The New Daisy Program: Some Comments From Long Term Leaders

Over the twenty years I have spent as a Girl Scout leader, I've had Daisies for at least six of them.  Today I spoke to Gail, who is also a long term leader.  Gail has led Daisies for five years. 

What brought about our conversation is that in connection with its current bid to raise the registration fee from $25 to $85, GSUSA put out a list of priority spending goals, one of which was to better support new leaders via, among other things, "Experience Boxes".  This year all new Daisy leaders are getting these boxes so I put out a call on some Facebook groups asking for leaders to interview, as I do not have Daisies this year and therefore have not seen these boxes.  Gail responded and I appreciate the time she took to speak to me.  

Gail said that while she might take an activity from VTK, she did not regularly use it and tended to use Google and Pinterest to help her plan meetings.  

After speaking with Gail, I remembered that GSUSA came out with new Daisy programming this year to replace the Flower Friends found in the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting, so I headed to VTK to take a look at what was there.  

Welcome to Girl Scouts

Experience Box

According to Gail, the first box was for your first "Welcome to Girl Scouts" meeting.  She sent me some pictures

The box also contained a script for the leader.

Gail told me that the meeting included learning the GS Promise, going over the GS Law and learning the GS Handshake and GS Sign and Quiet Sign.  She thought it was a bit much talking for the first meeting.

There was also a get-to-know you game where girls were supposed to tell other girls things about themselves.  She felt they needed more direction so she told her girls what to tell the partner--such as tell them your favorite color.  

The beads for the craft came packaged for each girl, and included letters that said "Friends".  While they had some difficulty with getting the letter beads in the right order for all the girls, and of course we all know you can't do a bead craft without some ending up on the floor, in general the girls were able to do the craft and enjoy it.  Everything they needed for the craft was in the box, which is a real help to Daisy troops that have not accumulated supplies yet.  

The scripted meeting ended with a friendship circle and singing Make New Friends and that is how Gail ended her meeting.  

Gail told me that the meeting as planned with the box was not enough activity for her 1.5 hour meeting.  Her experience and expertise made her adapt the introduction activity given, and she added additional activities to fill her meeting.  

In general, Gail believed the box would be helpful to a new leader and believed the activities were appropriate, though she believed covering the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Law in one meeting created too much leader talking, so she chose to wait to to introduce the Law.  When asked to give it a grade, she gave it a B-.  

VTK Plans

Since VTK is supposed to have plans for all awards, I checked for the Promise Center, as that was the award earned via the first Experience Box.

At the first meeting in VTK there are simultaneous parent and girl meetings.  The girls start off making name tags, and then during the opening circle, the girls learn the Girl Scout Promise, the Girl Scout Sign, the Girl Scout handshake and the Quiet Sign, and the methods of teaching them are the old reliable ones leaders have been using for  years.  They offer a virtual option which is having the girls talk to their families about what the GS Promise and Law mean.  

Next, the plan calls for a "Daisy to Daisy" game where girls pair up, touch each other as told ("elbow to elbow" for example) and then tell the partner something about themselves.  

The final pre-clean-up activity in VTK is a Concentration/Memory game with cards of the Flower Friends.  However, there is no real discussion of the Girl Scout Law, or the Flower Friends. Then after a clean-up song and session, there is a closing friendship circle and singing of Make New Friends

New Daisy Handbook 

GSUSA has come out with a new Daisy Handbook this year. I haven't seen it, and there is not much of a preview available online, so I can't say how it coordinates with VTK or the Experience Box.  

Honest and Fair

Experience Box

Gail told me that she hasn't gotten a chance to really dig into the "Honest and Fair" Box, but that it includes some type of pom-pom craft. 

VTK 

After opening circle, VTK has the troop pick between playing "Truth or Lie" where girls tell the group one true fact about themselves and one lie, and then the group tries to guess which is which, or to play tag, where at first the person who tags them says "out" when they tag someone and later where they don't--the girls are just supposed to remove themselves if tagged.  Then you discuss being honest and fair.  

Next they do a treat-splitting activity to practice being honest and fair or they do a scavenger hunt where the leader talking points talk about whether it is easier to work by yourself or with a team. 

For the final activity, girls either play a game (after the leader talks about being honest and fair) or they makes signs saying honest, dishonest, fair, and not fair. These are hung in the space and then the leader gives examples and the girls move to the proper sign.  

VTK provides the list of examples for the final game, a sheet with the "Daisy Promise and Law", a sheet showing the girls what to find in the scavenger hunt, and an "Equality vs Equity" handout which VTK has you discussing with the treat-sharing activity.   

My Comments

When I gave my opinion on the increase in membership fees, two of the things I said were 

1. I didn't trust GSUSA to improve programming and
2. Putting bad programming in a box and mailing it to new leaders doesn't help

I'm still not in favor of the large increase in membership fees, but I think that on the Daisy level anyway GSUSA is getting close to where they need to be programming-wise.

I remember when I started.  I went to two different training classes and learned all about whatever it was GSUSA was basing the program on back then--processes, learning outcomes and of course, girl-led.  What I did not learn in those classes and what I could not find in the books I bought was what a Girl Scout meeting was supposed to look like.  The scripted meetings in the Experience Box and VTK solve that problem though personally I'd prefer more of an outline and less of a script.  I realize you do not have to read the script or follow it word-for-word but it just turns out to be a lot to read especially for leaders who have reading disabilities or otherwise do not read well.  There are just so many better ways to present that information than in those pop-up boxes or in the walls of text given in VTK.  

Since I have Cadettes this year, not Daisies, I am not going to take the time to look at all the Petal plans but my impression of the meetings I reviewed is that they are on the right track.  I thought the offered activities were engaging and age-appropriate.  I do not think the VTK activities are going to get you through an hour-long meeting, and I think the plans are a little heavy on the leader talk.  

I am all for having a variety of activities and ideas for meeting goals.  Still, I'm curious why the Experience Box has different scripts and activities than VTK does.  Are the petal plans in VTK just the Flower Friends plans minus the stupid stories?  Especially for relatively simple concepts like the petals, I'd rather see GSUSA develop and publish a variety of activities on the theme, leaving it to leaders to pick the ones that work their troop, location, timeframe etc.  In other words, instead of writing one script for VTK and another for the Experience Box give me a list of 10 "Honest and Fair" crafts, games and activities.

As noted above, I have no idea what is in the new Daisy Handbook or how it coordinates with the other materials.  I'd love to hear from someone who has reviewed it and/or used it.  

I'm glad GSUSA is realizing that we have to support our new leaders if we want them to stick around, and if well-done, I think these boxes could be a help.  I'd be more apt to make them a paid subscription (but at a reasonable price) as opposed to a "freebie" supported by general membership dues.  For one thing, everyone tends to value things they pay for more than they do freebies.  For another, some people don't need the boxes and won't use them and it is not using resources wisely to ship what ends up being trash to people. 

Survey Result

 For whatever reason, Facebook would not link to my post about my survey results.  You can find it here.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Survey Results: Should GSUSA Raise Its Registration Fee

 I've been running surveys on this blog for a few years now and I've NEVER had one generate near the responses this one did.  2142 people responded.  88.2% said the were Girl Scout leaders and parents (not surprising for a survey promulgated on Girl Scout leader Facebook groups). 8.6% were non-parent volunteers.  The remaining 3.2% were mostly parent volunteers who added positions like SU manager or Lifetime Member.  In other words, the people who responded are the backbone of the organization when it comes to delivering the program to the girls.

Family Finances

28.8 of those who responded said that their family had plenty of money for needs and reasonable wants. 45.3% said that their needs were easily met, but they sometimes had to say no to reasonable wants due to money.  21.3% Said their family sometimes had trouble with needs and often had to say no to wants.  4.6% said they had trouble with needs on a regular basis.  

DEIRJ

Because GSUSA's graphic about the proposed increase listed DEIRJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice)  training and resources as the top priority I was curious whether people thought that was where additional money should be spent, and whether people's racial/ethnic background made a difference in their responses.  About 81% identified themselves as being of European descent, white or Caucasian.  5.6% said they were Hispanic,  and 1.4% claimed African heritage. 

Regarding GSUSAs plan to spend on DEIRJ, I gave four choices.  Those choices and the percent of people who chose each were:

1. I'm against it; if people want to be separate from those different from them that's their right and GSUSA should let them be. 62 responses, 2.9%
2. If we are obeying the GS Law, we are meeting DEIRJ goals.  No need to spend money here. 993 responses, 46.6%
3. I am in favor of GSUSA's DEIRJ goals and programming in this area, but I'm not convinced more money needs to be spent here. 902, 42.3%
4. GSUSA should absolutely put additional resources toward DEIRJ. 174 or 8.2%

I asked people to identify their racial/ethnic background to see if there was a difference in the way people from different backgrounds saw this question.  I separated out a few of the major ethnic groups, and also looked at those who identified as European, White or Caucasian.  I looked both at the White/Caucasian group and the group of those identified an ethnic background other than that.  Finally, I looked at those who chose not to respond or gave what I considered to be non-responsive answers.  Results are below. Boxes show raw numbers and precents.

Ethnic Background	Against	Follow GS Law	In favor of goals,  not convinced  more money needed	In favor of goals and  additional spending
Asian	0      0%	6   40%	6      40%	3    20%
African	2      6%	8   26%	18    60%	2    6%
Hispanic	5     4.1%	57   47.5%	43    35.8%	15  12.5%
Not European/ White/ Caucasian	12   4.6%	114   44.5%	99    38.67%	31  12.1%
No Response	6     3.7%	106    65%	41   25.3%	10    6.1%
European/ White/ Caucasian	45   2.6%	781   45.27%	763   44.23%	136   7.8%
Overall	2.9%	46.6%	42.3%	8.2%

There were comments on Facebook complaining about this question and finding it biased.  If you do not believe one of these answers describes your opinion on the topic of whether GSUSA should have DEIRJ at the top of their spending priorities, I'd love to know how you would have worded it.  

There were those who objected to me asking for ethnic data, but I thought looking at this information by ethnic group was important.  

Experience Boxes

A top goal listed by GSUSA was to provide Experience Boxes for Daisy leaders.  I asked what people thought of these:

About First Year Experience Boxes for Brownies, folks said 

When asked if they would buy a "Badge in a Box" for older girls, people responded:

Digital Cookie

Improving the digital cookie platform is on the goal list if dues are raised to $45.00.  20% of people said the platform was horrible and needed to be improved. 57% said it was ok, but could use improvement. 15.4% did not see how it could be improved and 7.2% did not use it and did not want to use it.

Older Girl Program

36% of those who responded were not familiar with the older girl program.  25%  said it had hits and misses and 21% said that it generally left a lot to be desired. 7% said it was awful and 2.6 % said great. 3.6% said that the recent materials were good. 

Regarding the  Higher Awards, 45% said that GSUSA needed to ditch the whole TAP concept.  28.3% of those who answered said that the requirements for Gold, Silver and Bronze were spot-on and that the program was successful.  28.3% thought the requirements were spot-on, but that leaders don't properly teach girls to do Take Action Projects. 

Here is what people had to say about older girl badges

  

If GSUSA gets the $85 they want, they say they will develop new handbooks and consolidated badge books with culturally relevant programming.  I asked if that should be a goal.  66% said no, the future is digital and the books won't sell.  27.4% said they would buy a handbook, but less than 7% said they would feel comfortable asking the girls to buy a $25 handbook.  

Marketing/Outreach

Several of GSUSA's goals have to do with marketing and outreach.  While "School Partnerships" was not defined, it is something they want to do.  I asked about the relationship between GSUSA and the schools people's children attend.  17% of the schools do not allow outside organizations, including Girl Scouts to recruit or meet on-site. Only 2.5% of schools allowed outside groups, but not Girl Scouts, to recruit or meet. 11% of the schools allow outside groups, but do not currently have Girl Scouts at school.  32% of people say that Girl Scouts recruits at their school and has troops that are mainly girls from the school but that they do not meet at school. 11% have one troop that meets at school and 22% have multiple troops.  4.4% say that council has done outreach activities at school but that there are no volunteer-run troops.  

When asked whether they would prefer that a $5.00 increase to put towards outreach to schools or communities lacking Girl Scouts went to national or council, 78% said the money should go to council, kept local;  only 10% said that sending it to national would allow us to be sisters to those in areas where Girl Scouts was less well established. 7% said to send it to council as national is horrible with money and 5% wanted it to go to national because their counsel is bad with money.  For the record, the $5 figure was mine, as far as I know there is no such figure in GSUSA's budget.  

79% of people do not believe GSUSA or their council need to spend additional money on marketing.  21% believe they should.  

Here are the marketing types people have seen recently

Now for the Finances

11.6% of those who responded supported GSUSA's request for $85 Registration Fee.  88.4% did not. 

37.3% would keep dues at $25 next year.  44.2% would raise them to $35. 14.2% would give them $45 and 4.2% would make them more than $45.00

As we all know, the registration fee is only the beginning of what Girl Scouts costs.  We pay troop dues,  buy insignia, uniforms and other materials and we pay for troop events and activities.  I asked how much people thought it was reasonable to ask parents to pay per year for  non-activity expenses of Girl Scouts.   Here are the responses

One thing GSUSA is proposing is giving some of the increased revenue back to the councils to pay for increased financial assistance to girls whose families cannot afford the registration fee.  145 of the people who responded said they currently get financial assistance; 1825 do not.  649 said they would need financial assistance if the fee was increased to $65; 1260 would not.  

I also asked who had girls on financial assistance.  855 said they do, 640 said they do not, 203 did not know, but would be surprised if girls were and 369 did not know but would not be surprised if some were.  

It did not surprise me to learn that those with more family financial security were more apt to give GSUSA the requested increase

Financial Status	In favor of $85  increase	Not in favor of $85  increase
Have plenty for needs and wants	100    16.6%	501    83.3%
Plenty for needs, limited wants	105    10.97%	852    89.03%
Sometimes have trouble with needs	31      6.9%	416   93.1%
Often have trouble with needs	5       4.1%	92     95.9%

I also looked at the amount people thought it was reasonable to ask parents to pay for the miscellaneous costs of Girl Scouting, not counting events and activities by family financial status.

Financial Status	Under $25	$25-50	$50-75	$75-100	Over $100
Have plenty for needs and wants	39 6.4%	193 32%	124 20.56%	174 28.85%	73 12.1%
Plenty for needs, limited wants	73 7.62%	347 36.25%	198 20.68%	262 27.37%	77 8.04%
Sometimes have trouble with needs	63 14.28%	181 40.40%	94 20. 98%	81 18%	22 4.9%
Often have trouble with needs	25 27.47	43 47.2%	15 16.4%	7 7.6%	1 1.09%

I also looked at what people proposed as dues for next year. Not surprisingly, those with more disposable income were willing to pay more.

Financial Status	$25	$35	$45	More than $45
Have plenty for needs and wants	184 30.51%	267 44.27%	122 20.23%	30 4.97%
Plenty for needs, limited wants	364 37.99%	431 44.98%	127 13.25%	36 3.75%
Sometimes have trouble with needs	183 41.30	203 45.82%	43 9.7%	14 3.16%
Often have trouble with needs	53 79.1%	30  $44.77%	7  10.44%	4  4.25%

One question in my mind when it comes to financial assistance, is how many people would use it vs how many would just say Girl Scouts is too expensive.  Of the 97 people who said they regularly have trouble with needs, 42 (43%) are on financial assistance. Of those who said they sometimes have trouble with needs, 68 of 453  (15.01%) use financial assistance.  Of the 965 who said they sometimes have to say no to wants, 29 (3%) use financial assistance.  4 of the 613 (0.65%)who said they had plenty for needs and wants said they were on financial assistance. 

My Comments

Financially, I'm in the group that doesn't have to worry.  I realize that makes it easy for me to say that it is ok to increase the registration fee to some extent.  I do think the registration fee should be raised some, but not to $85.   

I have two almost opposite concerns about raising the registration fee too much.

The first is that it will keep people from signing up for Girl Scouts.  As I said, money isn't a problem at my house and I wouldn't think twice about paying $25 to sign my kids up for something.  At $85 I would think twice, and would give serious consideration to whether the activity was worth it and whether my child would stick with it.  I wrote a post a few years about about how that might be a good thing but if the goal is to increase numbers, I think too much of an increase will be counter productive.

The second concern I have is that we are going to end up with too many girls on financial assistance, thus basically costing councils more money. Financial assistance money comes from the council budgets and most of that money comes from cookies.  If councils need more money, are they going to take a bigger piece of the cookie pie?  Or are they going to charge/raise council dues?

That puts you in a position where troops need to sell more cookies to get the same profits, but then need to spend more of those profits on registration fees.  Also, in our council, financial assistance only pays your first registration fee. Girls on financial assistance are expected to sell cookies and the first use of cookie money is supposed to be re-registration.  

Also, as I stated in a prior post, I don't trust GSUSA to be good stewards of the money. As I noted in that post, I don't think putting bad program material in a box and mailing it to leaders is going to solve leaders' problems with planning and so far I haven't seen any evidence from GSUSA that programming is going to improve. 

I understand that girls in GSUSA's traditional audience are not joining in the numbers they once did, and it makes sense to reach out to other audiences, but I question whether the lack of diversity resources/training is why we have trouble recruiting in some communities.  I read through GSUSA's latest annual report that devoted more print to DEIRJ than to any other single topic and they never mentioned what I believe to be the biggest obstacle to forming troops in low-income communities, namely lack of volunteers.  I didn't commission a huge study, so maybe I'm wrong about that, but my community has a lot of Girl Scout troops in the private schools used by the middle class (and those troops are as diverse as the schools are) and very few in the public schools used by the poor.  

Other People's thoughts

If you go to my general url and scroll past this post you will find a number of posts with other people's comments on this.