You’ve paid your membership, passed the background check, watched the welcome video, perused some of our online trainings, and selected a meeting space (perhaps you even picked up a few tips from moi?)
The time has come… to hold your first troop meeting.
Are you nervous? That’s okay.
Worried that you’re not ready? I totally get that.
But believe me when I tell you- you’re going to do great!!! And I’m here (along with my fellow Troop Support rockstars) to make sure that things go as smoothly as possible and that you are as prepared as you’ll ever be!
BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Know that it’s okay to not have all of the details worked out yet. There are some things that you are going to want to figure out with the troop rather than for the troop- like meeting logistics, finances, materials, etc.
PREP WORK: Decide on the date, time, and location of your first meeting. Depending on where you are at in your planning process you may have already determined some of these components.
SEND OUT INVITES: I love a good evite but a regular email, or handwritten invite (fancy!) works too. I decided to make life ASAP (as simple as possible) by drafting up a template for what to include in an invite but I definitely encourage you to customize the language to make it your own:
Hello (daughter) and (parents)! Welcome to Girl Scouts! My name is (your name); I will be the leader for troop (####). It’s my 1st year as a leader and I am looking forward to meeting you all and planning out this next year of Girl Scouting together! I would like to invite you to the first troop family meeting on (date) at (time) at (location). This meeting will give us a chance to meet one another, talk about what the year is going to look like, make some decisions on meeting details, and have some serious FUN! Please RSVP via email (your email address) or phone (your phone number) by (date). Yours in Girl Scouting, (your name)PLANNING THE MEETING: This document covers all of your first meeting essentials- meeting agenda, supplies list, etc. And to save you some time I have included links to all of the forms mentioned:
- Girl Activity Supplies
- Adult Registration Forms and Girl Registration Forms <<< these are only needed for adults and girls who haven’t purchased a Girl Scout membership yet.
- Health History Form
- Permission Slips
- Financial Assistance Forms
- Starter Kit Forms
Do you have questions before the big day? You can ALWAYS call us or email us with questions!
We hope that you have an AMAZING start to your Girl Scout year!
–Brianna