Survey Results: Take Action Projects

This is the third in a series of posts drawn from responses to a survey I ran about GSUSA programming.  If you want to know what type of people responded to the survey, read this  linked post.  

This post reviews the questions dealing with Take Action Projects on the different levels.  I stated that I thought that for TAPs, GSUSA wanted the girls to identify a problem, learn about things related to the problem, and then design and create a sustainable solution to the problem.  I asked if people agreed with that definition.

Survey Results: What I Ordered and What I Got

This post is to report the results of a survey I did of members of Facebook Girl Scout Leader groups.  My questions were designed to elicit opinions about the Girl Scout program as GSUSA has designed it and promulgates it at this time.  

Who Responded

To determine how much weight to give to the results of any survey it is useful to know who is responding.  80% of those who responded to my survey were troop leaders, 18% were co-leaders, 26% were other Girl Scout volunteers. 2% were council staff and 52.2% were parents of a Girl Scout.  222 people responded to this question.

Girl Scout Leaders: Your Turn to Talk about Badges

 I recently asked a bunch of members of Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders to respond to a lengthy survey on Girl Scout Programming.  The final question was a free space for them to say whatever they wanted to say.  Since these folks were nice enough to participate, I think giving their comments space on my blog is important.  The comments I am putting on this post all deal with badges.  I have edited them for clarity, punctuation, and to make the post more readable, but the thoughts belong to those who responded to the survey, not to me.  Feel free to add your comment in the comments section below.

Girl Scout Leaders: Your Turn to Talk about Take Action Projects

 

All too often it seems there is a disconnect between what the folks from GSUSA send us and what boots on the ground leaders and girls are looking for.  As a blogger, I get information for some of my posts by posting surveys on Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders.  Recently I posted one asking questions about the program in general, and at the end, I had a free space that allowed posters to say whatever they wanted.  This post is a compilation of  some of those responses.  A lot of my survey addressed Take Action Projects, and many of the comments left dealt with them.  Below are the comments I have received on Take Action Projects. 

My Christmas Survey: A Closer Look

I'm old as dirt and my upbringing reflects that. Though I attended public schools after the Supreme Court ruled against school prayer, the unspoken rule was to see what you could get away with. My elementary school had a Nativity pageant with traditional Christmas carols. One teacher asked if we had been to church or Sunday School for Easter. A daily devotional was blasted over the intercom when I was in junior high. There was clearly an expectation that "everyone" was Christian, or at least should be. Of course, even in those days, not everyone was.

Christmas: An Outsider's View

 I recently ran a survey of members of a bunch of Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders about what was appropriate to do during the holiday season.  You can read about the survey results here.

One question I asked was "For those who are non-Christian or who do not celebrate Christmas is there anything you wish you could tell the rest of us about the holiday season and your children?"  This post is a compilation of the responses to that question.  I know it is long but I really thought the best way to share these people's thoughts was to show them in a fashion only edited for clarity, spelling etc., so grab your favorite drink, put up your feet and scroll away. Each paragraph below is the response of a different person.  

Holiday Celebrations with Diverse Troops

I will do my best to be...considerate and caring...to respect myself and others...and be a sister to every Girl Scout.  We begin all our Girl Scout meetings with these words, but do we live up to them?  

I am writing this the Sunday before Thanksgiving and a few days ago I was perusing my Facebook feed which includes quite a few Girl Scout leader Facebook groups and the topic of holiday parties came up.  I don't remember what I read, but I know the thought crossed my mind "Would the non-Christian she is talking about see it that way?" What I read wasn't someone saying "We are a Christian troop, you can choose to belong or not", or "everyone is declaring war on Christmas".  Rather it was someone who sounded like she wanted to be open and inclusive who said something that struck me as not quite right.