Reply to Tell me about being a Daisy troop leader

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Tell me about being a Daisy troop leader"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here with a question about the dues/fees. Our school has a really low FARMS rate so I expect there aren't too many kids who wouldn't be able to afford dues or a uniform, but since the rate isn't zero, I know there are some kids in the school for which finances might be a barrier to participating. Is there a process for families getting dues waivers, or is it at the discretion of the troop leaders? Does it make sense to include the uniform in the dues to make sure everyone can have the uniform regardless of ability to pay (assuming it's okay to give dues waivers for financial hardship)? Obviously you don't know until you've set the dues level and people join whether anyone would need a waiver, does it make sense to include at least some margin to pay for an event or two from dues that everyone can participate in regardless of ability to pay?[/quote]

there is a link on gscnc.org for financial assistance form (but it is "under construction" right now, so I can't post the link.  IME, the form was handled through the service unit.  The parent fills out the form.  (You can provide it or they can find it on line).  Then the parent gives the form to you (or on line).  The service unit approves the request.  And the girl is provided a free uniform, membership fee is waived, and the troop can get up to $25 in dues (that may have increased in the past couple of years, I'm not sure).

http://www.gscnc.org/en/for-volunteers/online-support-for-volunteers/forms.html

one thing people haven't mentioned is the administrative burden of being a leader.  That was a real downer.  For EVERY single thing you do outside of your regular meeting place, you need a parent permission form filled out.  It can be exhausting to keep track of it.  Plus you need to have a medical form for every girl (and the leaders) for all meetings and trips, vehicle forms, etc.

What I did was make up four manilla envelopes and marked them "Emergency Forms #1", "Emergency forms #2", etc.  Then whenever we went anywhere, I would pull out a manilla envelope and hand it to each driver.  They would turn them in to me when everyone was back at the starting point.  Inside the envelope would be

* a sheet that listed all the parents' cars/licenseplates/make/model (if someone were to go missing, we would know what to tell the police to look for).  
* another smaller, sealed envelope had a copy of every girls' medical release/info. form.  If there was ever an accident, the driver could hand that envelope to the EMT and they would be able to know if Mary is allergic to penicillin.  
* a copy of the GSCNC emergency procedures.  
* sheet of paper with the name and phone number for every parent of every girl.  (Again, if there is an accident or problem -- the driver can call the parent and tell them what to expect.).

This was all the info the driver needed to take with them on the field trip.  When you are the leader, you are responsible for every girl's safety.  I took that very seriously.

As you can see, it costs $ for manilla envelopes and lots of paper.  GSCNC is all about having LOTS of paper and forms.

One other tip -- definitely get the parents used to using sign up genius.  I used it for EVERY meeting, EVERY event.  Set the reminder email to go out ONE day prior to the event.  You have to change the sign up settings to use ONE day, not two (that is the default).  People can generally remember ONE day ahead.  They can't remember two days.   The sign up genius allows you to tell parents what the meeting will be about and what they need to bring.  I had the parents sign their kids up for every meeting.  We rarely had girls miss the meetings or events.  I've had parents tell me "that signupgenius is genius!"  Be strict about people filling out the permission forms for every event.  No form = no go.  It's kind of like being a teacher -- you have to set the bar high at the beginning of the year.  [/quote]
There is now one permission form you can fill out for that will cover the entire year.[/quote]

Hey thanks!  That is a huge help!  I just found it on line.  I'm glad they made that change.  Many of us must have complained about that.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics