Kiddos to HR
- Sorry to speak so negatively about the journeys. I just have not had a good experience with them and have yet to find any leaders who truly have. Even those who ran successful programs had problems with some of the journey activities because they were obviously not tested by the people who wrote them, because they don't work. For example: the Junior "Get Moving!" journey wants girls to measure energy lost through heat from a light bulb. Good idea, but it's extremely difficult to measure with the tools available to most people. The result is a barely detectable temperature difference. Of course, you can tell if you touch the bulb, but touching an incandescent bulb will burn your fingers...therefore not recommended. Also, the only person who I know who ran a successful journey program did not have other troop responsibilities. (I spoke to a woman who ran "Get Moving" for all Junior troops in her town. I think they met together periodically to do it...or at least parts of it. This is not a reality for most troops. It also depends on what resources you have at your disposal. This was a hard journey to do properly on your own. you really need professionals in the business to help you. If you don't do it right, the girls won't like it...because it will feel like you've gone through the motions. The girls will be able to tell that you faked your way through it. And what's the point of doing it if you're not going to do it right?
- Really disappointed in the troop experience so far. I am going to lead a group and take a daughter out of her troop to be a Juliette.
- Regarding the council for Eastern Oklahoma. I think the new website is horrible. It is the most confusing website I have to use. The old one was easier to navigate. Also, if you look at other council websites, they actually place badge requirements on there website and will also give you ideas on how to earn that badge. I've seen Scouts Own ideas on the website. I would love to see a easier GSEOK website to use for my parents and myself. Also, could add ideas on how to plan your first couple of meetings for all levels.
- Thank you so much for asking for input. I wish GSUSA and our local council would ask. I think our Council makes many mistakes simply because they don't ask.
- I always liked the Father-Daughter Box Supper that we had when I was growing up in the Magic Empire Council, so maybe someday our unit will consider having one. :-)
- Stop trying to be "cool", and "with it" as an organization, and embrace the real core values of scouts; skills, service, and recognition.
- Change is always hard, and often inevitable.
- I am a Gold Award Girl Scout coming back as a leader this year. My daughter loves Girl Scouts and my girls are focused on community service and outdoor education and they LOVE it. Please stop selling our camps. There is precious little land owned by women and/or dedicated to girls development. We need our land. We need our space to let girls grow and thrive.
- 1. Cadettes - troops of 2-4 2. Stop calling cookie sales a lesson in "finical literacy". It's a fundraiser. We aren't idiots. 3. Pay the fee for the adult volunteers. (Not all adults - just ones needs to run troops, cookie sells, etc.) 4. More patches for different levels of cookie sells (30 boxes, 100, 175, etc) - raises sells 5. CAMPS - save our camps - throwing away Hilaka is insane. How many cookie sales did you lose because of that?
- Girl Scouting has been a life long benefit to me, with activities and friends I have kept for many years. Of these all, only camping kept me involved during the difficult junior high years. Without being able to go to camp and to have to depend on mothers as my leaders would have made me leave the program. Some girls may like their mothers teaching them crafts. Not me, and not my friends. We wanted to get outdoors with the counselors and older girls as role models. I know I learned a lot about leadership from a Unit Leader of one of my camp years. It is the personal stuff that is most important, the networks of friends and interactions. Girls needs these connections over time to learn and grow. Keep them anyway you can - don't get rid of camps just because some girls don't go. Find ways to use that unique aspect of Scouting for creating the women leaders of the future. I could go on and on. I am a little worried about exactly how "business" like you are getting. The business model isn't doing us much good in higher education, and I don't want to see GSUSA turn into a major corporation with all their faults.
- would like to see the results of this survey
- I think our "merged" council is finally figuring out that some ideas from the "before merge" councils are just as good as the ones the "merged into" council had been using. I just hope it isn't too late to benefit from those ideas.
- I love the ability to do a lot of training on line, for some of my leaders that is the only way I will get them trained. I wish we could do the nitty gritty age related courses only, with a SHORT session with other leaders - especially with the age related books. Also, beginning Camping courses online would be good, with a section that has to be completed in person.
- GSUSA seems to be "dumbing down" the program. Even my girls have made this comment. It is easier and easier to earn an award, even many of the badges. Not much of an accomplishment, and gives the girls an unrealistic picture of what it will take to have a similar accomplishment in a career or volunteer work, etc. If this is the wave of the future, I will no longer be a leader as soon as my last girls graduate in about 3 years. At this point, I am even struggling to stay with it that long, as are my daughters, and they are the reason I started as a leader in the first place.
- Why not consider a few regional camps and buses to them, with terrific facilities and great experiences rather than struggling along with poor facilities? Why not collaborate with other organizations that have underutilized camps as well? Many of the camps are in lovely natural areas, but have been under maintained for too long. There are too many camp beds out there now. Let's have fewer, better camps. Let's work together for the girls of today and tomorrow rather than bemoaning a past that is long gone.
- I like that Build A Bear has Girl Scout items. I'd like to see other venues with the Girl Scout Logos. Our troops have money, figure out how to get it from us! We want to buy things to remember our great Girl Scout Outings!
- I really feel if Girl Scouts keeps on the way it is heading, we will not have GS in 10 years!!!
- Girl Scouts need to focus on development of girls. No more cutsie. And please quit making cookies be all about me. It should focus on the troop since that is how the money is supposed to be spent, on the troops. The all about me thing is turning families away and making girls feel disgruntled about the hard work they put in, regardless of their numbers.
- Girls living in nature (camp) is something they will never forget and they make life long friends.
- Please add more information to your FB page about exactly who is in this group - where are you based, do you have any pathways to get survey results tabulated and communicated to someone in GSUSA who will listen and care. I don't disagree with your concerns or sentiments - and I care deeply about Girl Scouts and all it is and can be. Additionally, your survey feels pretty biased in certain areas - like you're just looking to have your own opinions confirmed. That being said, thank you for your commitment to make sure Girl Scouts is the best it can be.
- The workbook for Bronze, Silver and Gold online aren't the easiest to understand. I've only done Bronze and Silver but I couldn't understand the Silver (so how can the girls??) and had to take a class to explain it. The class was great and I feel more comfortable about guiding the girls with their Silver but I don't think I should HAVE to take a class to do that. I think the class should be encouraged but not something a leader needs to take to understand what's going on. I'm assuming the Gold is about the same. Boy Scouts has an Eagle workbook and the boys are able to go through it step by step and complete everything without adult assistance. They have an assigned mentor that answers questions and assists them but that person doesn't have to explain the workbook.
- I have been a leader for 27 years and seen many changes. Change is not always good. Recent changes in the GS programs have made it difficult. The Boys Scouts make little change & they have a stronger following. My Senior troop recently attended a joint scout activity...they were the only GS. Very sad.
- Girl scouts are great!
- Thank you for putting together this survey. My final comment is related to the decision that Daisy and Brownie Scouts MUST take incentives, instead of an extra $.10/box. It's ridiculous!
- I think GS has moved to quantity and has dropped the quality of the program.
- I looked the Barbie program. Excuse me, but veterinarians use stethoscopes all the time, and don't often use dog treats. The glamorous Barbie does not look like a real person, and is giving girls a mis-shapen idea of an ideal body - which is damaging to many of our girls. I am very much AGAINST including Barbie in GS materials.
- I have done the Barbie "Be Everything! Do Everything" patch with my Daisy Troop and my Brownie Troop and the girls loved it. It made the girls realize the difference in the careers and how they interacted with the lines of the law! Great program!!
- There should be a Girl Scout store in Gwinnett County, Georgia!!
- Please take my comments to heart. I promise you, they are not just one mother complaining about specific issues. I have heard the above comments time and time again from parents in my troops and other leaders. Some of them may not take the time to complete this form, and I'm very sorry for that, but please know that I am very concerned that something is "broken", without a clear way to fix it. I hope you are able to reevaluate your inner functions and see if there is a pattern to the concerns. Thank you very much for this forum.
- GSNEO preys on its volunteers rather than serving their volunteers. I lead two troops because I want my daughters to have a good Girl Scouting experience. I feel like half of my job as leader is to stand in the gap and insulate the girls from GSNEO.
- We need to keep the FUN in Girl Scouts especially for the older girls.
- I really wish the was more guidance for the new leaders. I feel like I am flying blind. No true guidance as to what to do.
- let's remember why Juliette did it and what her vision was, and get back to that
- Please look at simplifying some of the materials to make it easier to deliver the program in short periods of time. Keep in mind, we are competing for girls' and parents' time and attention when sports, etc. are so demanding! Thank you for all the hard work. I am proud to be a Girl Scout!
- I feel strongly that this survey was very leading - leaders who might not have noticed issues might go looking for them now, due to the way the questions in this survey are formed. I also feel that there wasn't enough emphasis on the things that girl scouts does do right. It seemed mostly like a survey to provide a basis to complain about things, with very little balancing.
- The opportunities that I have received as a Girl Scout have changed who I am. As a 16 year old I learned self reliance and confidence as I traveled to Our Chalet. As a 21 year old I learned that teaching was my calling while leading a Brownie troop, and now I experience joy and fulfillment in the pride their accomplishments give my girls. As I near 40 years of involvement in this organization I am most saddened by the move from being an non-profit that focused on serving girls, to a business more concerned with the bottom line. The bottom line might say it makes sense to sell camps, but the service to girls says our girls need the experiences that only a camp can bring. Camp changes lives - from the girl in the wheel chair who taught first aid to Brownies this summer, the autistic girl that learned to speak up and tell me what she was comfortable leading, to the girl who is a ward of the state and gets to be like everyone else for the week. They are why I do this with the support of my sons and husband!! And they are all my daughters!!! THANK YOU, for giving those of us that are in the trenches a chance to share our hearts!!! My prayer is that GSUSA listens!
- As a trainer I often have brand new volunteers coming to training with pre-conceived ideas about Journeys and other GS program. I wonder why they already think it is right to hate the program. They have not been in love with the traditions and old program styles. They have no idea. Who is corrupting them before they even get to their first training or first meeting? We older GS need to stop the rumor mill, stop hating the journeys, stop wishing for our legacy councils back and support our Girl Scouts just as we used to do. The program has changed from the very beginning, changing the name from Guides to Scouts, changing the badges adding to the program, adjusting the promise and law, etc.. It would not have worked as a movement without change! Isn't that what we loved about GS in the first place? Loyalty is important for the adults in Girl Scouting!
- Thanks for the opportunity to provide input.
- We live so far from our council I never feel apart of it. Our council is in Nevada and we are in California. Seems strange!
- I hope the survey results will be shared.
- WHY are our headquarters in Manhattan? Surely some cost savings can be achieved by getting to a more affordable location.
- While change is difficult to deal with and I feel like the changes in GS are constant, change is necessary. The fact is, we are losing membership. That loss of membership is attributed to many factors, but primarily parents don't "get" the value of scouting. Unless that is understood, membership will continue to decline. After all, these girls don't drive themselves to meetings. One of the biggest assests to GS is a committed parent. GS was not an "optional" activity in our house for my daughter who started in Kindergarten and who now is in 12th grade. GS was always mandatory, other activities were add-ons and were optional. I know other households who feel the same and those are the girls who get the most out of the program. The girls to who GS is just another thing on the list of things she can do, don't benefit to the same level - primarily, because mom and dad aren't "behind it".
- Get more STEM and outdoor related programs going - aim to the girls that are interested in scouting instead of constantly trying to change to get new girls while making the current girls less satisfied with the program.
- I believe there should be more incentives and alignment for families that have more than one child in girl scouting...ie. cookie sales are very individualized which creates a financial strain on families...if the sales would benefit both children in scouting, friends and family would probably buy more...also, $4/box is not economical for cookies...either abandon the program or find ways to keep the cost down.
- My additional thought is this... who is promoting this survey and why are you so negative about Girl Scouting. If you are truly that unhappy - leave! You have choices... don't stick around and try to make everyone else miserable. Merry Christmas! I <3 Girl Scouts!!!
- In general I think GS program is not as good as it has been in the past. In our area, the number of members is down. If GS made a program that girls WANTED to do, they'd stay and recruit others to the organization. If you have girls that want to be there, it would be easier to find parents that want to help. Give them a good program and they will join. GS also needs to stop trying to change their program to get certain groups of girls to join. They need to retain the members they have and build on that. Once again, have a good program that girls want to be in, and they will join.
- Dump the Journeys and the new badges! Update the old Try-Its, badges, and IPs. Allow Silver Award focus to include service to GS! I know that change is scary for everyone, but don't write off our concerns as being simply afraid of change. And I know that financial stuff is a concern to the larger organization, but don't let that override everything else to the detriment of the girls and the burnout of your adult volunteers!
- I have written enough.
- I understand that girls change and we must be current but most of our younger girls do not know what can be available to them if they work for it. They have no idea what they are missing. So they quit. I don't think we should plan our program for girls who are not GS to the exclusion of those who are. We need to listen to our current older girls and have them work with younger girls to excite them about possibilities.
- Life skills to me are more important than the Leadership they are pushing!! We all can't be the leader of something, we have to have workers too. We already have enough kids that think that they don't have to do the work or don't know how!! We have 10 year old's that can't tie their own shoes and we have 12 year old.s that don't know how to sign their name!
- The Journey program is burdensome, not fun, not helpful. The new try-its and badges are a waste. We want the old program back. Spend some time with Boy Scouts. That program is perfect. Teaches leadership and cohesiveness from age 5-18, keeping boys together. GS wasn't broken. Why did you try to fix it?
- Camping led me to the life I have now: leadership, outdoor skills, self-confidence, social skills, being accepted for what I did at camp instead of being a semi-outcast STEM nerd at school, actually working hard to learn something new and being rewarded for it with recognition.
- I feel the changes to the program are jeopardizing the integrity of our higher awards. The girls no longer explore different topics or have a building block as prerequisites for their awards. The Journies are too vague and troops/girls can interpret the requirements very differently, which contradicts the intention of the Journey program (ie. common core) This isn't to say that badge work hasn't historicaly been modified ( I've worked with special ed children and know that you can modify while keeping integrity), but I continue to believe the Journies are too hard to understand and can be interpreted in vastly different ways.
- My hope is that this survey and it's results are compiled in a way that lifts up the Girl Scout movement, rather than complaining, and offers true clear, doable action items for change. I don't support a return to the old way. Change needs to be embraced even if it needs to be tweaked once changed. We have a wonderful organization and its members need to stop whining and be the change they want to see.
- I hope you are not afraid to ask more people their opinions. I was not sent this survey. It was forwarded to me by another leader who is not even in my Service Unit. I don't know anyone else who has received it.
- I just wanted to say that I am a leader because I want a worthwhile program for my daughter. I was a scout myself for 8 years as a girl and look back fondly on my experiences. The current program worries me in that girls may lose interest if they are made to sit and do work book activities such as the Journeys. They want to try new things and go new places and are learning that helping their community gives them a sense of accomplishment. I think GSUSA needs to model their program more closely on the BSA model. If you want girls to have the same opportunities as boys when they grow up then provide them with the same type of program as children. I have also been a Cub Scout leader so, I am very familiar with the boys' program.
- I love Girl Scouts...I really do. It helped define me, and form me into who I am today. Unless you get a "one of a kind" leader, it is not the same experience today. I grieve for my daughter, who is not able to do what I was able to do when I was a girl, because the program has changed so much in the last decade or so. What worked for 70+ years worked well. Why are we messing so much with it?
- I also feel, Girl Scouts should be supporting USA manufactures for badges and printed materials and NOT getting stuff from China. This is totally unacceptable. Also, we should be promoting a more green environment with badges, why do we have to have them in packages. This just creates more trash, and we continue to tell the girls to me more green. GS should practice what it preaches.
- I hope that GSA will consider undoing some of the changes of the last several years. Big changes in the uniform and insignia smashes the continuity of the program. I always knew that the girl scout green that I wore would be there even if the style changed. The current colors and styles are almost unrecognizable and indecent. My grandaughter, a current cadette, can't even wear the uniform blouse because her bra shows through! I would really like an explanation of this issue. It is very disturbing.
- Please, please help those councils struggling with these issues. I am afraid if left to their own devices girl scouts could no longer exist and that would be heart breaking.
- Suppose to be NON-Profit. It's even worse when a Council tells United Way they do programs in a certain area to get funds, then do absolutely nothing for the girls of the area. A volunteer is released for voicing her opinion, yet the staff can say and do anything. You should appreciate the volunteers with 25-40 yrs of experience, they have a world of knowledge--- yet you git rid of them. Why not get rid of staff that are only there for the pay check, and actually don't care about the girls. Volunteers are there for the girls-- without the volunteers, there is NO need for staff.
- make new friends but keep the old
- Please get back to basics, the new way really does suck.
- My biggest concern has been that the data-base we use to keep track of volunteers and girls is not modern, hard to work with and isn't user friendly. Our council was one of the last to switch over to e-biz and I can see why. It's awful.
- I have been very discouraged by the changes with G.S. Many of us have registered our girls in hopes they receive the same great experience we remember growing up. I don't see that happening. New organizations are coming in and filling this void, such as Frontier Girls. These organizations have less hoops to jump through, allow girls more opportunities to fundraise, troops keep the money they do fundraise - rather than just a percent. Girls learn life long skills (1,200 available with Frontier Girls!) and the program is designed to work side by side Boy Scouts - just like G.S. used to.
- I think if national council wants trainings and things uniform nation wide- then paperwork and programs should also be nation wide. We are required to fill out paperwork EVERYTIME we leave our meeting place and we have to prove it's connection to journey or leadership development model. Council can potentially refuse us the ability to go on a trip or do an activity if we cannot prove- to their standards- the connection. Sometimes my girls just want to have fun and they worked hard to have the chance to do it.
- Girl Scouting worked just fine for 90 years. Who are these executives who think they need to change a way of scouting to suit the future? Boy Scouts have been earning badges and continue to do so. I realize that Girl Scouts aren't trying to emulate the Boy Scout way but I do think we had a history of urging girls to try out different things for personal growth and now it seems that corporate USA has taken over what had been an organization devoted to girls and promoting their worth. Not all girls want the same thing. I think the thinking at the top is trying to cookie cutter girls interests to streamline their program.
- I want to bring Girl Scouts to Chile!
- As a "grandmother" who has chosen to lead a troop I find enjoyment in doing projects with the girls and teaching them how to learn to think on their own and be independent even inside a group.
- Girls and adults need to have face to face interaction, whether it is in troop meetings, program opportunities, adult training, or just knowing that there is a person at the council level who is available to help with a question or concern.
- Thank you for allowing people to voice their opinions.
- I hope you listen to the answers given on this survey and adequately use it with my council - GSEP
- Since realignment communication is a problem between the council and the leaders. Council doesn't understand the needs of the different areas within the council . The areas have very different needs, inner city, large metropolitan areas, to very rural . It feels very in personable..
- Girl Scouts was my refuge as a child, and my mother's refuge before me. Please stop closing camps.
- I have found that different councils interpret Girl Scout rules differently I thought that the idea with the re alignment was to get us the same? I feel we have lost much with the realignment. While some councils were not solvent many were and should have been left alone. I thought the realignment was only a suggestion at first but I see only a few councils did NOT go along with GSUSA views on this and I agree. We have come so far from our core values. Not many new leaders know anything about Girl Scouti history or traditions and you can't teach or share what you don't know. I don't feel the volunteers have enough voice and I feel National is going to do what they want no mater what is wanted. Any study that have been done by GSUSA I feel has been slanted to prove the line that they feel Girl Scouting should go. GSUSA IS NOT LISTENING
- I truly hope GSUSA responds positively to the survey responses. I have yet to meet a troop leader who enjoys the direction Girl Scouts is headed in.
- There needs to be more patch programs relating to scouting and girls' self esteem. We are losing too many of our girls to other things. We need to be teaching our girls the value of friendships and to be standing up for one another. The suicide rate is climbing at an alarming rate. We need to be on the front lines to help combat this problem.
- I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the direction adult outdoor leadership training has gone..it is soooo minimal it is essentially a waste of time.The councils are opening themselves up for risk management issues. They(leaders) are not prepared even tho they think they are. Living on camp I see the physical destruction they do to sites, campfire degradations the amount of trash generated.. plus they don't know what to do if they manage to actually come to camp for more than 12 hours on an overnight..a workshop is not a training for camp.................................................summer camp also has to reflect and mirror the program year... everyone should have the same rules and do things the same way...ie dish washing the girl scout way.....proper foot wear...etc...summer staff is not trained in proper outdoor procedures and from camp to camp....it only serves to confuse the girls and give them less of an experience
- I think that the Volunteer Training, at all levels of Girl Scouts, should be more closely monitored by the local councils. There are far too many uneducated leaders just "flying by the seat of their pants" and not following the guidelines set. It makes it a lot more difficult for those of us that do follow the guidelines correctly. For example...one troop will use their cookie proceeds to take all the girls AND their troop leaders and chaperones on a great trip. Another troop will follow the guidelines, and not allow any monies to be used for anyone other than the girls. ALL adults must pay their own way. I don't necessarily agree with the rule to use money ONLY on the girls, but it makes it difficult for the troop leaders who follow the rule, because girls and parents are constantly calling us out on why we do what we do. 2) Girl Scouts USA must realize that without the troop leaders pushing the product sales, and attending every freezing cold cookie booth, for every hour, the girls wouldn't be near as successful. Please note who the highest sellers of every sale are...typically the troop leaders' daughters, right? It stings that much more when those same active troop leaders (who have done so much to raise money for their troop) to then have to take $1000 out of their personal bank accounts to pay to attend the trip they personally raised so much money for their troop to go on. I know there are those that would potentially abuse it, but you have to give your loyal troop leaders, who give so much, some benefit of the doubt. Please consider opening up the requirement that a troop leaders expenses could be compensated, at least in part, by troop funds. The girls wouldn't even have the opportunity without these leaders doing what they do best. 3) I love the Girl Scout Program, and that's why I sacrifice so much to be a part of it. But, I need something to stay interested and motivated. After 6 years, I'm tiring out, and hopeful that something will happen with the program to keep their volunteers happy and satisfied. Perhaps a little more gratitude for what we do. The Girl Scouts wouldn't exist without all of the wonderful non-compensated volunteers at all levels of the program. Thank you for your time.
- I was a Gold Award recipient, worked as a troop leader, and went to college to get a degree in Not for Profit Administration, worked at several different girl scout summer camps and then became a professional member of the council field staff. However I find that the selling of properties by councils is a fundamental flaw of the organizations. I also feel that the combining of councils to be a serious detriment to girl program and the future of GSUSA. I think the leadership at the National level is on the wrong track and is not in touch with what is happening at the local level. It's time for some serious conversations about what is girl scouting and to get back to the serious business of who GSUSA serves.
- I would like to hear back about my comments regarding the cookie sale. My customers are very dissatisfied that the baker gets 1/2 of the cookie price. Therefore, they give my troop a contribution instead of purchasing cookies. I would really like to see their commission reduced. When our cookies were $3.50 the girls received 50 cents. When our price went up to $4 the girls still only received 50 cents, but the bakers' profits were increased. GS are to help the girls and not make the baker get more profits. Sorry I am very dissatisfied.
- I love the whole idea of Girl Scout and what it stands for but I think our area has some major issues. I know other Leaders in other parts of the country and things are running a smoother. I think we need some type of re-org.
- I am very disappointed in the small amount of Girl Scout activities that a parent can participate in along with their daughter. I do like that my daughter has wonderful leaders and that she has great role models outside of our family, but families seem to be totally excluded from almost all Girl Scout activities, and fathers seem to almost be banned from Girl Scout activities. What about having some father-daughter activities? My son has been in Boy Scouts for years and they have so many more activities that a parent can participate in alongside their son. I understand that girls can benefit from doing things outside of their families, but families are important, too!
- Put the money back into the troops. You are getting four dollars on a box of cookies but the girls are going all of the work.
- Do more for the alums. They might step in to help. Heck, they already were trained once!
- I feel like too much emphasis is put on selling...Fall Products ends in November and we start gearing up in December for cookies...then cookies end in April...I have had parents comment on this...
- Leader uniforms need to be addressed. A "volunteer" troop leader who spends 10 to 20 hours a week giving their time for Girl Scouts should not be required to purchase an expensive scarf and business attire to be "in uniform". This shows a lack of respect from GSUSA towards the volunteers who are the backbone of this organization. Also, "business attire" does not take into account a space for leaders to display their fun patches or pins earned. The leader uniform requirements shows how out of touch GSUSA is with the role of troop leaders who are painting, hiking, singing and camping with their girls. Business attire belongs in a board room, not a girl scout troop!
- I no longer participate in SU activities- our SU has become overrun by women who want their way and only their way- even if it means pushing the girls out of the way. Complaints to Council has done no good- yet Council keeps asking why we have turnover, why recruitment is down for leaders and girls- try listening to those of us who have been around the longest- we have seen good and bad changes, we will be happy to give our opinion- but not when you have stopped listening!
- While GS is inclusive to all girls, I do feel that family events should still be a part of the younger GS experience. I live in a military area and having a spouse deployed is not uncommon. My son's cub scout pack has a separate program for the siblings of leaders. It would be terrific is parents could be encouraged to help out leaders more. As a leader, I don't always like asking for help! I will do it, but it would be nice if parents took the initiative and asked what they can do to support volunteers. I am very blessed with my parents and fellow leaders. Thank you!
- I don't think that councils should feel they need to rely on GSUSA for everything. We can't have it both ways- independence and then then expect national to get them out of trouble. We have to stand on our own feet. Yet there are many things that are offered and required by GSUSA. It has been my experience that anything that involves program changes is always well tested with a few councils before being released. I would like to see everyone embrace the changes and look for ways to enhance them and make them fit our girls. I do wish they would listen to councils though about eBiz/personify. There are many things that are not friendly about this system. Especially when talking about large events, involving thousands of girls. We want to support their endeavors, but sometimes it is difficult!
- I understand there is a lot going on at both national and council levels, I wish there was a way to find out the facts without the spin.
- I really do love Girl Scouts and continue to volunteer with GS even though my girls are now grown adults & I no longer have a troop. I believe the organization is going in a different direction than Juliette Low intended and I would like to see it go back to the basics & bring back outdoor programs. I would also like to see more of a human element return.
- Why aren't we singing and promoting traditional girl scout songs, activities such as "nose bag dramatics" and/or celebrating the milestones that scouts who have matured have acquired along the way because of scouting?
- I wish GSUSA would do more to combat negative press. It is out of control. I don't think girls should be a party to some of these issues. I realize that by talking about neg press you could lend more value to it. But would it be so difficult to flood positive news into the press? Our girls do amazing things! The world should know!
- I wish girls had more choices, as they had in the past. My girls are doing Journeys only because they are required to earn their Bronze/Silver/Gold. I have to sit down and figure out how to do the Amaze journey next. I am not looking forward to it.
- We are increasingly ignoring the needs of the underprivileged girl, and often the true reasons minorities do not participate. The emphasis, and insistence, on the internet means those who cannot afford a computer or believe too much time is spent sitting in front of one is severely limiting access to program. If hard copy fliers, catalogs, etc. are not available many parents will not take the time to seek out information. As a leader, I find it irritating to be required to sit still, in front of a glaring screen, and to search from window to window to window, for hours instead of being able to leaf through a booklet at my leisure. Girl Scouting has SO much to offer. We just need to get back to our roots, and move forward in an innovative way that manages to stay true to what we are all about. 2) I am INSULTED that Leader's Day no longer exists, and even Girl Scout Volunteer Day is not listed in the Journey books. Yes, all volunteers are important and valued. But this is akin to replacing Mother's Day with Important Older Woman Day. Without leaders, the other volunteers would not be needed. Also, most (not all) volunteers get perks and gifts during their time of service that leaders do not get. More should be done to encourage the girls and parents to use this day to let their leaders know they are valued and making a difference. Most of us could use an emotional boost as the Scout year crashes to a close in a flurry of required forms, awards dinners, year-end trips, and schedule conflicts with school activities.
- You need to re look at your safety check list. I don't know who came up with it, but I feel it is too stringent on several areas, especially scuba diving. You didn't have any one who is certified instructor come up with it. You need experts to help with these, not people who know nothing about the subject. You need several outdoor journey's, not just one: camping, outdoor cooking, lashing, shelters, trees, plants, hiking, leave no trace, etc.
- When it is time for cookie sales, all I hear is "Wow!" These cookies are expensive. Is there any way to reduce the cost? Also, why can't the cookies offered be the same across the board and cost the same? Last year, one of my nieces was selling cookies for less that what we were. I understand that GS uses 2 different bakers, but we need to keep things uniform across the board.
- I can't imagine that Juliette Gordon Lowe would have girls doing activities that have to do with appearance instead of activities that teach them life and career skills.
- So much emphasis on the girls K-5 has also taken a toll, we are increasingly struggling to keep older girls in the program. If we don't change soon we will not have the older sisters to model what it is to be an older scout.
- My council has actually contacted me only 5 times in the 11 years I have been a leader. ALL info is passed on only through service branch meetings which I cannot attend because of my job. I have received only 2 emails ever, but get weekly ads from the store. I have a business and if I ran it the way the local council is run I would have been bankrupt years ago. My daughter has learned a lot but most of all inversions our local council has taught her how NOT to run a business.
- Sometimes I wonder if the people in the GSUSA and Council offices have EVER led a troop - been in the trenches. They seem to all have business degrees first and be Girl Scouts second. This is a nonprofit service agency whose primary focus should be on the girls!
- We think cookie dough money cards earned from cookie sales should be able to be used in the online internet store. It is extremely hard for most families to travel to a store due to distance, location, inflexible store hours. In order for our troop to NOT loose a few hundred dollars in cookie dough monty, we have to send one parent to the store (fortunately she was able to purchase off the actual numbers of the cards provided by our leader due to the above).
- I am glad that GSUSA is seeking volunteer opinions. I hope that you take the information and do something with it!
- I was a first class recipient as a girl. Outdoor program kept me in scouts because there was no other venue offering this style of leadership development. My last troop. 9 girls graduated from Ambassadors to adult in 2012, stayed because our troop chose to support an active outdoor program, 10-12 camping trips/year and a canoe racing team. I have taken over 2 troops this year, Juniors & mixed older girls. 2 camping trips in and I already see a difference in team work, leadership and yes they "un-plug" on these weekends.
- Why change what has worked for over a hundred years.
- Seriously considering moving towards a frontier girl program as it is based on scouting I grew up with and leaves the girls and leaders in charge of their troop and money. Sad to say after being a lifetime Girl Scout!
- No mention was made of Personify. It may work well for membership registration, but for event registration and service unit management it is very poorly designed. I coordinate a week-end event. This year we are not using personify because it provides such poor data. Our council has tentatively stated that the event can not be listed in the program guide because we are not using personify. I will not volunteer for service unit positions because of the poor management of our council. There are very few volunteers with active girl scout participation recruited for board committees. It appears that Board of Directors wants to remain ignorant.
- Please save our camps, or at least make sure that the funding that comes from our service area/satellite council STAYS where it comes from. People donate to us expecting it to stay in the area, not to go 200 miles east to never be seen again!!!!!!
- Lose some of the esoteric pedagogy! Make Girl Scouts fun. Ease up on cookies. I had to turn in my supply order in Sept for cookies sales, packet pick up and training in Oct/Nov, girl training in Dec, parent training in Dec, cookie rally in Jan, sales through March. I'm burnt out on cookies and they don't start selling until January 4th.
- Every cookie season brings the criticism from the conservative community about GS connection to Planned Parenthood and abortions. I would love to see a GSUSA statement clarifying their position on these issues. I will be sure to receive at least 10 emails in the next few months with quotes from GSUSA that are at least 10 years old. Please can we update the "buzz"! Also, I have asked staff how we as members can affect policy and decisions made by WAGGGS (where the abortion controversy centers) and can never get an answer. We are seeing lots of girls leave GS for more conservative groups like American Heritage Girls. While I do not find fault in their programs, I would prefer to see GS build a stronger program that also embraces family values, where girls of conservative families feel that their point of view is valued and represented.
- Sadly, corruption and mismanagement coupled with little regard to volunteers and a constantly changing inconsistent program will be the demise of scouting if allowed to continue this same path. Camping and outdoor activites are crucial. Selling camps is a sin. I have no problem when Camp Scott was sold as that was related to the killlings. Selling camps for a quick fix financial gain is wrong. Selling the future is never the right answer. Once it is gone, then it is gone forever and nothing has been put in place for the present and future. Camps are the roots, the nucleus that binds Girl Scouting. Treasure volunteers. Don't treat someone that has given over 30 years of time and money like someone from the court house doing community service. Leaders and other scouting volunteers do not recieve the recognition they truly deserve. My daughter's children would be fourth generation Girl Scouts, but we do not like the direction that GS has taken and may possibly end scouting with us. A sad legacy. Somehow, I do not feel our founder, JL, would have wanted Scouting to turn into the disgrace it has become. As a TRUE Girl Scout, I want to change things and make it better, and live by the Girl Scout Promise and Law. E-mail me for change: (e-mail removed) I want to take back Scouting!
- I'm proud to be a part of such a great organization. I think we are passing a wonderful legacy on to the next generation of women.
- Inclusion: GS should come OUT for minorities: not just special-needs kids and gay/lesbian girls and leaders, but for religious minorities. It's not as bad as BSA, for sure, but it's still not good. Troops and camps should NOT be allowed to require graces unless they make sure to keep them secular and inclusive. By secular I do NOT mean using the word "God" to mean any being you wish. I mean generally thankful recitations which don't invoke any particular being. The pledge should be rewritten to be secular. It's fine to have religious badges or awards for girls who want to earn them; just try to respect those who don't focus their lives on a religion. I quit GS as a kid in large part because my leader was far more religious than I was; despite liking a lot of things at the day camp where I've volunteered for years, both my kids and I are very, very uncomfortable being expected to say - and sometimes lead! - graces and to sing songs which are very much against our beliefs. My older daughter could be in a Venture Crew with BSA but won't - the religious issue and their anti-gay stance both prevent us from joining in good conscience. There is no official, comparable group in GS and we wish there was. She'd like to get together with other teens who have similar interests, not just kids in her particular grade or school to do high adventure, camping, travel, and enrichment activities.
- I think background checks should be done on a yearly basis since the Service Unit Manager that was appointed to replace me was issued a Permanent Cease and Desist Order from the (state removed) State Dept. of Health for practicing as a midwife without a license, contributing to the death of infant and trauma to the mother. She has five cases pending against her. I would like to be able to sign my daughter up for a lifetime membership at any time during her years as a girl member.
- Girl Scouts has had many ups and downs. Most of the people that make the decisions about Program, etc. are successful business people who for the most part are far removed from the ladies in my town of 3500. These gals work, coach community sports teams, and some lead troops. Although the population base of the US is in large urban areas, most of the US is rural and trust me when I say our lifestyle is very far removed from those of you in New York City or even Alameda CA. Sometimes what works in one place doesn't work in the other. We need a program that works everywhere!
- In reference to Cookies, our council has started the "Mega-Drop" to pick up the initial cookie orders. OK EXCEPT we have to go on a weekday and a lot of our leaders and parents are working people and now we must take off from our jobs. lose monies from our jobs in order to pick up the initial cookie order. We used to be able to get these orders either in the evening or on the weekend. Because we are volunteers, give of our time and sometime monies to our troops, we now also have to lose pay from our jobs.??!! Something is not right, if GS didn't have the volunteers where would GS be???
- Girl Scouts need to be outdoors, Girl Scouts need to be science explorers at younger ages.
- I took this survey to see what questions were being asked and wanted to add one comment. Your survey is hitting the correct questions. I have decided this year will be our last as a troop as it has just become too difficult. The last few years have been so concentrated on cookies and sales that the girls really did not get to do anything else. We can only meet once a month as the girls are older and the programs are not geared to the active well rounded girl where flexibility is needed. Having a small troop and reading the rules which have been posted lately and will be enforced to participate in Girl Scout events pretty much knocked us out of being able to do any events as a troop. With five girls and many with single parent homes the rule of two adults (registered) per car means we have to have four of our five parents to drive two cars to fit the girls. Well single mom’s work on weekends also so I can never get the ratio. We normally could take one van or two cars with an adult in each (registered adults) and attend. I am sure something happened to make the rules so stringent but the reality is this organization is really not set up for the working mom’s or their daughters. It is a shame as I think that many Leaders, parents, and scouts will feel the loss of the programs with rules that can be impossible to maintain with today’s busy families.
- Its sad really really SAD..My troop are Juniors and dont think we will be continuing much longer in GS program. I was ready to work this through HS- but only have 11 girls now and no Co-leader. I might get one more year then we will probably be done or the one or two girls left will have to go on own.
- Thank you for actually asking.........and listening.
- Cookie Sales kick off today in the Nations Capital. My girls do not consider this as anything other than a way for their troops to make money to do the things that they want to do. I think the patches associated with cookie sales at the Brownie level are stupid...we did two of them in less than an hour because they were so basic. The only good thing is at the lower ages when they learn to count money. They do not learn financial literacy in this program and I don't think it makes them good leaders either.
- The Troop Program Managers are not helping communication they are a black hole more often then helpful. Also, lots of Leaders are seeing them protect bad Leaders who are unethical and dishonest.
- Please, oh please, discontinue your relationship with Planned Parenthood. It isn't necessary. Cookie sales will INCREASE with this change! I would also like to see the Troop keep more of the Cookie Money.
- I'm very glad that as a volunteer we have the lee way to make the program what the girls want and enjoy. If we had to do all the reading for the Journies and 'research and homework' for the badges I wouldn't have a troop left.
- Just a comment on STEM: several years ago I read through all the STEM related badges for the Junior and above level. (Yes, I know these have all changed now.) The thing that struck me in reviewing them was the feeling that they were written by non-scientists. They seemed to be trying to make science/math sound interesting and relevant but the activities were more an intro for non-science people rather than science activities that a scientist would engage in. To me a science writer is a writer first with some interest in science. A scientist writes to document her experiments but is focused on the what to try and what that means. As you add STEM activities make sure to keep the focus on STEM as it is practiced.
- Juniors and above seem to be forgotten members. Very little programming is done for them.
- Girl Scouts plays a tremendously important role in the development of young girls and women. My daughter who has a doctorate and teaches at the college level says she is the person she is today because of Girl Scouts, church, and her upbringing. She found fantastic role models in the Girl Scout staff she interacted with over the years. She invited many of them to her Gold Award Ceremony.
- To get and keep girl members they need to have interesting programs and events that fit their age levels. To get and keep volunteers we need to feel appreciated by both the council and the parents.
- I think the newer journey program has caused the drop in memberships of girls in scouting. I also believe that may be the reason that adults do not want to commit to leading. The program is horrible.
- Bring back formal recognition of Campus Scouts and work with college students more! College students are always looking for ways to give back to the community and unfortunately, Girl Scouts isn't taking advantage of it. There is no aid in transitioning from a girl to an adult volunteer and the system treats you totally differently as an adult. Girl Scouts should have programs to transition passionate older girls to effective adult volunteers. Girl Scouts is loosing a lot of talent and passion because once you graduate, it feels like, unless you participate in camp, they don't need you until you have daughters of your own.
- We need more events like the singalong in DC& more ways for volunteers to help.
- Please ask seasoned adults MORE for their opinions- as I said before, we shouldn't reinvent the wheel all the time- it wastes time and money. The very same problems we are having now with Journeys, Studio 2B, etc. were metioned by a number of us (as well as our girls) in the very beginning...we could have tweaked things to make it more palatable. As Girl Scouts go, we do not have the same recognition as Boy Scouts because we keep changing things too much- uniforms, program, awards...we need consistency for the public to recognize and appreciate our program! Boy Scouts do subtle updates and still keep themselves up-to-date, and it SAVES MONEY AND TIME!
- The council needs to do a better job of administering the Gold Award Project process. I feel that girls become discouraged and stop working on the project because the committee have set unreasonable goals for the completion of the project. I also see that the criteria is not applied equally across all the counties served by the council.
- I really hope Girl Scouts can get it together - I miss the fun I had as a girl and the fun I had with my troop as a leader. I'd like to get back to actively working with Girl Scouts but I'd like for you to get your act together first.
- I feel we need more support from our assigned MSE. Terrible communication. I don't even know why she is paid to be honest.
- Staff can change procedures, policies in the middle of something- yet not tell the volunteers-- then call the volunteers for not abiding by the new rules. Totally wrong. Upper staff should have the same punishments -- dismissal-- that volunteers have.
- I signed up to be a council delegate the other year, hoping to have some chance to be heard. I quickly realized this would not be the case. The meetings were set up to be a "rubber stamp", and anytime any tried to voice a concern, they were quickly shut down, or told they were wrong.
- I love girl scouts and over all it's a great program..
- I want to comment on my disapproval on how GS Cookie Sales are being handled this year. I believe it puts more work on the cookie moms on ordering and trying to keep up with it all. It is already hard to find someone willing to take on the responsibility, then to add on he extra responsibility and stress of ordering more cookies without knowing if they will be able to be sold. I also want to express my wish for the Girl Scout Jamboree to return. My previous troop always enjoyed that event. It gave the girls a chance to meet other troops, have fun, to volunteer, and to bond as a troop. I know it must have been hard to organize; but I think all of the benefits was probably worth it.
- Bring the GS back into Scouting. We can't provide a safe place for girls to Discover, Connect, Take Action if they don't have leaders and supporting volunteers. Volunteers have the passion that has driven this organization. Paid staff has been there (in the past minimally) to make sure the needs of the volunteers, thus the girls is met. Leaders need volunteer liaisons to make this organization run like it used to. Why do we have a volunteer board if everything is decided by staff? We used to have a lot of programs that are no longer around because "staff" was "required" to run it instead of a volunteer and the staff didn't have the knowledge, resources or time to do and someone wouldn't allow volunteers to make sure it happened. Girls aren't given the opportunity without some investment by the leaders. Why do you think BS gets so much more money and donations that GS? Ownership, Investment, Payback. Tell GSUSA to quit making so many changes and go back to old school. That doesn't mean that Science, math, technology will go away, it'll the girls ingenuity, interests that spark new badges and new directions. By doing a movers try-it they'll go onto rocket building and like some will go into space. Think about it.
- We need to work together on this! The future of our daughters and grand daughters is at stake!
- MOVE THE NATIONAL OFFICE OUT OF HIGH PRICED NEW YORK CITY! You can work just as well from a less expensive location. You need to send the summary of this report to everyone who took the survey.... We would like to see the results and if the National organization listens to what we say. It will then really be know if Scouting is a democratic organization and not just a corporation.
- I just feel without camping G.S. is not offering anything unique to the girls. I think the values that were re-enforced in the beauty and nature of God as made me the strong woman I am today. Camping provided a natural way to share the beauty of nature. It also provided strong female leaders and wonderful team leadership and team bonding experiences.
- Sure would love to share resources more easily between leaders and SU's in other areas ... see some amazing ideas on the web but not always where we can find the details ...
- love to see cheap things for the girls to do close to home
- Juliette Low understood that the world would change and girls would need to be able to change with it. She designed Girl Scouts with that understanding. The National and Councils need, no have to, go back to its roots and look at what Juliette wanted for America's Girls and woman. The program needs to the Out-of-doors first. We know Climate Change is going to create more natural disasters and our girls are going to need to be leaders when there's no electricity, fresh water or other resources. Don't handicap these girls, give them the tools they need to be confident in any situation.
- If GSUSA had been doing their job realignment would not have been the answer. Monies spent on the pension problems, failed programs, and high paid salaries and property in New York City has caused Councils to fail. GSUSA is in survival mode and has totally lost sight of providing for the girl. Shame on GSUSA, I certainly hope that someone is listening.
- Let's look over at the Boy Scouts. For years they have offered the same recognized program that is known to work.We have throw out patrols, badges with substance, ranking and Court Of Honor. What we have left is something the girls don't want .... school work. The girls want to work, and earn, awards & badges that should they are active members of the community and that they have learned new skills and have developed new, strong ideas. But most of all the girls, want to have fun and to be with a group of sister scouts.
- It's a shame that long time volunteers are being let go or being chastised for speaking their opinions, just because they are in agreement with the ideas of CEO's and others in this organization that I so dearly love...I'm a Lifetime member and have been a GS adult/girl yrs combined for the past 40 years. I was a trainer for 16 yrs and a leader of 6 different troops for 28 yrs (including my daughters' troop for 10 of those years.) Now I can't participate in any GS council functions because I voiced my opinion and was called on the carpet for it by our CEO....I've been in contact with others across the country who have more years than I and are in the same position I'm in now. GS loss of a LOT of great knowledge by telling volunteers that they have to "agree" with how their councils think!
- I think we work hard to sell cookies to fund out troop. Girls earn cookie dough and there are no local events to use this money. (sad) why cant girls use this money to buy uniform items in the scout store? Not all girls want to go to summer camp to use this money or have enough money to pay for the week. The economy is hard right now and its sad when parents don't have funds for some in the troop to buy the same uniform that others are wearing.
- I think there needs to be more consistent rules between councils and GSUSA...
- The realignment devastated our council! We seem to be recovering a bit now, but we have a long, long way to go. We went from being a volunteer driven organization to a company who was more interested in making money than in the well being of the girls. We seem to be moving back toward a girl and volunteer friendly council, but unfortunately they keep hiring individuals who have never been girl scouts (either girls or adults) to run our membership/ training/events departments. They do not have the love of the program, and it comes across in the job they do.
- There should be a better career ladder within the organization. I know some super dedicated girl scouts who were eager to become camp coinselors or troop leaers as soon as they were old enough. Some of these young women went on to get entry level jobs with girl scout counicls. But not all the people in leadership roles have actual experience as scouts or leaders. I think this is bad for the organization and that Girl Scouts should makemnore of an effort to council young womenas to what sorts fields they ned to study if they want to work for a non-profit like GSUSA. We are always encouraging our scouts to do service projects, but how can they carry that sense of contributing forward into college and the workforce is not a topic that is often discussed.
- I was a Girl Scout in the 70s and will be forever grateful for the skills I learned, friends made, camping trips, and experiences. I've tried hard as a leader to recreate this for my daughter and her friends. I hope we can continue to be what JGL wanted us to be...girls who are just as capable as the boys....Scouts.
- Bring back the old badge books which had many more options of subjects to explore
- Please get (name removed) OUT of GSSGC.
- The lack of an outdoor program is costing us membership. The new programming is fine, but don't throw out the old to bring in the new. We need a mix!
- I loved scouting. I enjoy getting together with my scout alumni and keeping up with some of them on facebook. The majority of my success in the classroom is not from college training or methods class it is from Scout training. My ability to transition from activity to activity, group kids for their success, and fearlessly attempt something new and different is from Camp counseling. I know who I am because of my Girl Scout Experiences. I have not liked the direction that GS has taken. I do plan to attempt to contact the Council I live in or the Council I grew up in and seek renewing my membership. Thanks for inviting old scouts to participate in this survey.
- I once believed strongly in Girl Scouts. I recall the days of troop meetings and weeks of camp in the summer. Now all people associate with Girl Scouts are cookies. I left the Girl Scouts because it no longer was relevant in today's world. It contradicts its messages to girls when they promote confidence building programs then turn around and partner with Barbie. The gender stereotyping is dangerous and holding all the girls and women in the United States back. GSUSA led this country down the wrong path and now staff are being laid off, women who gave DECADES of their lives to Girl Scouts, camp are closing, and girls are being taught how to be sales people so that GSUSA can profit off of the cookie sales. Its times for the membership to rise up.
- GSUSA needs more positive press. It needs to slow down or at least take a closer look at all of the changes that they forced on the organization, councils, and in particular how it affected the volunteers tasked with implementing them. Bring back more badges. The girls and leaders liked the flexibility of being able to encourage "outside the troop" exploration. Many communities have wonderful local opportunities that fit nicely in with Girl Scouting, but are now "shut out" by the Journeys and limited badges. Kids would like to experience things rather than read a book about something (although I still believe in reading wholeheartedly, just not at every meeting as required by the Journeys). And it is asking too much for a leader to have to coordinate/schedule a guest speaker to every meeting (as suggested in all Journeys). GSUSA and councils need to help Communities more with recruitment, not just of girls but more so of Adults. This is related to better branding as mentioned in the first paragraph. GSUSA needs to remember the basics of the Scouting movement- outdoors, citizenship, community. Leadership is important, but not everyone can be a leader. There are plenty of
- I appreciate that this survey is being taken, and I sincerely hope that you are able to effect some change. My mother and I feel like we are in the donut hole of Girl Scout volunteers, and we have regular conversations where we discuss our and our friends' frustrations with the council's lack of communication and lack of interest in volunteers "like us". I am in my late twenties, a lifetime member of the movement since I graduated from high school, and there was no communication between myself and the council except related to my camp employment during college and the annual appeal asking for money. Despite my mom being my leader through eighth grade and her annual registration form and fees, which indicated that she would be interested in volunteering, she didn't hear anything from the council for years (except for that annual appeal for funds, of course!). This resulted in both of us feeling extremely devalued. When my husband and I moved about a year and a half ago, I decided to get involved with Girl Scouting at my service area level. Note that this was my decision, and not related to anybody from council encouraging me to get involved or suggesting that I could be helpful in any way. I have become more frustrated, and I have told my husband that I am going to consider ending my volunteerism with Girl Scouting as soon as my current commitments have ended. There are other organizations that I am involved with, where I feel more supported and valued as a volunteer.
- I'm not sure who is reading this, but I thought I should mention that I offered to put together a video-making workshop at the camp I worked at, which is in danger of being closed. (I'm a professor at a film school and have offered music video programs for local Girl Scout troops.) I offered to do this for free, and the council refused. Making videos is definitely stem-relevant, and there was no risk to them, and it is a field dominated by men. I was very surprised they did not want the program, but it seems they are invested in closing the camp and don't want programming there that might make the place look viable/relevant to today's girls. I'm very disappointed with my former council.
- I would love to have the connected feel to the community in Girl Scouting come back. I am fearful that that those days are gone with the mergers because the communities have gotten to big and the emphasis is not on the people anymore. It is more about business. I am sad about this. How can business really be about people?
- While I understand the true business/financial implications of some of the strategy being employed I truly wish Scouting should go back to fundamentals and strengthen its base. Boy Scouts continue to be successful without reinventing their mission every few years. We should go back to basics an pursue a campaign that emphasizes a return to fundamental Scouting principles.
- I am concerned with the affordability of Girl Scouts in its current state. I recently became a leader and am finding myself disappointed in the numerous costs. With my junior troop, parents have to pay $15 to join, $20 for the guide book, $7 per journey plus the extra per journey to get the badge guides. Then there are costs of the uniforms, badges, pins, events, badge days, cookie rallies, camp etc. On top of that, the parent must replace everything every two years! I know there is some assistance from the council for membership and camp and that not all of these things are required to participate but I question what message is being delivered to girls and their families about Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts was one of the most meaningful parts of my childhood. As a child growing up in poverty, i was able to experience so much more than I ever would have without GS. Because of this, I am much more sensitive in looking at the cost of GS and how that may deter someone from either joining or continuing with scouts. I hope some consideration can be made in the future, especially with looking at consolidating the costs of the journeys, the badge sheets, and guide books.
- Times change (world and national events), girls change.... It is the delicate balance of tradition and contemporary program that will help this 100+ yr old organization grow/succeed. Continually ask "what do the girls need/want".....not what adults think girls need/want.
- I like the program overall and plan to keep my girls in as long as I can. However, since there's increasing issues with parent $$ and time I may step down as a leader. A lot of that is because no one offers leader ongoing training - just one weekend, and then Journey, Award training, no real troop management training or networking exists that I have found locally.
- I've volunteered for nearly 20 years and each year I ask myself why...that's not leading to a very satisfying experience, and sooner or later I will give up.
- When my daughter worked on her Silver Award, the community advisers thought she was working on her Gold Award because of what she was trying to accomplish. We followed the scope and intent of the new Silver Award requirements. The Gold Award, especially the increased hours and sustainability portion, have made this award unattainable for many career Girl Scouts. The committees are being overly harsh and subjective about whether projects qualify for the Gold Award. Some girls in my service unit gave up on the Gold Award format and just applied their efforts outside of Girl Scouts. Many leaders warned about this during the early roll out but we were told that the hours were suggestions but we're finding that the committees are using them as absolutes. Or, they're discounting projects due to personal preferences, 'if I see another garden project...'
- Council needs to do a better job in replying to parents looking for a troop for their daughters. I know when I was looking for a troop for my younger daughter when she was in Kindergarten, I clicked on a link on Council's website and requested someone get back to me with this information. I requested this twice and I was never contacted by Council. Finally, I got information from the head of my service unit that there were no Kindergarten troops in my city. That is when I started my own troop. I know many other parents in that have contacted local council via website requests and have not heard anything. Perhaps that option should be replaced with a person's name and telephone number, so the parent can make a direct connection.
- I would like to go back to basics. There used to be a earned badge for almost anything. Now a lot of activities are combined into one larger badge (financial literacy for example, instead of breaking it out into one or two different financial related badges). Do away with the fun patches and incorporate the "fun" into an actual earned badge. (horseback riding, animal care, ice/roller skating, etc) The Journeys are a joke
- I am honored to be a GS leader and I think it is a wonderful way for girls to try new things and have adventures and at the same time learn some new skills. It is also a great way for the girls to give back to the community with service projects.
- Thank you for asking....and listening.
- I was a girl in Girl Scouting for 10 years and earned my First Class. I have been a leader of two troops for 21 years. I have been service unit manager for about 10 years. I used to be so proud of what Girl Scouts offered. So much has changed. The older leaders are disgusted and quitting. I keep doing the stuff I've always done with my girls-camping, backpacking, surfing, photography, service projects, trips to the Grand Canyon and NYC and more. We just don't earn anything for it. My service unit has gone from 24 troops down to 12. Our meetings are attended by 7 people. The trips that leaders take has gone down. New leaders aren't told about our meetings. They don't understand how to do the Journeys. I challenge you to do the activities of the Justice Journey with a group of high schoolers and see if it doesn't drive you crazy.
- We need to focus on the girls, leaders, programs and events. We need to look at the salaries of the CEO and staff throughout the country. The girls and leaders and suffering.
- GS “corporate leaders”do not need to have a big expensive office in NYC. There are a number of areas around the USA that are less costly to have our headquarters. The GS organization is fiscally irresponsible and is leaning on the volunteers to make up for their short fall. Anna Maria Chávez spends too much time getting her pictures in magazines and less time being in touch with the girls and programs. The problem might be that she has no experience with young girls programs, and is more of a politician. GSUSA needs to be more responsible. Need to lead by example.
- With the council realignments a lot of support and programming was lost. Prior to realignment we had service areas in each of our cities and our service area had monthly events. After realignment our service areas broadened and the volunteers who made these events happen were treated badly by council staff causing most to step down and even leave scouting. Events are now fewer and much farther away (usually minimum hour drive) with very little offered for our older girls to participate in. Truthfully the only reason my girls have stayed is because they wanted to earn their gold awards (half of them have brothers who are eagle scouts). If they had been any younger when these changes had took place they would have all left the program. I allowed my daughter to join scouting because of the fond memories I had of being a girl scout. My daughter (a gold award recipient) is not happy with the way things are now either and if in the future she or my son ( a eagle scout) should have a daughter I am not sure either of us would be looking to girl scouts as a activity for her.
- I love the girl scout program and truly believe that improvements can be made in my area to improve the lives of girls
- IF YOU COULD ACTUALLY SWIM IN A CAMP AND USE ELECTRONICS THEN YES CAMP IS GOOD!!!!!
- I have been involved with Girl Scouts for many years and it just seems that there is constant change. I think it makes us look like we don't know what we are doing, and makes it difficult on the volunteers. Plus it feels like everything is changed every couple of years in order to increase sales. If a product came out "new and improved" every couple of years, you would start to wonder...
- I left after a paid staffer stole my training material and wound up with a promotion over it. All the Council cares about is the army of cookie sellers. There is ZERO program for girls older than fifth-grade. They are unpaid babysitters. I'm glad to see members reacting to the negative changes by voting with their membership dollars. I'm glad GSUSA is starting to notice its failures and I hope, for the sake of alumni with breaking hearts, that it can be salvaged.
- I'm just disappointed in GSUSA and wish scouting was what it was when I was a young girl. I believe my daughter would have stayed more interested if they had not changed the badge program.
- I'm concerned about the current direction Girl Scouting is taking. Numbers are declining because there are so many different opportunities for girls and parents/girls choose the ones that are the most fun for younger girls. Older girls leave after 5th/6th grade because the program is now too much like school and doesn't provide enough activities for them. It seems that the only activities for Cadettes and older are program aid activities where they are always helping the younger girls and don't get as much for age appropriate activities for them. As a service unit volunteer, I am frequently hearing from leaders that they have trouble keeping the girls interested in participating because the program is no longer 'fun' but just an extension of their school day. When many families limit the children to 2 or 3 activities. After a church program and a sport or music lesson, many girls are only left with one other choice. Girl Scouts is quickly one they drop because it does not offer the fun, exercise or social activities the girls/parents are looking for in an after school / extra activity. Instead, they choose a 2nd sport, dance, voice, drama, karate, art, etc. Activities where their daughter can build self-esteem and independence through a fun, athletic or self-expression program. The older girls I work with don't feel GS is growing with them.
- There should be more programs to get older girls involved. Cadette and older. Girls are not interested in journeys. To hard to incorporate.
- There is always more to say about the current state of Girl Scouting. My main fear is that experienced leaders like me are feeling left out of the loop and unwanted, in exchange for the younger, sometimes non-existent, leaders. Old ways are not necessarily bad. Girl Scouting taught core values of honesty and helpfulness and courage to do new things and stand up for your beliefs in a good way. We taught life skills instead of concentrating on career skills. It seems that demographic studies have not fully represented the girls I come in contact with--Midwestern rural girls who come from families not willing to let their girls travel too far to camp and are too poor to invest large amounts of money in Girl Scouting and who live in areas too poor to receive local sponsorship funding.
- I feel council should offer more for Teens that is not necessarily related to Silver/Gold awards
- I'm tired of being asked about the planned parenthood, media connection with girl scouts. I feel girl scouts should be totally neutral or come clean & risk loosing traditional girl scouts.
- I love Girl Scouts for all it has done for my daughter and hope that the same can be said for my granddaughters. That remains to be seen. I have been an active volunteer for more than 25 years, I will continue as long as I believe in what it is doing for girls.
- do not like the changes
- I feel that the GSUSA should only have one baker for our cookies. When the Savannah Smiles came out from Little Brownie Bakery, it was all over the news. We didn't have them here however, and lost a lot of customers because of it. If we all had the same cookies, then it wouldn't be an issue. Not to mention all the online sales and such that they have online! I also feel there should be a disclaimer on all the cookie boxes stating that cookies are only to be sold by Girl Scouts and not in retail stores. We have a store in our local area that buys our cookies and re-sells them for $1.00. This hurts our booth sales because we have large amounts of people that refuse to spend $4.00 on a box when they can get them way cheaper at the store.
- I feel there is alot of emphasis on GS for the Latino community (I understand they are trying to tap that market and GSUSA Pres is Latino but COME ON). I feel that there is alot of hypocrisy in our current setup. I feel that there is little to no communication. I feel we have lost our link to the outdoors. I am all for the STEM program - but NEVER HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I hate that I have to spend hours searching online for bits of pcs of programs/activities/events/anything for my GS. I feel like we are left alone out here with nothing happening except in the town where HQ is. I will support GS because I know what I can offer my GS....but I am currently very unhappy with how it's going.
- Please eliminate or significantly revise the Journey program. In my opinion, that is the biggest thing that is keeping girls from participating. I work with Senior Girl Scouts and they have so much going on with school and social life and sports and dance and ... It is a real challenge to keep the meetings fun and still get Journey requirements completed.
- My girls love Girl Scouting, we have been involved for the past 9 years. We have many fond memories from activities and trips we have taken as Girl Scouts.
- I still believe Girl Scouting is a good organization for girls and I think it is increasingly difficult in these times to be everything to everyone which sometimes GS tries to do. I also think the situation is different in different councils and feel lucky that, from what I know, my council is doing pretty well. (But I know I don't know everything going on.)
- My major concern with selling the camp properties is that if there is a resurgence in camps and camping the wonderful properties now owned by Councils will no longer be there and the price to repurchase will be out of range of most Councils. I would prefer to see the properties allowed to rest, if they are too expensive to maintain.
- I think our Council made a big mistake when they hired a new CEO specifically for her business strategy. She does not know how to work with people and has alienated both staff and volunteers. The person steering the ship should fully believe in the mission and values of Girl Scouting and strive to be an example to those both personally and professionally.
- Bring back the camps. Start hiring younger professional women with a camp background and degree to save them.
- I am a lifetime / lifelong GS member. We need to be more proactive about talking about our successes. People think GS have gone away. While girls claim to not like uniforms, our move away from them and the constant changing of the adult uniforms have harmed the organization overall. Stop allowing people to make fun of GS through skits, images, costumes, etc.
- I am a GS alumni and co leader. I have been in scouting for over 45 years.
- I am disappointed to find out that there is a leader that was dismissed from another troop for control issues but can still lead other troops? The situation sounds pretty serious and included continued bullying in the troop over many years that she overlooked, yet it is still ok for my daughter to be led by her?
- #1 If there are press-on nails in GS shops, the program has gone further off track than when we "graduated." It sounds very much like it's time to revisit core values. #2 You need to add an optional field for email address to this survey to build your contact database to support further action.
- PLEASE SAVE OUR CAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Refocus back to the things that make Girl Scouts a unique program. I have never heard a kindergarten girl say "please enroll me in a leadership program with a structured curriculum", But I do hear girls who want to camp and do the things GS are best known for!
- Remember to talk to your local council staff if you have concerns or questions about anything at all related to Girl Scouting! I'm so happy you are reaching out to ensure individual voices are heard. However, I would encourage you to also please consider both sides of your concerns - I found this survey to be filled with negatively phrased questions which made it slightly leading, rather than getting to the true opinions of members. As a girl member, leader, and now staff member of 5 years - I can assure you councils (at least here in state removed) have the very best interest of their members at the forefront of all organizational decisions. Happy New Year, Girl Scout Sisters!
- I hope this makes an impact. In someways I know the program will be dead in a matter of decades. Once the public sees the direction the program has taken, they will have an even lesser opinion of the program. When I was a kid it was still acceptable if you had the international and advance camping experiences. Less than 10 years later, it's a program for little girls to sell cookies. I don't have much hope for the program.
- I think Service Unit Presidents and MVP should be made to pop in and out of troop meeting to be sure things are running right if all this red tape crap is going on. Plus to see who is really working the program and who is not.
- I LOVE Girl Scouting...however, I don't think GSUSA listens to it's members. That "focus groups" of girls who are NOT Girl Scouts so greatly affects how our organization's programs are developed is ridiculous. GSUSA should listen to it's members, girls and adults. Let's provide program that the current girl members want to participate in. Let's keep the "girl" in Girl Scouting....maybe then we wouldn't lose girls to other organizations.
- Capitalize on Pintrest. It's becoming more and more useful for meeting strategies.
- This is my 15th year as a Girl Scout. I don't like the move away from traditional Girl Scout activities. Our troop has 50 girls and we camp every month in various venues. We run our own programs, because Girl Scouts doesn't do a dang thing anymore. Summer camp is so expensive that most of my girls can't do it. We're actually looking at doing our own summer camp outside of scouts. The girls used to be able to triple their cookie dough to pay for summer camp and earn their own way. Now that is over.
- Behavior is really poor at GS and SU led camps. The leaders seem too focused on socializing with other leaders and playing on their smart phones to notice how horribly behaved their scouts are. Myself and other leaders have had to be rather blunt with this type of "leader", and ask her to remove and/or correct their scout. It may not make me popular, but I really don't care. I sleep just fine at night. And BTW, how much is Chevez (GS' CEO) making? I won't spoil it for you, but it is A LOT (about what the POTUS makes and he's the leader of the free world.) A non-profit should never pay its leader this much, with such little noticeable return. And yet all of us volunteers are still pushed to work so hard. There is very little proof that she is worth that much money. Research her, and her expenditures (i.e. office equipment at HQ and the "toilet" in her personal office bathroom).
- We need to find a way to get the community behind Girl Scouts again as a relative option to create leadership opportunity for girls.
- would love to see an Alex and Ani bracelet for older girls completing Metal Awards
- People at my church are trying to get members to remove their children from girl scouting. It makes me sad to read the articles about how WAGGS is partnering with Planned Parenthood. I don't know how much longer I can defend this organization that I really want my girls to participate in.
- I think national has made the program to complicated besides costly with these new guide books and journey books. I am sure the size of the national staff far exceeds what is needed, the need is on the council level for field staff to HELP and LEADERS AND GIRLS!!! Girls need to be in TROOPS as much as possible, leadership can not be learned as an individual. Councils should not have to sell off their camps to support national. It should be that Girls are selling cookies for their councils & their own $$ to go to events and not selling to make a profit/use on the national level.
- I feel that GSUSA should have a survey for volunteers / leaders / parents to fill out about their councils. There is no one policing these people. We left our previous council because they would not communicate or when they did, it was lies and subterfuge. We need to find out where our weaknesses lie and fix them so that we offer a consistent program throughout the country, not only in the cities each council decides are worthy of their time, attention and money. (council removed) is to be commended on the work of their staff for their efforts to help leaders who are not even part of their council. I would call, email and everything else to get to response from my old council. As I was a delegate before realignment, I am well aware of what (council removed) was supposed to become as opposed to what it did become and I'm very sad to think I wasted my time with that council.
- Many leaders and former leaders are very willing to go to our local Council and VOLUNTEER hours at night, when the leaders are available, when the scouts have questions, when the parents wish to go and shop, when the Council conference room should be running programs so that the entire program is lifted out of the deplorable morass in which it finds itself. Please restore Girl Scouting to its original vision and allow our girls to grow in many different areas in many different ways.
- Please listen to what is BEST for the girls!! That's what this organization is supposed to be about.
- I could write a 10 page document about my experience as a girls scout leader. Everything having to do with the girls was positive but almost anything having to do with Council or the cookie program was negative. Here are my highlights: Cookies- the mobile app crashed and deleted the orders of two of my girls. One parent had over 300 boxes in that system and had not used a paper form. Needless to say it was a disaster. ABC's own tech people said the app had not been beta tested and they didn't even know about it. Why do the girls only earn .55 per box? That is such a small margin when volunteers have to track, sort, set up sales, monitor, take cash, etc for the cookies. Its seems like a racket and I wouldn't do it again. Council employees- the volunteer resource center was not open when it was supposed to be. They are overworked, expected to be everywhere at any time. Paperwork that is sent in is sometimes lost. We had girls missing from out roster when the computer system changed over. It took multiple calls and emails to clear up. This program needs a volunteer support person or persons. Why is there no sharepoint drive or google drive for leaders to share curriculum they've developed or program ideas? There should be a mentoring program for every new leader. Every new leader should be matched with someone who has experience. I could go on but don't have the time.
- Girl Scouting proudly claims that all girls anywhere may participate. By refusing to comproise and make exceptions to families who cannot or will not communicate by computer, we are being elitist and discriminatory.
- Girl Scouts should be a fun, educational and group experience for girls to interact with others and try new things. If it becomes overly career orientated or educational without the right mix of fun and creativity, it will lose much of its drawing power. From the three troops I have led, I see that when the badge work became too much like school,work, the girls lost their interest. They love trying new things, having visitors, field trips and service projects. Anything too intense like the journeys held no interest for them.
- GSUSA................ARE YOU LISTENING?!!!!!!!!
- PLEASE keep TWEEDALE up and running full time.
- I usually feel valued as a volunteer, but sometimes I feel like my ideas and suggestions are just swept under the carpet. When you have volunteers in the same role for 5 or more years, you should LISTEN to them and their needs. They probably know what they're talking about. If you can't meet one of our needs, tell us WHY... not just ignore us.
- I hope that Girl Scouts can get back on track, this organization has always put the girls first.
- SHAME ON THE NATIONAL "thinkers"... why not ASK the volunteers? Cookie changes were made and no one thought about delivery of product in FREEZING temperatures- as long as those girls sold those boxes and made money for the "thinkers"... I was a registered scout for 37 years- I still help out in tech capacity- but I am ashamed by what the organization has become.
- Our troop is working. Working & growing every year. My co-leaders and I make an effort to combine letting the girls do what they want with forcing them to do what scouting should be (learning about the world around them, civics, outdoor skills, etc). "Leadership Program" rhetoric is fine. But true leaders need to KNOW HOW TO DO THINGS. One of my major issues, when I worked in the corporate world, with female managers was that they think they can effectively lead without knowing how those they supervise do what they do. It just isn't true. Knowledge is leadership & leadership is knowledge. Again, BSA model: Learn, demonstrate, teach. THAT's how one becomes a leader. The LEARN skills. Demonstrate those skills. THEN take those skills and teach them to others...they DEVELOP leaders to come after them. Girl Scouts doesn't do that. Again, Juliette Gordon Low would be appalled. This is NOT what she envisioned for girl empowerment. Heck, this isn't girl empowerment...it's a great way to disillusion girls into thinking they are far more capable than they are. It's not fair. OUR troop doesn't do that. And thus, our girls are mostly more interested every year & bring more friends to the group every year. Our parents are active & involved. Even the DADS (another pet peeve with girl scouting--WHY is it ok to treat all dads as if they are pedophiles??).
- Yeah, one more thing. I know we pay a lot more annually for my son to be a Cub Scout than we pay for my daughter to be a Girl Scout, but every month when my son's copy of Boys Life arrives in the mail, I can't help but think how my daughter is getting (relatively) ripped off! Why isn't there a quality Girls Life magazine? Instead we just get junk mail trying to sell us GS gear.
- Changes in different positions can prove to keep things flesh in an organization. Camp employees shouldn't be able to be awarded by going on cookie awarded trips. That's a waste of money. If employees use some of the cookie funds for sweaters and fun things that the girls selling the cookies should get, it could waste money that could be used for functions that could help raise money to keep GS alive. Even though GS is a non- profit organization, its still a business and attitudes along with lack of care and customer service will dry up the business. New thinking and new ways of doing things can revive the business so that GS can continue to encourage young girl and young women. Also marketing camp and other events is crucial.
- I have been in for 30 years, have seen a lot of changes, sad to see fewer people getting outside and getting healthy. I promote this but too many others don't even know this anymore. STEM is great, but getting out to play is how kids truly reduce stress. Stress that too. Sincerely, (name removed)
- I love Girl Scouts. I'm sure my experience may be limited and maybe my Service Unit will get more organized after this year. But i lived in a much smaller state in a rural area previously and our council AND service unit was run so much more organized than this and our troops were so much more prepared and trained and....it felt like they had more Girl Scout spirit.
- Thank you for giving us a positive place to express our concerns about scouting.
- Girl Scouts seem to be a lot more $ focused then 5 or even 10 years ago. It's becoming more and more expensive and I do not feel the money is being used to improve the program. More energy needs to be spent on programming and support of older scouts.
- leaders need a book of forms and resources and pictures and small descriptions of all journeys so we can pick what journey we are going to study also a check list of all required classes needed for 01,02,03 positions also should have possible things or stuff you can do to get the journey idea across to all girls, some of us have multiple level troop (yea were crazy) I have 21 girls in my troop from daisey to ambassador, there was once a list that told you how to do a activity and what badge that would cover for all levels, is book would also have safety wise and spaces to keep medical info for your girls and cookie stuff, 3 ring style and tuff we have to carry it all over, should look like a journey book
- The cookie profit is not enough for people wanting to buy it. I think its time to find new items to sell that give the gs profit. Look at boy scouts I dont see them lacking in funds, troops, sales, life knowledge.
- I think you are moving in the right direction but it has been a little painful as the leader of a Girl Scout Troop. The last online registration that we had was horrible. This current one is better. I would like to see more programming within 45 min drive for day activities. I would like to see more online training for flexibility.
- I'm very concerned that we're concentrating so much on the K-5 initiative that we're bleeding out older girls. We need to boost our older girl program. It needs more girls who WANT to join. The Gold Award needs to be attainable by any dedicated Girl Scout. It should not be easy, but there should be enough girls earning it for the public to know it exists - and honor it. Ask older Girl Scouts and recent alumni what they liked best about GS - not what they wish it was. We keep trying to change based on the needs of girls we want to recruit. Let's keep the ones we've got.
- There's something to be said for tradition. Not sure why GS keeps changing programs. You know everyone knows what an Eagle award is but not many know what the Gold award is. Could that be in part because requirements keep changing? We tell the girls that Gold Award looks great on college application but I know a Vice President of Enrollment at a college and she had no idea what a Gold Award is. I don't know about other councils but the red tape for a Gold Award here is nuts. Advisors change and the prior advisor may have approved something that the new advisor does not agree with so the girl has to start over. On the other hand, a girl who did not do the project and council received several letters protesting the girl receiving the award, gets it. It's so inconsistent that the next group of girls get discouraged and just don't do it. Also, GSUSA stopped allowing running a wait list troop as a Gold Award because it does not impact the community??? That's saying GS in general does not impact community! Running a troop is hard and with the leader recruitment problems these days, having older girls run a troop does usually eventually get parents to take on the role once a troop is established and the scout leaders graduate. Very short sited. More girls could be participating right away if running a wait list troop was a Gold Award project once again.
- A comment on incentives for the sales (nuts and magazines/cookies): Please try to make them different! I can't believe that once again, we will be providing a Tapefetti set (2 of them this time!) as incentives. Once the girls achieve the incentive, they aren't as excited to try for it again...
- Our council needs to be reminded that Girl Scouts is non-profit, we are not a Fortune 500 company like they keep saying we're like. I have a really hard time spending 2 months out of the year taking my daughter out to sell cookies when she is pre-diabetic and is not allowed to eat then. Then we see that our CEO is making a quarter of a million dollars a year. Back before the merger our council was ran with 3 paid employees and we were treated like a Girl Scout sister by each of them. In return they earned our respect. That's something this new council will never earn.
- As a lifetime member with over 20 years experience as a volunteer/staff member, I am disappointed with the direction GS has taken. When my daughters were involved the badge programs were sufficient to teach them leadership and give them experiences that helped them grow into successful adults. When the Journeys began I was staff and consistently fielded discussions from girls and leaders about their dissatisfaction with them. The staff turnover in this council is so bad that most of the volunteers don't even know who their membership staff person is. The communication from staff is sorely lacking and is causing many problems. I could write a lot more about the problems but if something isn't changed soon GS will continue to decline.
- It is sad to feel like one is watching a great organization die a slow and painful death. The call in the early years of the realignment was the right people on the bus. We need to face the fact that we caught the wrong bus and need to get off this track and find our way to the right bus!
- Sadly, if things continue as they have been, I don't expect Girl Scouting to be around to celebrate another 50 years, let alone another 100. Changes are good, yes, but the program is getting too far away from what it was once. Girls are not joining, parents are not volunteering - why? It's not what they want anymore.
- I am concerned about the recent partnership between Girl Scouts and Planned Parent. Leave politics out of Girl Scouts. Most of our girls are 13 and younger. It does not relate to them.
- I resisted having my daughters join Girl Scouts for years due to the rumored connection with Planned Parenthood. I pray that our participation does not in any way support this organization. I was a Girl Scout growing up and loved the program, and going forward I hope the Girl Scouts encourage affiliations with pro-life churches and organizations.
- This is only my 3rd year with GS. I have almost no knowledge about the "old" program. I like the new program. I feel that the girls that I have in my troop and some other area troops are enjoying the programming that we currently have. Some of the journeys can be tough and it would help to have a collection of ideas and activities to work the girls through these programs.
- There needs to be faster turn around for money earning applications.
- Thank God for leaders who have stuck around and know what Girls Scouts can and should be and who are keeping that sort of Girl Scouting alive for our girls despite what National is doing and despite what is happing in the various councils. Hopefully it wll be enough and the pendulum will start to swing in the other direction again soon!
- I love Girl Scouts!!!
- My daughter loves girl scouting I love being involved with hopatcong. It's a great group of women. I hate that I'm being forced to fundraise for gsusa . The organization should be non profit. Recently it has become an enterprise using girls to do their fundraising by blackmailing them with not earning gold and silver awards if hey don't participate.
- Please get rid of the journeys, and the new patch programs are a little harder to do. Leaders need things that are easy to do to encourage them to be able to do it. The old brownie try-its were so much better.
- Listen to the girls. Stop making it so hard to help them get what they want. My girls host events, plan, discover, connect, take action without a journey. The hour idea feel too much like homework. They want to do more service projects and earn badges.
- Please keep trying your best to continue the Girl Scout legacy for generations to come.
- Please help our area have more activities for our girls to enjoy.
- TRADITION - IT MEANS EVERYTHING
- Get back to what real girls outs should be
- Back. To. Basics. Less politics...more about the GIRLS
- I love my memories of GS. I will honor it's traditions. I will continue to work very hard as a volunteer while my daughter is a member and give my all to offer a GS program that gives our members skills to take into their future. I do NOT support the sale of the camps. I think we should put our money into the camps- have the offices at camps- and eliminate the HUGE offices and fancy buildings that are not at camps. Look at the BSA model. They have much to offer. Look at nature deficit disorder research.
- We need to get back to Girl Scout Green, and back to Basics. The Four Worlds, and what Girl Scouting is all about. I bet Juliette Gordon Low is crying over what has become of Girl Scouts.
- We cannot retain older girls because there's nothing 'fun' left in GS for them to do. With all the pressures of high school, college prep classes, etc, they need fun, stressless activities that aren't putting even more burdens on them! I'm all for modernizing and there are some cool badges in the books, but there's not enough mix and we lost way too many of the fun and cool things to try in the new guide books. Now, it's all schoolwork, all STEM, all business. GS has lost it's way and lost Juliette's vision. We need some basics brought back to keep the GS morals alive.
- There is no mechanism to communicate with GSUSA. They don't answer me, council staff or council board members. Don't blame me for the demise of Girl Scouts. The responsibility lies with its members. How can we impact decisions. We are a membership organization but our elections are fixed. Let membership make suggestions for board members. Inform elected delegates about how national discussion items can be proposed - not just your Board president and Council Executive Director and President. Your alumni gathering information was a money earning scheme, not really wanting to know about your members and their accomplishments. We need a Good ole girl network. It could have happened. We need to network and promote our camps. The destinations are mostly outsourced - not by girl, for girls. Girl Scouts has become a sterile, impersonal, unresponding organization. From the top down, we have been sold out to lawyers cautioning doing anything for fear of a liability suit. Move out of NEW YORK. See the building to pay for the pension sell out instead of accessing councils. Promote Girl Scouts in ads. Support Leave No Trace. AT. American Hiking Association. Girl Scouts should take their place as a world leader in empowering women. And that includes the out-of-doors.
- I want to see Girl Scouts get away from Planned Parenthood.
- Many girls want to get outside all year long you need to improve on that. They want to learn and care for nature and animals. You have no programs for this and you keep changing your formula. My High school girls think journeys is just another marketing ploy to sell books. (money scheme) . Most of your loss at the older age is do to lack of interest(GS not keeping up with the girls) and Venture scouts. Yes Boy Scouts in Massachusetts has more high school girls than Girl Scout!!! HHHUUUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Moved overseas so not currently involved (although did start up a couple of Zurich Switzerland troops). Still interested in all things Girl Scouts and look forward to participating again when we return to the US.
- The system is not Girl centered...it is money centered and the girls don't benefit from it. We are restricted in fundraising yet council provides nothing in our area or we have to pay over $10 a girl for it. Everything is complicated...training, registration, programing, journeys...and no training. I cringe when I look at a Boy Scout magazine. Everything is simple and straight forward...all for the benefit of the boy and their development.
- There is a lot a GS do and it stay unknown for all us... What about post somewhere all gold medal awards ... Share then though emails... As you share sale and discounts at GS shops...
- My biggest concern is that the reputation of GS in my area is going down because of the negative remarks on national TV and internet. Girls are dropping out because GS is not meeting their needs and they are looking in other places. Parents are tired of the constant barrage of mail and email about fund raising and almost nothing about the positive aspects of the program. Our older girls are opting out of going for the Gold because their school/college programs are taking up so much time. The early college program is taking up so much time. Girls want to go for the Gold, but, quite often find there just isn't enough time to do it. The sustainability of the project is also turning girls away from it. In small communities that is very difficult to plan. I am very unhappy about the emphasis being placed more on adults rather than girls. I see girls taking a back seat to power struggles and control issues on an adult level. That breaks my heart. I have been a GS almost all of my life. I love working with girls and seeing them learn to lead, watching them become the confident women that I know is a result of GS. I think it is a sad commentary that cookies is what GS is known for instead of the leadership, skill building, career exploration parts of our program. Girls and parents are not finding in GS what they want their girls to experience. That is such a sad commentary on our organization. It bodes disaster for the future of GS.
- I think we need to think a bit more about "uniforms". Our girls and volunteers need to be identifiable as Girl Scouts when they are out doing things. That is our best PR!
- You are killing our reputation in continually booking pro abortionists reproduction sex etc to speak or write literature journeys etc Stop it.
- I enjoy being a Scout and watching the girls grow and learn. I wish I new more about some of the above issues tho... And I'd love to see more programs for the girls and activities for the adults as well. Ty
- Please not modernize Girl Scout so much that the girls lose the original intent of the Girl Scout Program and it's wonderful traditions.
- This survey is written to appeal to the negative voices in the organist ion. Not a very Girl Scout thing to do!
- Don't know who you helped develop the Safety check in's. Who ever came up with the scuba diving one, doesn't scuba dive and it is almost impossible to follow the check in's. I live in Florida and an advanced diver and have been diving since 1982. This is imposible to dive with these requirements. you need to follow Naui's rules, they are strict, but easier for girls to go scuba diving, not impossible.
- Before the realignment, Mile Hi Council in the Denver Metro Area was a prosperous, well financed council with active outdoor facilities, most of which were paid off, free and clear. The realignment dumped the liabilities of other councils on Mile Hi and have drained it financially. The realignment never took Into consideration the challenges the states would be faced with merging multiple councils into one. Finances aside, didn't anyone think merging all these together would be like blending multiple families and fraught with jealousy, insecurity and general power struggles? There is so much more to say that won't fit in this box. I would be happy to speak more specifically regarding these issues. Sometimes I wonder how many more bad decisions GSUSA can make before those decision-makers collapse the whole organization in on itself. Your management of each council is tired, your staff at each council is tired and your your volunteers are stretched thin. You guys blew this whole reorganization and we volunteers are the ones who have been defending you (as hard as it is to do sometimes). I am one of the volunteers who knows the importance of girl led. As I say on training, I have done it wrong and I have done it right, and right is more fun an interesting for everyone.
- How come I found this from a friend who posted it on FaceBook? When hasn't this been sent from my council to all Volunteers???? This is exactly what I was talking about at the beginning :( GS's depends on it's Volunteers to keep the organization going, but you never ask us before you make changes or decisions that affect us at the local level.
- 1) I LOVE Girl Scouts 2) I especially like my councils attempt to develop STEM programs but think they could do more 3) I want GSEM and GSUSA to know that leaders generally need more support and deserve more recognition (a simple thank you note would be nice) 4) I want GSEM and GSUSA to know that if leaders have to "substitute" or "make it work for you", then that is indicative of a weak program (and leaders do a lot of that). 5) I want GSEM and GSUSA to concentrate on the things that made Girl Scouts great for 100 years - outdoors and badges and stop trying to force "trendy" onto girls. The lifeline of scouting is tradition.
- Girl Scouts was the only activity for girls when i was growing up in the 50s, GS needs to compete with many other activities for girls now. GS can be more than sports, dance, or a sorority, but only if the adults involved have the training and knowledge and skills to deliver an exciting, stimulating program.
- I don't like the new handbooks! The pages are constantly ripping, being pinched by the binder rings and heaven help you if you drop them because all of the pages fall out. I understand the idea behind them, but in practice they don't work for me. I would love to see a real handbook and badge book again.
- My most pressing concern about the present Girl Scout program is the way troop leaders are able to control membership in their troop. I think I understand the resins for it, but in practice it often undermine thoroughly the Girl Scout mission of inclusiveness and sisterhood. Too many girls have the following experience: we have no place for you here. This NEVER happens in Cub Scouting. When I recruit new boys, I assign them to a den based on grade level in school. Sometimes we make changes to keep buddies together or to accommodate schedules. When a den becomes too large, it is up to the parents to split the den or help out more, but we never turn away recruits or put them on a waiting list.
- I do not like the new badge program. The program went from 130+ badges to 35. Many of the badges have complicated steps that take experts or travel to a more difficult venue to complete. I also don't like how a general activity is given with no specific directions. As a leader I spend hours on the internet looking for practical how to direction to lead the girls in completing some steps. The topics are too narrow. The boy scout handbook serves as a how too for completing the badge with step by step directions. I feel like the new badgebook is worthless. ALSO the rings of the handbook binder are way too small to hold all the supplemental badge pamphlets, poor design in that regard. You should have also included a pocket in the front for tucking things.
- I'm planning on keeping my daughter in Girl Scouts. I do think after this school year she may not be with this troop. I don't want her to have the wrong role models. My mother said "I could do anything i wanted to do in life". I want my daughter to feel the same way, but there is the right way and the wrong way.
- Training...even if we were to successfully recruit adults, our training is now worthless...providing new volunteers with a sales pitch "look at our pretty journey book" instead of resources for success and safety.
- It saddens me that the great organization that is Girl Scouts is suffering from such blemishes. I pray that God will guide those in charge in returning this entity back into the great guidepost that it once was. An organization that looks to it’s membership as a resource rather than a an annoyance. One that is free of financial scandals and those whom perpetrate, to return to its real mission- helping young girls become strong women. Fear not, I will always support the Girl Scouts, because after all, it’s not about the directors, managers, or even council. It’s about the girls.
- I LOVE GIRL SCOUTS! But I sure do miss the badges :(
- I do not like Cookie Dough. This helps the parents more than the girls. The younger girls do not understand the value and in effect having a gift card to the Girl Scout Store is not ideal. It is not always easy for parents to get their girls to the store. Also, the troop cannot use the cookie dough without incurring the tax on items. This hurts the troop. Not all the girls go to camp, so this is not much of an incentive.
- My unit/area/community? I think is timp or bridal veil. They have failed at helping new leaders get trained. Cookie training is a joke. They should have two trainings. One for return leaders and a thorough one for new leaders. New leaders pretty much leave like a deer in headlights after their first training.
- Girls first - if it doesn't support the girls get rid of it. Girl led - if it's not girl led (journeys) get rid of it. Nothing in scouting should be like school. GSUSA needs to take the time to really look at the reason scouts was formed and what it was meant to support and it's not school type work.
- I feel that you need to support the leaders and SU managers more. You have a "BILLION" rules for everything, but when a leader is breaking the rules there are never any consequences and that is really frustrating. In an organization like Girl Scouts the girls should be modeling what the adults are doing, When you have rouge leaders and other volunteers that don't follow our guidelines it sets a very bad example for the girls. Yes, we are volunteers but we can and should dismiss those that are not leading or behaving in the Girl Scout way!!
- I would love for GSUSA to ask leaders more of what they want and what they think. Council staff and GSUSA staff all get paid for their opinion, which does NOT reflect the girls or troops. I have been at 2 prior conventions.. and you TOTALLY rip us off as well. You need to get outside funding. Our CEO of GSCGNY was excellent at the Huston convention when she spoke about just this. I LOVE girl Socuts and my council.
- Boys scouts don't seem to have all these program issues. They do the same things each year and have many members. I thing GSHH and GSUSA should go back to the basics for girls. Camping, crafts, leadership activities, working together as a troop on community services in area. Not so much on educational things since they do enough of,that in schools. Girl Scouts is supposed to be an outlet for,them to learn new things and get along with other girls and work together to,help the community.
- If you make things too "modern" you risk losing the soul of our organization.
- I wish I could fully support GS but feel your highering of certain employees is wrong and you need to choose more carefully when endorsing and honoring women. You have offended many previous members. GS should never be political and should be safe for all girls. Traditional, Christian-judeo members no longer feel welcome.
- Thank you for listening!
- Although I'm unhappy with some things that are happening in Girl Scouting, I still feel it's a very valuable program that continues to benefit girls of all ages (even adult).
- More high-quality Wider Ops!! (a.k.a. Destinations). Yes, we are volunteers, but a monetary appreciation for trainers and program directors would encourage volunteers to go the extra mile to make great programs happen. I would be more involved, beyond the troop level, if I were reimbursed for my time and personal investment into council and service unit level programs and advanced trainings.
- The Interest Patch and Council's Own Patches were a cherished and valued portion of the older Girl Scout program. I would like to see it returned.
- I'm a third generation scout and am fully committed to the movement. But it has come to the stage where I feel like the most important thing offered by the heirarchy is liability insurance and camp facilities. It feels like we have lost our way and like our core culture & identity has become very weak.
- In my opinion, the new council, in western NC has done nothing but tear down girl scouts in this area. Focus on the all mighty dollar instead of the girls. They ARE what it's all about. GSUSA should try to remember that !
- Thanks for allowing me to participate in this survey. Girl scouts did a lot for me as a single adult in the 90s. I was given the opportunity to be a trainer for new leaders. Because of this on my resume, I was finally able to transfer to a professional position in human resources with a main focus on adult training. It saddens me the turn GSUSA took in the last several years with abandoning the badges for journeys. What saddens me even more is the push to take "God" out of the pledge and to promote the lesbian agenda. I understand diversity and I don't a problem working along side people who are different than myself in their views. I have a problem with the marketing and advocating of it to attract more people.
- Keep it simple
- support your volunteers more
- Stop putting our campgrounds up for sale. Council should do more recruiting on their own without pressuring SU to recruit and fundraise for them. That is their job! It is not a volunteers job, volunteers should be focused on the girls in their troops.
- Things change. Sometimes we like it and sometimes we don't. Other times we resist just because we can. I am not my mother or my grandmother nor am I my daughter. My taste in music, clothing, hairstyles, shoes are vastly different. Cookie cutter programs don't work with me. I like to adapt, tweak, explore, be different. Girl Scouts allows me to show my interests to others and for me to learn about their interests. If I can inspire a child to do great things - fantastic! If I can inspire a child to be more then I have accomplished something special. We forget that in all of our complaints about camps closing, cost of cookies, Journeys, etc. We forget that the core of what Juliette wanted was to make a difference in a life - not camping, not community service, not badges. Yes they can produce skills that will help a child out in life however the goal was to show someone cared enough about the life of a young girl and be a mentor to say you can do more and you are more than capable because you are female.
- I think their should be a nation wide listing of all Girl Scout Camps that leaders can access. If it is not set up to allow them to reserve camps across the country, it should at least tell them the requirements for each camp for making reservations.
- There should be a college scholarship program that insects girls to sign up year over year and a big payday for the Gold Award. Build a working, engaged and powerful alumni community. Centralize your infrastructure. It will save you millions of dollars and integrate operation in a powerful way.
- Please eliminate the Journeys. Bring back more badges. It will make the program more fun. It will provide girls and leaders more flexibility to create a troop specific program that will appeal to the girls in their area.
- FIX it, because girls are dropping out of this program in DROVES!!!!
- Don't try to fit into molds. The GS program worked for so many for so long, because it could be adapted to suit the interest of any girl, and any interest. It seems like the recent 15 years of "updates" have left the organization more hollow. Leaders keep going back to the older programs and resources because that program means something. It works. Listen to them and keep offering the programs and supporting them. Leaders have the hands on experience to know what their girls want, and help them lead the way. We aren't trying to fit into the roles that society gives us, we are making our own roles to change society. When you weaken the programs, you are telling the girls that they should conform, not push their limits. Don't hold them back.
- Girls Scouts will be financially solvent when they regain relevancy. I think GS programming needs to offer opportunities that build life skills, success by being challenged, self-confidence through meeting those challenges. Girls already know how to do nail stickers and go to the the mall. They do this ALL THE TIME. No, a good troop adventure is NOT going to Disneyland. They do this with their families already. Don't you see how soft programming, i.e., no camping, is BORING. The girls will smile and enjoy a mall, but will they want to do that again next year, and next year. Will a mall be relevant in their life skill needs? NO! Get back to basics. Keep the National properties. Do everything you can to save the camps. Then support troops by encouraging outdoor skills. Girls love to be in charge. Take them camping!
- I really love the GS and my daughter does too. Despite all of the concerns voiced above, I really do think it is a great organization. Thank you so much for asking these tough questions. I hope the responses are helpful.
- Girl Scouts in a wonderful organization for girls. I thought we weren't supposed to use the word "scouting" connected to Girl Scouts because it represents Boy Scouting.
- Thank you for your time in reading my comments!
- Thank you for your efforts. I am so fearful that this organization who I can honestly say has had a great deal of influence on who I am will disappear. All due to mismangement and a refusal to hear the volunteers in the trenches.
- In GSHHH/Southern Westchester GS has never been able to gain the 'cool' factor. The reason my troop survived through senior year in high school was because the girls were friends. It was rough when varsity sports, school music, clubs, etc. came into play. Seems that BS manages to maintain higher levels of membership in the high school population. Would be great if some form of pro-active marketing could be formed. Not sure what the answer is.I always found that ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY was the key to keeping my girls engaged. Always knowing what the next outing, project, or adventure was kept everybody involved.
- I hope GS will take a look at their own history and then remember the song "Make New Friends". Change is always needed to stay in the interest of the girls but the militant idea that there's something for every girl is delusional! Some girls just don't want to do GS and never will and that's OK! I wish National and local councils would stop trying to brainwash girls into the program! Make the program awesome again and they will join because they actually want to!
- I truly believe that Girl Scouts continues to be a wonderful offering for healthy development for girls of all ages. Programming has severely fallen off in my council area since the realignments. The realignments have taken away the ability for leaders to join together and share and learn from each. Keep plugging to return to some traditional ways married with some contemporary ways to reach the right balance for today's scouts.
- Focus on quality program for older girls and retention in this area.
- I hope improvements are made
- I also think Councils should think outside the box on training. It is very hard for a parent to leave their family for a weekend to obtain the troop camp training certification. What about allowing a certified troop camp person check off another person? I am certified and I could check off my assistant leaders if provided a list of required skills. Our troop could also invite other troops to camp with us and I could check off those leaders. Teach what you can online (I do like that option), but be more flexible is how this certification is earned. I think a lot of troops don't go to camp because the leaders are not certified and I don't think the Councils do enough to promote the camps and let the leaders know how easy it is to take a troop to Camp! If you ever want more of my opinion: (e-mail removed)
- I want to be a Girl Scout forever, but I am afraid that the organization may be on its last legs if it does not improve. Another thought - Keep the volunteers happy and the girls and parents will be happier. I am really tired of being yelled at because I cannot find a troop for a girl because I have no leader. The council took their money, but the girl is ON a Pathway, instead of IN a troop. Back to the basics please.
- Although I am not up to date with the current business and activities of the Girl Scout programs, I do know that the number of. years I was associated with the programs, being a scout myself, a parent of scouts and a leader of troops, they were years that added friendships, learning responsibility, encouraging individualalities, good healthy fun and wonderful memories. Thank you for what you are doing to save the programs and camps.
- It's hard to explain to my Girl Scouts why they have to work so hard for badges that are handed out by other troop leaders to their scouts (seemingly) for no actual effort. The Council doesn't care - we are all encouraged to "change and adapt" the Journeys and curriculum to what we feel our scouts need. What we have done is, as I said before, dumbed down the Girl Scout program to the point that we might as well be selling the vests with patches already on them at the local Walmart stores. If the girls don't actually have to EARN the patches... what ethics, what values are we teaching them? Give the girls more challenges - make them work for their awards... I've seen many, many Silver and Gold awards given for amazingly simple, useless projects with no continuity plan at all - and our recent training (which I paid for) the presenter said all we have to do is ensure that the Scout "thinks/intends" to make the project sustainable...but no action towards that happening is really necessary. Wow, reinforcing that we should just give our daughters the patches, take a photo and go to the store to buy Thin Mint flavored coffee cream. If this isn't what the GSUSA intended...then it's time for a real conversation with those of us in the trenches, trying to battle society to give our girls a fighting chance. A little help from the GSUSA and local councils would be greatly appreciated.
- I think so leaders are better then others an embraces Girl Scouts better then others.
- GSUSA should create and make online training available for the levels (D,B,J,C,) and the leveled Journeys.
- Do not let popular culture influence the Girl Scout program. There are many girls and adults that have left GS for more wholesome, traditional organizations. Girl Scouts used to be more like that description and should still be considered that way. Girl Scouts should be about the mission: building girls of courage, confidence, and character.
- please look at all of my comments. Things are becoming increasingly tense in Girl Scouting because of the lack of Communication inside and outside the organization. Other areas of the organization such as older girls need to be promoted changing the face of girl scouting does not mean selling camps because of the imaginary notion that they get in the way of stem, but rather through the education of everyone on what it means to be a girl scout beyond the scope of a daisy and brownie.
- When members here make a suggestion or ask a question, nothing happens. Well actually, staff get mad, but other than that nothing happens. This is such poor management, and a horrible example to our girls who will probably be in management where ever they work!
- Thank you for allowing members to have a voice through this survey - I hope that we will be heard more clearly & things can go back to being great for all girl scouts around the country!
- Council staff should be polite. Council staff should not talk badly about volunteers where it can be overheard. Council staff should answer questions from volunteers. Answering "I do not know but I will check and get back to you" is a fine answer, assuming they do both try to get an answer and get back to the questioner. Council staff should admit when they do not know an answer -- and NOT make up an answer.
- Thank-you for creating the survey. Hopefully the messages will make a valid point for someone.
- Would really appreciate more local activities, training, and help from council. Feel that council give no leadership help to new troops or existing troops.
- I do not know whether this is a national problem, or isolated to our council, but the website tools for scouts/parents is terrible, and the management/reports systems for leaders are very nearly unusable. This is a universal complaint within my council, not mine alone. Myself and others I know to be VERY tech savy struggle as much as novice users. Testers seem to frequently fail to plan for the unexpected, for one thing. Such as girls with no email address or who do not wish to give a phone number.
- Something is not right with how my council us trying to fix the role if the membership specialist. It went from having a partner to having a point of contact that directs you elsewhere. The staff does not seem to be as committed to my service units success.
- If you have questions about my answers you can reach me (e-mail removed). Good luck on strengthening Girl Scouts!
- Many changes that have taken place regarding finances has been very frustrating and disappointing. Recently it has been the TD bank fee issues. Resolving these issues has been daunting and has added stress and unnecessary work for leaders. Those who don't follow GS guidelines...such as submitting ACH forms....will have no consequences if they are not filed. There has been a lack of faith in the support from GS regarding troop finances and due to the lack of consequences, this has made leaders feel that they are better off doing what is more convenient for them rather than follow GS guidelines.
- Stop killing Girl Scouts please dont let it die. Do something now! Save Scouts.
- Seems odd that some councils have great websites and others are terrible. I would think GSUSA could provide a template that would work for most councils. Give SUMs and Registrars and Recruiters access to the registration system. It is so inefficient to have to call council all the time to find out who is registered. In general, I feel like GSUSA is very removed from the volunteer experience and what we need to be successful. Why doesn't GSUSA partner with organizations that offer resources that can help leaders like Constant Contact or Volunteer Spot or Sign Up Genius or suggest other websites and tools that would help organize events, recruit volunteers and communicate with parents. Why do we all have to reinvent the wheel and figure this stuff out on our own?
- Stop neglecting our camps. Please start repairing/ updating. STOP SELLLING THEM! Our children need them more than ever before!
- Cookies -- SNAP (ABC Bakery) needs a complete redesign to be more spreadsheet-based rather than database/report based. CoCo is too time-consuming and tedious to bother with.
- Having been told that "dinosaurs weren't needed", I have stayed away from GS. I had hoped my granddaughters would be able to be scouts, but they are in TaeKwonDo and right now i feel that it is developing them better than he current scout program would. I earned Curved Bar and my daughter earned her Gold Award. We are both lifetime GS. It's really a shame.
- Thank you for giving me this venue to express my thoughts! I love Girl Scouts but they make it pretty hard sometimes.
- Girl Scouts has been a passion of mine for over 25 years. While I was away so much changed and I was very surprised. I am disappoint in the "feel" of the direction we are moving but I am not giving up yet.
- Please consider adding more badges in a varied of interests. Keep girl scouting fun. The girls will learn the rest while having fun and continue to be a part of GS. Its important!!!!
- SAVE THE CAMPS!!!!!
- I think that when a girl registers if there is not a troop for her to join, she should be given the option to either be a "Juliette" or to get a refund. Most girls join to be a part of a group and I think it is unfair that if that option does not exist, she should be given the option for a refund... not take it or leave ($) it. Maybe consider some interactive web based/conference call training..... folks can call in, listen to an instructor, ask questions and interact with others from the comfort of their homes.
- I would LOVE to see more camping and outdoor options for girls within Girl Scouts!
- I can not stress enough how much more complicated and difficult adding Journeys has made the Program. It's another layer of bureaucracy and paperwork!
- We need our SU back. It was small and intimate. Texas Treasures. I can not participate in this huge community as it stands.
- Being a Troop Leader is the most fun I've ever had.
- I fully support more outdoor pursuits being directly engrained into our Girl Scout curriculum. It should be core to our values and celebrated in a fun, easy to participate and learn way.
- I am a full program product of Girl Scouting and proud of it. Brownie - Junior - Cadette - Mariner - Camp Councilor - Asst. Camp Director - Asst. Leader (Mariners) - Volunteer. I don't understand the devaluing of the outdoor programs that have been at our core since Juliette Low said "I have something for the girls of Savannah and all America, and all the World." She sold her pearls for us - how would she feel about selling camps to fund pensions?
- So much of my community has been talking negatively about girl scouts since all the political controversy that GSUSA has initiated. I've had people call and tell me to cancel their cookie orders. Our girls have been brought into the political conversations that are not appropriate for 10 year olds. My 10 year old didn't know what abortion was until at a recent girl scout event. The hit on the girl scout brand has been tremendous in my area.
- Girl Scouting has had a huge positive impact on my life. There should be more focus on older girl members and keeping girls' interest past elementary and middle school through high school.
- I am a 52 year veteran of GS. My mother, 2 daughters, 3 granddaughters, 6 nieces are all GS's. My husband is also. I have lead 5 troops into adulthood and seen 12 of my girls receive Gold Awards. This is not my mothers Girl Scouts or mine. Neither should it be. This is today's GS's. Together we will figure out what is best for them.
- I'm a dedicated leader with a large troop for six years and didn't register my 6 year old bc I am so disappointed with the direction it is going.
- Our paid staff. as well as our CEO and Board members seem remote and unfamiliar with the function, needs, and accomplishments of our volunteers. Many of our service units are in distant sections of the states, yet most of the emphasis is placed on the more highly populated areas of the Council. For example, our CEO has no concept of the travel time involved in visiting more than one service unit in the same evening, unless it happens to be in the proximity of our largest city where the headquarters is located.
- I have loved Girl Scouting since I was a Brownie, but have become horribly disappointed and frustrated by the program in the last decade. We 've the tradition and heritage that Juliette Low instilled in the program. I feel that since the council merger, we have become disenfranchised and forgotten. I am not willing to travel 60 miles every time a need a meeting or training. Our girls sell cookies to support another area and unfortunately, to bail out GSUSA. A shame. Please fix it.
- Overall, Girl Scouts is a great program for girls, but a terrible program for volunteers. We are overworked and underappreciated. The girls hate the journeys, but we have to basically make them do them anyway. There aren't a lot of options for leaders who throw themselves into these things. The journeys are great for leaders who don't want to get too involved because it plans everything for them..... but what about he leaders who know their girls like the back of their own hands? My girls text me, use social media with me, ask me questions they are too embarrassed to ask their own parents.... I don't need a guide to figure out what to talk about with them. I need a program they can get excited about and the journeys are not them!
- Wow, these questions really scared me. I love Scouts, but I am very afraid for the direction it appears to be going. I have 15 girls, and I have been a leader for 5 years. Previous to that I was a scout for 7 years, and traveled to Savannah to learn about Juliet Lowe. Please don't ruin a meaningful organization in the quest for money and progress.
- I wish we could start a uniform closet or some type of reduced fee for them, and I wish there wasn't so much negative feedback about what our cookie sales are supporting. A lot of moms in this area boycotted cookie sales.
- I'm over it. Tired of not being listened to or valued. We've moved on.
- I firmly believe that many camps weren't well maintained, putting them into states of disrepair that gave councils an excuse to close them. I also believe that trainings, especially required ones, are too hard to find, turning off many leaders. I don't believe that volunteers are valued. GSEP is "going green" and not publishing the Volunteer Essentials book any more. Doing the training will be more difficult and more expensive for the volunteer because we will be footing the bill to print these books.
- Girl Scout appeal (ie T-Shirts) are not made to fit adult women. Even the women sizes don't fit the body of an adult women. I think that of all organizations, The Girl Scouts should put their logo on clothing that is designed to fit girls like girls and adults like adults. I love GS
- Having moved toward right to choose they have endorsed one view of murder, we chose a different organization.
- It is difficult for us to find local programs to take our girls too. In past years things have improved, however, this year, I have noticed that the amount have declined. It is very difficult to take our girls from the southern most part of Illinois to where the council office is located. It is a 1 or 2 + hour drive for the majority of the events.
- Girl Scouts has always been an amazing program. I love volunteering and getting to know the girls. If we can get new leaders recruited, and spend the time and resources to walk them through the process....I think we will have better leaders who are willing to stay on and make the scouting experience amazing.
- I hope the someone will listen to the many responses.
- The recent articles in the Daily Beast and the Non-Profit Quarterly have affirmed my belief that GSUSA is headed on the wrong track. Moreover, in my own neighborhood, the Council leaders have been extremely discourteous to those who reside adjacent the camp. GS used to be "good neighbors"....
- I am concerned with GSUSA getting into "morals" in their program literature. I am frequently asked by people, "Why does GS support abortion/planned parenthood/homosexuality, etc?" I explain the policy that GSUSA is not about a person's personal beliefs about these issues, but about teaching girls to be better leaders and about service opportunities. Then I am teaching from the Cadette Journey, Girltopia, and there is an example in the book about girls using their Take Action Project to raise awareness about homosexuality in their school. I understand that it was pertaining to bullying, but this example directly supports a specific lifestyle, when it could have been about bullying in general. As this was only in the Leader's manual, I did not use this example, as I know that my parents would not agree with the image that it projects. It does make it hard for me to say, "GS is not about specific lifestyles" when they use examples that are about specific choices that are controversial.
- More leader curriculum training needs to be offered.
- Streamline the girl scout cookie program between councils. Same price, council set up the booths and be more sensitive to the volunteers and their time.
- Hope these comments (mine & others) help to shape our future. My main concern is to see good outdoor programming so that the girls now get the great experiences my daughter & I had.
- Need more space in our area. Shop.is really small too. Paid staff should do more of the recruiting efforts rather than volunteers.
- There is one last area that I feel GSUSA is overlooking – alumnae. A couple of years ago I was invited to join as an alumnus. I have yet to receive mail or anything of consequence regarding being an alum. This could be such a valuable resource for recruiting leaders, girls, funding, activities if properly cultivated. I could write so much more, both good and bad. I feel as though I have done nothing but complain in this survey, but lately we leaders have felt increasing frustration with our Council. I have been a leader for 9 years and have loved most of my experience. I have a great deal of respect for many of the people who work for our Council and what they are trying to accomplish. However, as a businesswoman with nearly 30 years of experience in logistics and communications, I just see so much that could be done better. Promotion of activities is inadequate; availability of both necessary and nice to have items in our GS shop is inadequate; publicity and promotion of the metal awards isn't adequate; and logistics/preparation for Council events that I have attended have been, again, lacking. I would love to have the opportunity to help fix some of these problems.
- I know you are trying, but but stop remaking the world. It is round not flat.
- Training for leaders can be difficult to obtain. Especially outdoor training. I've been a leader for years and I cannot seem to get the time to get both the prep session and the actual weekend into my schedule.
- The Girl Scout movement has become one of making profit. Maybe they shouldn't even qualify as non profit anymore. Along the way, the leaders of this organization have lost sight of the vision of Juliette Low- and the needs of the girls.
- Girl Scouts need to fall back on more traditional values! Also, Why is Wicca not considered a religion in their eyes? My child can't even earn the My Promise My Faith pins! I know other non-christian religions are acceptable, why is Wicca any different? Same basic morals and God is God!
- my council (council removed) needs an over haul of leadership because most of the employees are afraid to say "no, not a good idea" because they fear they will get fired. There are some major employees that need to be fired because they are standing in the way of our council being the best that they can be. On the other hand, my SU (# removed) is doing beyond what I would expect someone who is just a volunteer could do. She is amazing and all the events from the SU level are awesome and amazing. All the council events I have attended have left me disappointed. I hope my feedback will help someone look into why my council leaves me wishing for different leadership and my non paid volunteer SU leader makes me want for more. I appreciate any feedback or comments at (e-mail removed), thank you.
- Thank you for listening.
- When I went to volunteer for camp cleanup men dominated the process too much. We were relegated to indoor cleaning activities. Only the most old-fashioned of tools were proved for that- the men had all the power equipment. Sexism seems to have reasserted itself in Girl Scouting. There was almost no attempt to cleanup the trails and no preparation for cleaning up trails made, i.e., tools provided, maps and guidelines or leadership for trail remediation. The leadership is willfully pushing outdoor activities and girls and women's physical development and autonomy out of the program.
- I love that Girl Scouts does not take a particular stance on controversial topics such as LGBT issues, abortion, and Planned Parenthood. While I feel this is an ideal organization to support these feminist issues, I think our stance is great the way it is, because it can appeal to more girls; all girls can get something out of Girl Scouting, regardless of their (or their family's) political views. And I am so very thankful that girls and leaders that identify with lesbian or bisexual sexual orientation can seek refuge in an organization that treats them as they are - just ordinary people. I just wish more people would take the time to find out our stances and understand them before promoting boycotts and the like!
- There is too much emphasis put on cookie sales. Whenever anyone unrelated to Girl Scouts thinks of it the first thing they think about is cookies. This should not be the case, it should be thought of a place where girls can build strong leadership, speaking, and interpersonal skills and where they can be their self and become more confident in them self. When girls get older most drop out of Girl Scouts because it is viewed as weird. But Girl Scouts can honestly be the best thing in a girls life because of the friendships it builds. Great friendships of all ages can be built and maintained and that is a major part of Girl Scouts.
- I can't tell you how many times my high-school age Girl Scouts are told "I didn't know you could still be a Girl Scout after elementary school." We are not getting the message across very well, and I think expanding past cookies is the answer.
- Given the rapidly changing interests of girls in a fast-paced media-centric world, Girl Scout leadership needs to focus sharply on becoming agile in responding to the ever changing state of girls in America.
- Girl scouts always says there are not enough older girls in girl scouting. It is because their are never any programs that were made for the older girls. When we did find something we liked the program was canceled for not enough people. There are hardly any of us at all of course you are not going to get the same numbers as the younger girls. Change
- Poor communication and lack of direction are two big negatives I've experienced. I love that GS is so flexible. I don't like feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing and not being able to easily get information or advice.
- Journeys aren't 100% bad they were just released too soon and they need editing.
- Save Our Camps! They are our Future, not just our past...
- Girl scouts is about girl interactions, having fun and learning new things in the process. I don't feel this is what the program is about anymore and your losing girls because of it. Career choices at the Daisy level... really? This may be my last year if involvement.
- I treasure the time I had as a scout with my mom as leader as we'll as the years I led my own daughters and their friends. I developed many friendships that last through the years and feel honored to be part of the program.
- In addition to being a troop leader, I'm a member of the SU team. I've given Orientation Training and am now the Registrar. I know many of the old and new leaders. One common theme is that they are very unhappy with the Journeys. We yearn for a return to the badge-only method. We are not convinced that it builds leaders and that ignores the fact that not all girls want to be leaders and never will be. We shouldn't be changing their nature, just exposing them to lots of opportunities in many areas to discover who they are, whatever that may be.
- make it easier for leaders to get certifications i.e.; archery etc. and also keep in mind setting up a series such as archery in the middle of a school week is unreasonable and inaccessible for most kids and parents.. there are also activities at counsel that are hosted in the middle of the work week around 4/5pm.. if there is an event girl scouts needs to consider most parents work and the girls need to do their homework (and get to bed at a decent hour)..there needs to be more activities/events ached. on a Fri/Sat/Sun at a decent time
- As a 30+ member of Girl Scouting, I am very upset about how Girl Scouting is changing and the activities and opportunities girls are missing out on. Having had the experience as their leader, to participate with two daughters and a granddaughter from 1st through 12th grade, and to observe the mature young women they became has been a highlight of my life. They truly became women of courage, confidence, and character with outstanding leadership qualities.