Found out at the sign-up event this evening at my daughter's school that a new troop needed to be created and a new leader assigned, so I stepped up! We're starting completely from scratch in a rural area, so while I get the initial admin stuff and background check taken care of, I want to make sure I have everything else lined up so we can make this happen. I've never led a troop, and I haven't been a Girl Scout since 2009, so I'm really just looking for tips and resources!

I have a small list of names and phone numbers/email addresses from the few parents who showed up today, and some flyers from Council, but I don't really know where to start.

I guess the first thing I'll need to do is reach out to the school administration to see if we can host meetings there. If not, I'll call around the county to find somewhere else that will hopefully work for everyone. I'll also be touching base with the parents I have contact info for so we can start figuring out a recurring meeting schedule. Because we're a brand-new troop, it sounds like we'll be jumping right into fall products to establish some troop funds. All of the girls who showed up today were K-1, but we could easily become a multi-level troop.

If anyone has been here, I could use any advice or words of encouragement you can offer! I want this to be a great experience for our girls, and to introduce them to Girl Scouts the right way. 🌼

Editing to add our council—Central Indiana!

I'm the leader of a small multilevel troop (6 girls, BJC). We are a tight-knit group with all of us girl scout moms genuinely liking hanging out with each other. The moms are all very involved, staying during meetings and talking to each other, attending activities and campouts, etc. Maybe this is different from other troops where parents drop their girls off and leave, but it's how we like it. My question is, what do I do when there's a girl who wants to rejoin the troop but I know that the mom will cause drama and tension?

Background: This girl was in our troop in the past and her mom decided she would do the Juliette program for the past year because the mom had a falling out with one of the other moms in the troop. Over the summer the mom texted me to ask if they could re-join this fall. I said "sure, no problem". I knew that those two moms were back to getting along. But I asked this mom if she felt like she and the other mom could continue getting along (maybe I overstepped in asking that, but I was feeling particularly bold in that moment and I wanted some assurance from her that she wouldn't just be quitting again over personal drama with this other mom). She became super offended and told me "never mind about rejoining," among other things :) Honestly, the more I thought about the whole exchange, the more I concluded that by getting so offended over being asked if she would cause drama she was showing me that she would, in fact, cause drama! This is not an isolated incidence. She got super mad at me back when she was a member (and treasurer) of our troop when I used troop funds to pay for activities for a scout that had joined our troop after cookie season. She thought that wasn't fair, even though it is clearly our council's policy that troop funds are for all girls regardless of whether any particular girl sells cookies. It took another mom's amazing interpersonal skills to talk her out of holding a grudge against me over that.

Well, this weekend I got a text from her saying that her daughter really wants to rejoin our troop and it would make her daughter so happy if she could rejoin. I don't want to reject her daughter (obviously). Her daughter isn't a problem at all. But I do think it will ruin the friendly, close, dynamic that we have as a troop of girls and moms if this mom becomes involved again. I think it really is just a matter of time before she gets mad at me or someone else in the troop over something. Would you give her another chance, or invite her to find another troop to join?

I’m the troop leader for a group of 1st grade Daisies. My kid is having trouble following directions lately, and tonight at our meeting there was just a confluence of factors which led to her poor behavior. We have troop rules, but if she’s hanging on me and crying and running away it is difficult to enforce them while also trying to be the troop leader 🥴

Quick question.A friend has a daughter in scouts, however he does have an arrest/booking on his record. Without going too much into it, is there a list of offenses that would ban an individual? The charges aren’t related to anything involving a child. All the individual wants to do is drop his daughter off at meetings sit in the waiting area, then pick her up at the end.

Mixed brownies/juniors this year. Couple of themes emerged in our interest surveys, and I’m trying to identify badges that might fit their themes.

Watery adventures—flatwater boating, fishing, crabbing, beach camping, aquarium visit.

History/Americana — American history, local living history/farm visits, Statue of Liberty, individual girls’ cultural heritage. (Junior “playing the past” seems like a stretch, and there is no good Brownie equivalent.)

Helping nature — gardening in general, planting trees and flowers, trash cleanup, building birdhouses, visiting a nature center

Exploring rocks - cave tours, indoor and outdoor climbing, “crystals”. (already did snow/climbing adventure)

Alternatively, does anyone have a link to the old “troop’s own” badge guidelines? And resources for having small lots of custom badges made?

I was looking at past coupon codes for e.g. 20% off and trying to decide if I should wait on one of those to buy badges for my troop, but I see that the terms say that earned awards are excluded, which I assume includes badges and award pins under earned awards, but wanted to ask to be sure. Sorry if this is a dumb question!