Training

Check out all the SWAPs I got! :)

Last weekend, I got to go to Girl Scout Training! ^.^ Now in my Council, they firmly believe that no Leader should walk into a situation feeling unprepared. We have trainings for EVERYTHING. We train you to be a Leader, to be a First Aider, to be a Troop Camper, to be a hiker, to be an archer, to ride horses, to sail ships, to sell cookies, to do arts and crafts, to sing songs, to cook over a fire, to cook when you can't light a fire. We even have training to train you how to train people!

I have talked to guys who volunteer with the local Boy Scout Troop and had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I heard that they don't really do training. Unless they want to go camping. Or become the head Scoutmaster. O.O

Yeah, that's not our way. Sometimes, the training is just stuff that NEEDS to get done. You NEED to know which forms you must have filled out every year by your troop's parents. You NEED to know how to run a meeting. You NEED to know different ways to try to build a young girl's confidence. You NEED to know what a SWAP is. :) Well, you do if you are in Girl Scouts for very long. . .

But then there's the fun trainings. This was what I did last weekend. I and 250 of my fellow Girl Scout Leaders and Volunteers met up at our Council's best camp and spent the weekend pretending we were girls. We didn't have to organize the activities, or come up with the crafts, and plan the meals, or even COOK the meals. I had a camp kaper to do, sang songs, and performed skits with my new friends around a fluttery fabric "campfire". I got to sleep in one of the tall cabin "treehouses" so coveted in our Council, and got swayed to sleep in the most perfect camping weather I have ever experienced.

And I got overloaded with information. It will take me months to digest all that I learned, and I only took about 10% of the trainings offered! I took trainings geared towards my troop's level: Bronze Award information, Field Trips, Extended Troop Travel, Geacaching (more on this next week), and a fun Texas-themed arts and crafts session.

I think that the information I gained is almost as important as the feeling of community I shared with all of these women (and 2 men).  I spent the weekend feeling like I was included in everything, like I was among friends.  It didn't matter that I had never met any of these people before in my life.  We were Girl Scouts.

I can't wait for the National Convention! :)