Filing

After three hours, I think I have my filing system down for my troop. Yeah, three hours. With 2001: A Space Odyssey running. Not the most fun time I've had with Girl Scouts! :) but it needed to be done. My girls are becoming Juniors, and keeping good records is about to become VERY important.

We have an ambitious camping schedule planned, a Bronze award to plan for, additional fundraising to think about, and of course badges to be earned. If I want to be able to keep track of all those things, I needed to come up with a better system than the haphazard "keep everything . . . maybe" method I had been using.

So this is my filebox. There are four different kinds of files in there: Girl Files, Troop Files, Fall Product Files, and Other Files.

Girl Files

These are actually split into two, with active girls' files in the front of the box and inactive girls' files in the back. Each girl only has one file folder (until I need to split them because they get too full). My original plan was to have a folder for each girl for each year, which would require less active organizing (just drop it in the right folder, and then search when you need something), but with 15 ish girls in my troop, will get EXPENSIVE! :) Since my Council requires that parents need to fill out EVERYTHING (basically) every year, I clean out my binder of everything for each girl. Each year's papers get paper clipped together and labeled with a post-it note. This is the order I am going to use:

1. Permission Slip(s) - to tell me what events each girl participated in
2. Badge Documents - I keep on badge record for each girl for each level until we bridge (so I have the final Petals worksheet with the First Grade documents, and the Try-It worksheets with the Third Grade papers), as well as paperwork on badgework done at home.
3. Girl Medical form - One of the other major forms for my council
4. Everything Else - I might get more OCD with this year's papers, but for the past 4 years this works

Troop Files

There are two hanging files for each year: one for Fundraising, one for everything else. Financial documents stay in the treasurer's binder.

• Fundraising Folder - All permission slips (stapled together), Fall Product Troop and Girl Summaries, Cookies Troop and Girl Summaries, any other fundraising documentation (not receipts, those go in their treasurer binder).
• Everything Else - In order: Attendance/Dues records, single page Troop Calendar, SU Calendar, Troop and SU Directories, other documents that pertain to the entire schoolyear, and then in chronological order all Service Unit meeting agendas and flyers to events we actually went to.

Fall Product Files

Since I am Fall Product Manager for my Service Unit, I also need somewhere to keep the documents I need to keep on file. I just have these divided by year. I also want to keep a girl packet for each year, so I can keep a record of what we sold and what the theme was, etc.

Other Files

• Fundraising - ideas from the internet and other local troops for additional fundraising
• Service Projects - SU and other troop service projects from the past, as well as ideas from the internet
• Masters - One copy of each document I need to make copies of that I keep for making copies, so I don't use the last one and then have to recreate it.

To keep me on track in a year when I have to file this year's papers, I wrote down all this, and am placing it in the box in front.

I hope this gives you some ideas for organizing your own Troop Files! :)

aMuse S2 Roles SWAPs - Student

In Session 2, the girls discuss stereotypes and what "girls are supposed to be" and what roles they themselves play. I created several different SWAPs to illustrate some of the roles they might play. The third one I am going to show is the "Student Role":

One role all Girl Scouts play is that of a student. This little SWAP is easy and very easy on the budget, because essentially all you really pay for is the pinback. I used a free printable from Hittie Print Mini for the composition notebook. There are other style of notebook on the site as well. I used a tutorial from Zakka Life for the miniature pencil. This SWAP cost 5 cents to make with a self adhesive pinback. If you use a safety pin, maybe 1 cent. Maybe. :)

Here is the Recipe Card:

Next week, I will have the last in my set of Session 2 Role SWAPs!

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aMuse S2 Roles SWAPs - Artist

In Session 2, the girls discuss stereotypes and what "girls are supposed to be" and what roles they themselves play. I created several different SWAPs to illustrate some of the roles they might play. The second one I am going to show is the "Artist Role":

This is another simple little SWAP. Merely some paint daubed on a shaped piece of foam. I really like the self adhesive bar style pinback on this one, but you can also use a regular safety pin poked through the foam. With the pinback, this SWAP cost maybe 10 cents to make.

Here's the Recipe Card:

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I got to touch them!

The new Girl's Guides, that is. I had my SUFPM training this past weekend, and they had copies of all of the new books to look through. They looked huge, to me, and half empty. But they do seem to have everything in one place (as opposed to having a handbook and a badgebook and a bronze award guide and prints of stuff off the internet, etc., etc.). I went ahead and pre-ordered mine and my daughter's, which means I will get them sometime in November. Maybe.

It was very frustrating to be told that there will be a whole new set of books, that will become the GSUSA standard at the end of this coming schoolyear, and then be told it won't be available until September. As I have mentioned before, I like planning out my school year during the summer. So that I don't feel like I am scrambling to get prepared the weekend or day before a meeting.

It is becoming even more frustrating to be told, "well, I know we said it would be available in September, but really, honestly, you'll be lucky if you get it by Christmas. And we're not even going to really tell you when you can expect to get it."

No word yet of whether the badges will be embroidered or printed. I prefer sewing the printed ones, but I prefer the look of the embroidered ones - by a large amount. I think based on the price, they are likely to be printed and iron-on.

Incidentally, the old books:

Handbook $10.95

Badgebook $11.95

Adult Book $6

89 Junior Badges @ $0.95 each

Girl's Guide:

Binder $22.50 ($16.87 if you pre-order)

extra badge modules $12 (all 3)

26 Junior Badges @ $1.50 each

aMuse S2 Roles SWAPs - Friend

In Session 2, the girls discuss stereotypes and what "girls are supposed to be" and what roles they themselves play. I created several different SWAPs to illustrate some of the roles they might play. The first one I am going to show is the "Friend Role":

This is, of course, a variation on the classic, "Make new friends, but keep the old" type of SWAP. This one features chenille stem and silver and gold pony beads. This SWAP cost about 7 cents to make. Here is the Recipe Card:

I will feature another Session 2 SWAP next week.

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Paperwork Prep

Erg. The annual paperwork shuffle for the troop. I keep all working documents in one big binder (attendance, award records, permission slips, medical info, etc. etc. etc.) for the current year, and keep everything from previous years in a large file box by year. My filing system is still under construction, and probably will be until my girls have gotten their Gold Award.

My system starts with a series of binders and folders. It would be pointless to tell exactly which forms I put where, since each council is different, but I can give you a general idea.

MAIN BINDER 

This is my work horse. I bring this to every meeting and am constantly updating things in it. After 4 years, it is looking a little sad. I probably need to spiff it up. The sections are:

• Attendance/Dues,
• Permission Slips (the originals),
• A section for each girl in the troop with all of the forms I need to have (medical history, allergies, etc.), an individual girl record (lists camping experience, service activities, and additional awards), as well as records of all past badgework (petals and try-its at this point),
• Service Unit roster,
• Service Unit meeting agendas for the year,
• Snapshot of Troop Fall Product/Cookie Sales for the year,
• Documents which state I am approved as Troop Leader and Service Unit Fall Product Manager,
• and for some weird reason I have a whole bunch of song lyrics in the binder.

TROOP FINANCIALS BINDER

This binder goes to the troop treasurer. It contains all of our banking documentation, receipts, and income statements.

TROOP FALL PRODUCT FOLDER

This is the folder I will be giving to our Troop FP Manager. It will contain permission slips, contact information for all girls participating in the sale, FP handbook, and a calendar with the important dates on it.

TROOP COOKIES FOLDER

This is the folder I will be giving to our Troop Cookie Manager. Pretty much the same thing as Fall Product, but for Cookies.

TROOP TRAVEL FOLDERS

Anytime our troop travels together to an event or campout, each driver needs one of these in their car. It contains the medical form and permission slips for each girl, as well as emergency forms for each adult, itineraries and maps for the current activity.

FALL PRODUCT BINDER 

From the beginning of September through the end of November, this binder goes everywhere with me. And since it definitely goes to Service Unit meetings with me, it becomes a temporary landing zone for SU meeting agendas until I can put them in my main binder. In it, I keep:

• all the paperwork I use to hold trainings
• all MY training documents
• a calendar of the sale dates
• a list of all my troop managers with contact information
• and all the forms and charts and lists I print out to do my job.

AWARDS BINDER

This is a new binder for our troop. Since we have big plans for the next two years (a camping patch which involves visiting every camp in our Council, and the Bronze Award), as well as the normal badgework, I decided to get this a little bit more organized, and may even pass it off to an assistant leader. I will probably have 3 sections:

• Badgework - Each girl has a form which shows which badges she has earned, and which steps she has completed toward each. I will probably also put a sheet for Journey awards for each girl.
• Camping Patch - This will be a small section, probably just a table listing the ten camps, and the girls names, so we can check off who went to which camps.
• Bronze Award - All the paperwork for getting the Bronze Award.

aMuse S1 SWAP - Dez the Spider

What better way to start the Journey than with a SWAP of our guide, Dez the Fashionista Spider? I found some fabulous packs of chenille stems (pipe cleaners) and a ball of variegated cotton yarn which coordinates so well, it looks like they were meant to go together! For more information on the specific supplies I bought, check out the SWAP Box. These SWAPs cost about 5 cents each in supplies. You can easily add googly eyes (the ones with eyelids and lashes would be especially cute!), stickers, or even a foam beret to give Dez more personality.

Here's the Recipe Card:

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Basic Supplies for Cheap

There are some supplies that every troop is going to need in their supply box. Glue, scissors, crayons (or colored pencils when they older, and more refined), paper, rulers, erasers, you know, school supplies. Most drugstore and office supply chains around here each have a particular item they sell dirt cheap (less than a quarter each), and then have some really good coupons on other things. I'm not a couponing fan in general, but I do think these are worth it. I have only hit 2 stores (which I will probably hit again tomorrow), and got the following:

3 4-packs gluesticks for $0.50 each

2 24-pack crayons for $0.01 each

1 pack index cards for $0.10

2 10-pack black pens for $0.20 each and a third for free

2 10-pack pencils for $0.10 each

2 2-packs of Sharpies for $0.69 each

6 2-packs of pink erasers for $0.29 each

4 4oz bottles of glue for $0.59 each

3 pair of Fiskers kids scissors for $0.79 each

6 folders with prongs for $0.11 each

for a grand total of $10.73. Some of this will actually be going into the stash for my kids, which is why I paid for this out of my pocket, but I am thinking about going back for another round with the troop's money tomorrow, and maybe again next week, depending on what's on sale.

Most of these are not the best quality, but I have noticed that my girls don't really care if I buy dollar store crayons that are mostly wax or the most highly pigmented artist's drawing sticks. At least, it doesn't matter for the average Scout project. If we were delve into studying art, I would delve into some of my personal art supplies. I like the highly pigmented stuff, myself. :)

What do you do to supply your troop, but pinch pennies at the same time?