VISTA 8:

Co-managers

Marisa Naujokas 847-332-2829 evgs@comcast.net
Sara Sullins – 847-733-2953 sullinss@bcbsil.com

Evanston Registrar

Jan Sarkor – 224-723-0735 jansarkor@yahoo.com

Agenda

1. Welcome and introductions of Evanston Cabinet members.

2. New Council changes

- Our council name: Girls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.
- What is Cluster 58?
- Merging "VISTAs" to encourage more interactions between a broader base of leaders; allow for mini workshops; and provide better Council news delivery. However, product sales and bank accounts still handled separately.
- Access to 13 properties at council rates; new food options offered (Council can buy your groceries or cook your food for higher rates, less than other camps like YMCA camps).
- More council-wide activities and access to great resources in Chicago.
- Order supplies from Mary Therese Staub at the Chicago shop, and she will bring your purchase home the same day and leave it on her porch in Evanston (312-446-2500, ext. 227).
- New cookie baker for us: Lil Brownie

3. We are still working on building a cookie team!

If we do not have a team, no troop in Evanston can sell cookies. Rachel Sobel and Becky Zwolinski stepped forward to organize cookie delivery day. Hooray!!! Remember that you can share jobs. For a description of the positions as they are currently organized, get a handout before you go. The descriptions were sent out in an email last week.

4. Hurray for all our new leaders!

If you need more information on any GS trainings, know of any potential leaders who would like to start a troop, or have any great references to share with new leaders, please contact Paula McKernan at 847.475.1715 or peacherino@gmail.com.

Orientation to Girl Scouting includes basic information about Girl Scouting including the Promise and Law, Girl Scout Mission and History, and the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. You can do this training in person or on-line (and come to the V.E. training a little later). To train on-line go to http://training.girlscouts.org/, choose English or Spanish, and type the password "discover" (without the quotation marks), click login. When you fill out form, Marisa Najoukas is our Evanston Volunteer Manager so add her e-mail evgs@comcast.net

Volunteer Essentials is a group session for New Leaders that covers essential information for volunteers who work with girls including: council structure, council and national policies, standards and procedures, safety, Girl Scout grade levels, managing troop finances, traditions and more!

Grade Level Training is a group session for New Leaders and Leaders changing levels.

CPR & 1st Aide trainings are required for one adult attending each Troop Meeting. Classes will be scheduled by our Evanston VISTA, can be done in your community, or scheduled by our GS Council https://www.girlscoutspw.org/program/search.php

Field Trip and Camping "Outdoor Ed" Training Outdoor Education is so you can take your girls on field trips - part 1 online - Discover the Outdoors, take your girls on field trips; part 2 - Cabin Camping, take your girls overnight- group training; or part 3 - Tent Camping group training, which includes fire-building. You must take part 3 if you camp in a cabin and build an outdoor fire.

The training dates are online at the same sites listed above. Sara Sullins is a trainer. She will be at one at Camp Greene Wood in Woodridge on September 26 - 8-4 pm, one at Morrison in Lake Villa on October 24 from 8-4 and one at the Center for Learning and Development in Chicago on November 14 from 9-5. These are actually the ones closest to us. Contact Sara at SULLINSS@BCBSIL.COM

Here’s the Evanston training schedule: (many more training options available on the Council Website https://www.girlscoutspw.org/program/search.php):

Tuesday, Sept 22^nd, 2009, St. Nicholas Church*
[still spots available for New Leaders, just RSVP to Paula]
9-9:30am - Orientation to Girl Scouting
9:30-Noon - Volunteer Essentials

Saturday, October 10^th - ("Super Saturday") 9am-4pm St. Nick’s Oldershaw Hall*
AM session - Orientation to Girl Scouting & Volunteer Essentials
PM session- Grade Level Leadership Essentials

Wednesday, October 21^st - St. Mary’s Church, Girl Scout rooms in the lower level of the Parish Center, 1012 Lake Street in Evanston. Enter alley for parking from Maple, Parish House is on the northeast corner of the parking lot.
6-6:30pm Orientation to Girl Scouting
6:30-9:00pm Volunteer Essentials

Wednesday, November 4, 6-9pm - Pope John XXIII Cafeteria*
Grade Level Leadership Essentials - Brownie training (will try to add others by request)

Register on-line for trainings:
https://www.girlscoutspw.org/program/search.php STEPS: Go to My Profile and register at bottom of screen, enter your info, Go to Search & Register, scroll down to Adult Training, check Leadership, click Search Adult Training. Find correct Training Class Heading (hit Program Details to get locations). Click Register when you find the right date and location. There are no fees for the above trainings. As this system is new and Council wide, Please also RSVP to us for Evanston Trainings.

5. Fall Product Sales October 1-18th. Contact Kathy Bauer with questions (newbauer4@aol.com). Your troop does not have to sell Fall Product. However, if you want to do any extra fundraising, you must sell both Fall Product and Cookies.

6. July 4^th parade was a success!!

Seventy five girls and adults walked in the parade in light rain. The float was designed by Joan Reinke. It had dangling beads strung by the girls who came to the picnic. Elizabeth Hubbard’s husband, Jeff drove the float. We played 2 pre-recorded songs, We’re All in This Together (adapted from High School Musical) and Make New Friends with piano, violin and vocals by the girls, and a group of girls did the Friendship Circle many times during the parade. We heard lots of people on sidewalks singing along to our music, and reminiscing about their own Girl Scout days. Evanston RoundTable and Evanston Review both showed pictures of us in the coverage of the parade. Joan Reinke’s husband, Jim McCance put the the footage he took on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U9jK5UrtkM. The parade was coordinated by Ivy Sundell. Many thanks to Ivy and her team for making the parade a success!

7. Evanston Girl Scouts Web Site: A resource for leaders

Evanston GS has a Web site with pictures and activity ideas for Evanston leaders and families. The site currently has 33 pictures with captions from our activities last year. Please visit http://www.ilcrossroads.org/vistas/8/photos/ to see the pictures. You can click on Troop Activities under http://www.ilcrossroads.org/vistas/8/resources/ourvista/ for activity ideas from what other troops have done. If you have your troop’s activities and pictures to share, please send them to Ivy Sundell at crowwoods1@aim.com. Please include details that might be helpful to other leaders (costs, things to look out for, what was great about it, etc.).

8. Upcoming Events

--Northwestern Music Day: Saturday, November 7th; a great Evanston GS tradition, sharing a wonderful musical experience with Northwestern music students; contact Mary Beth Molenaar at m-molenaar@northwestern.edu.
--Frances Willard Birthday Party: Saturday, Sept. 26th is Frances Willard’s 170th Birthday. At the Frances Willard House (just north of the Evanston Women’s Club on Chicago Ave in Evanston), there will be a B-day party on the lawn, and the girls are invited to attend. Admission is $2.50 for Girl Scouts! We are going to have old fashioned games, and serve cake and lemonade on the lawn. Frances is a great role model for girls.
--Northwestern Scout Days: Football, volleyball, and soccer. Call 847-467-6862 for more information, and check the flier.
--GSGCNWI Brookfield Zoo Day: Saturday, October 10, 10 am-6 pm; an excellent outing if you are doing the new Journey. Register by Oct. 1 at www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/registernow or contact nhenry@girlscoutsgcnwi.org.
--Check the council Web site www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org for lots of Science Sampler days and STEM Saturdays (Science Technology Engineering and Math), starting in October.

9. Upcoming Evanston Leader Meetings

Remember that 4 leader meetings this year will be combined with other “VISTAs” from Chicago (in Chicago they were called “Service Units”). This year we decided to rotate locations and meeting days to meet at the usual time and place for each “VISTA.”

Therefore, some of our meetings will be on different days of month other than the 3rd Thursday. And locations will vary. We can meet at the St. Nicholas parking lot and carpool and caravan to the new sites.

Here are the dates:
Meetings generally run from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 17 - St. Nicholas
Cluster Meeting - Thursday, October 15 - St. Nicholas
Cluster Meeting - Monday, November 2 - St. Phillip 2500 W. Bryn Mawr, entrance off Campbell 7 PM start
Thursday, January 21 - St. Nicholas
Cluster Meeting - February - Queen of Angles, 4520 N. Western
Thursday, March 18 - St. Nicholas
Cluster Meeting - April - TBA
Thursday, May 20 - St. Nicholas

10. Important Girl Scout procedure reminders:

A) HIPPA cards allow parents to give permission for leaders to get information about their child’s health from medical personnel should an emergency arise. It can be helpful if leaders are in a situation where the parents haven’t arrived yet and the leader might be able to help more than they could otherwise. It can also be helpful if another caregiver might be involved. One way to handle HIPPA cards is that, at registration, you can put in leader’s names on the HIPPA cards for permission, and parents can choose whether to sign them or not. There is no need to turn in a HIPPA card if they are not giving permission for anyone else to get the medical information.

B) Always use permission slips when you take the girls somewhere other than your usual meeting place. It is helpful for parents to know where girls are, and for you to know where parents are. Make sure you take the leader training required for trips (see training section on page 1).