Multi-level benefits

I started leading in August of 2002 with a group of 8 kindergartners and 1 co-leader. I was also pregnant with twins and gave birth to them in March of my first year leading. I did not bring them to meeting, they have a father and there is no reason why he can not watch them for this 1-2 hours twice a month. I do not allow siblings to attend meetings or events (unless they are also in our troop), but more about "tagalongs" on a future post.

We kept our troop just the one grade for 4 years, adding girls and another co-leader.

Then my youngest aged in as a pre-k Daisy, this was allowed by my council at that time. My co-leader suggested instead of starting a whole other troop to just have a second level and we could take turns leading them in separate areas of the meeting room. So this is how our multi-level began. My plan was to never have any girls younger than my youngest daughters age and we stayed this way for 2 years. Then my co-leader got custody of her granddaughter and we added daisies again. Since then we have had almost every grade level, every year, so we can add the younger siblings of existing troop members.

So after 15 years of leading, this year I have 45 girls 1st-10th and 6 co-leaders, 2 asst leaders, 2 camp helpers and 1 camp chef. I am the troops 01/admin, plan all events/camps and I run the 8th grade cadette group. I also run the senior group every other meeting and have a co-leader who retired last year coming back this year to lead them part-time. My junior leader also retired last year but came back this year because she missed it.

It is much easier for families with multiple girls to have them in one troop vs trying to work out a schedule of two different meeting days and events etc.

I also find that it is good for the younger girls to see older girls still engaged in girl scout life right there with them. The little ones have built in big sister scouts and the big ones have little scouts that look up to them so they are more likely to think about what image they are projecting to the little ones.

We have extra benefits and privileges that the "tan vests" get which is probably why we have 25 C/S/A girls this year. We rarely lose a girl in middle school. We also have a big trip for girls in their senior year of high school.

We had 7 12th graders last year who we took to Disney World for a week for their end of scouts trip. They earned money to pay for all 10 of us to go with no out of pocket expense. They ran large themed camps and journey in a day events.

These 7 girls aged out at the end of last year, 2 of them were the first to members of our troop. 5 of these bridged to adult at our ceremony, where our council president presented them with their first year membership in the alumni association. 3 of those were presented lifetime memberships by their moms at the ceremony and 2 of those are still active with the troop as adult volunteers.

We meet twice a month, mid August through the end of May. We found Friday to be the best day for us because parents aren't so worried about bed times, no homework worries, often girls set up sleepovers and go home together straight from meeting. We have a lock-in at the church where we meet at beginning and end of the year following a meeting. We have had issues with Fridays in fall with girls in sports and band but they just come when they can and are usually back full time by Christmas.

Our elementary age girls meet for an hour, each level at a separate table with their own co-leader (and sometimes asst leader) and own badge activities which are planned by the co-leader for that level.

Then our middle and high school girls show up.

All girls are together for 15 minutes for an opening/closing. We do pledge, promise and law (I am stunned at how many do not even teach it to the girls). Then I do announcements, new girl introductions, event reminders and about once every month or two I give away any badges/patches earned. We do have a fall and spring awards ceremony and I save things back if we are approaching one of these. We end with the friendship squeeze started by one girl going both directions. The girl on the opposite side of the circle who is last and squeezed on both hands at once says "Good night scouts" and we untwist and go.

Then the elementary age girls leave and the 'tan vests' have their meeting for an hour. We have 25 now and they are divided into 4 patrols by 6th, 7th, 8th and seniors. Once a month we have meeting together with shared activities and stations. The other meeting that month is by patrols and the co-leader for each 'patrol' plans the activities for her group.

This is a picture of my troop last spring (fuzzy on purpose)