Junior Journeys

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Hammond Mission, CBS News, Culture Fest and Cookies!

Time for an update on Troop 10265! I haven't updated the blog since November -- too busy! We have done a LOT since then!

In November, we cooked and served a meal for the Hammond Mission. It was a GREAT day! The girls (and parents and siblings) all pitched in to make spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and brownies. We all had fun cooking and the girls earned their "Simple Meals" badge! (Be sure and let them practice cooking at home, too, if you aren't already! They are pretty skilled in the kitchen!)

Once we had everything cooked, we drove to the Hammond Mission to set up and serve lunch. I think everyone there enjoyed it a lot. Ava led us in grace and everyone was able to take turns serving and asking people if they wanted seconds or thirds. I was impressed with how well the girls were able to talk to people at the shelter and make them feel that it was our pleasure to serve them lunch, which it was! We had some leftover food that we were able to donate to another area shelter the same day. I'm so proud of our troop for giving back to the community this way! Parents who helped set a great example for the girls, too. Hopefully all of the girls will be inspired to continue being involved in community service for their whole lives!

Next up we visited CBS News in Chicago for the "Entertainment Technology" badge. Mr. Dodge led us on a tour of the station, where the girls saw how producers and writers come up with the news stories for each broadcast, how the control room works, and learned some history of the CBS Chicago station (site of the Presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy).

Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist explained "green screen" technology to the girls. The girls' green vests blended right in to the weather maps on the screen, so it looked like they were being overtaken by storms! All the girls got to try their hand at seeing how to use the green screen.

Lindsey and Julianna try the green screen and their vests blend right in!

With Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist

A Troop 10265 Forecast!

Anchor Jim Williams let the girls not only watch his rehearsal for the evening news, but also let them stay in the studio for the live (!) broadcast. I was so proud of the girls because they stayed super quiet during the news! During the broadcast we got to see the remote-controlled cameras at work in the studio. At the end of the broadcast, the girls were able to stand outside and BE on the actual news at the end, with Jim Williams mentioning our troop as being from Munster! It was exciting!

Hopefully the girls learned a little something about the news business and the technology used to bring us the news. Maybe one of them will be inspired to go into the news, technology or entertainment business someday!

Learning how a producer writes the news for the broadcast.

Live, on the actual CBS Chicago News, Troop 10265!

Troop in the newsroom

We also got ready for the holidays by making yarn and twig ornaments for the "Go Green!" themed Girl Scout tree at the Center for Performing Arts. We learned about making a campfire by making our own edible campfires, and the girls all said they wanted to go camping as a troop!

In January and February we spent time preparing for Culture Fest. We made beaded animals to represent the many creatures in our country, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Mr. Raffin helped get us on the right track with the craft (Eagle Scouts can do anything!) and the girls took it from the there, making dozens of beaded animals on their own at home and in a couple of crafting sessions together.

I can't thank the parents, siblings, and girls enough for all the help before, during and after Culture Fest. Mrs. Regan made beautiful scarves for the girls to wear as costumes. Mrs. Perez made amazing arroz con pollo. Mr. Perez, Mrs. Perez, Mr. Regan, Mrs. Heritage, Mr. and Mrs. Raffin, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Christopher, Mrs. Surd and Mr. Dodge helped us to decorate, supervise, set up and clean up afterward and the girls proved that they are natural businesswomen! They walked around Wilbur Wright selling our foods and crafts and, in the end, our troop made $389 in ticket sales! (With expenses, we made a tiny profit, but still, we did very well!)

At the same time the girls have been working hard to sell cookies during a very long and snowy winter! So proud of them for not giving up!

We had a cookie booth sale at Strak's in Schererville in February where the girls worked very hard and sold a LOT of cookies. Each girl who worked will get credit for selling 31 boxes. We also raised more money in donations to be able to send "Gift of Caring" cookies to the military.

Initial order!!

Team Regan at work selling cookies in Strak's

Final cookie orders are due THIS FRIDAY MARCH 13 in one email to Mr. Dodge or me and I will pick up your final orders at the cookie cupboard and should have them ready for you to pickup this Sunday, March 15, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Final Cookie Money (100 percent of what you owe including any toffeetastic orders) is due by no later than 3 p.m. Friday March 20 so we have time to deposit it before we leave for Spring Break. (I do have extra gluten-free toffeetastics. They are $5 a box and they are DELICIOUS so let me know if you want to add any on. We were lucky to get the ones we have because they are in high demand in our area!

Thanks all for being so good about making deadlines so far and for working so hard to help your daughters with their sales! Many have exceeded this year's troop goal of 150 boxes! I'm sure they would have had a tough time doing that without some awesome moms and dads, so thank you!

Next up on our calendar will be our next meeting Friday April 10 after school. Tea Party at Hartsfield Village (and bingo with the seniors) on Saturday April 11 at 1:30 p.m. (We spent our last meeting getting ready for the tea party, transplanting African violets and decorating pots that we will bring as gifts to the tea party. The girls also earned their gardening badge and brought a tomato plant (in seed form) home. We got a visit from master gardener Susan Radovich, who taught us a bit about gardening and even brought her old Girl Scout sash to show us!

Whew, that'll teach me to wait so long before updating this blog!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Updated Calendar

I inadvertantly deleted the troop calendar but I think it might be best to just have what we have coming up for now:

Friday Nov. 21 -- Troop meeting: Making ornaments. Some to take home, some for Girl Scout tree at the Performing Arts Center. Our theme is "go green!"

BRING DONATIONS OF FOOD for Hammond Mission field trip to this meeting OR by 9 a.m. Saturday Nov. 22.

BRING Filled out PERMISSION SLIP to the meeting and give to Susie.

Snack: Julianna/Susie and Kayley/Jennifer

Drinks: Jilli/Diane

Saturday Nov. 22 -- meet at 9 a.m. at Ridge United Church in Munster to begin cooking lunch for Hammond Mission. (simple meals badge)

11:30 a.m. drive to Hammond Mission with cooked food, prepare to serve lunch there.

Noon-1 p.m. serve lunch

December 14 (Sunday) -- 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Field Trip to CBS News in Chicago for entertainment technology badge.

January 9 -- Meeting

January 23 -- Meeting

February 6 -- Meeting

February 21 (Saturday) -- Culture Fest at Wilbur Wright

* March 6 -- Meeting

* April 10 -- Meeting

* May 8 -- Meeting

* Months with only one meeting likely will also include a field trip to supplement what we're doing.

Other upcoming things we will hopefully get to by the end of this school year (some will be field trips on weekend days:

* Making dog/cat toys for the Humane Society

* Tea Party with girl scout cookies at Hartsfield Village

* Biking and/or fishing together in the spring

* Teach girls who haven't gone yet to geocache and plant our own troop geocache somewhere

* Digital photography badge with FHH mom and photographer Ann Latinovich

* Playing the Past badge -- possible field trip

* Girl Scout "journey" -- This would set the girls up to earn their Bronze Award next year. They need to do a "journey" in order to be able to work on their Bronze Award project as fifth graders. The journey can be done in a few meetings or on a weekend day and will cover topics such as gender stereotypes, self esteem, and how girls can make a difference and make the world a better place.

* Help the Daisy Troop run by Suzanne Regan and Becky McKeever (1st graders) -- possibly help them with their bridging ceremony in the spring?? Or help them learn a new skill?

* Learning about a flag ceremony and/or something to do with Indiana government since they're learning about it this year.

* Going camping at the Dunes (Linn Surd's idea and I endorse it! :-)

Geocaching Adventures!

Troop 10265 can handle the cold! We headed out to Centennial Park for some geocaching fun on a blustery Friday, November 7.

The girls learned that geocaching is a high-tech scavenger hunt where people hide items and log their latitude and longitude coordinates. People hunting for caches use GPS devices to find the spot near where things are hidden, based on their coordinates. But it takes a sharp pair of eyes to find things that are tiny, magnetized to fit under things, behind things, and camouflaged to blend in with leaves and dirt!

Our girls did amazingly well on their first time geocaching, proving they are natural detectives and work well together! After finding five caches scattered around Centennial Park, they decided they want to "pay it forward" by teaching the girls who weren't able to join us about geocaching in the spring. They also want to hide our own troop geocache for others to find! We can't wait!

We enjoyed hot cocoa after our hard work finding hidden treasure!

Here are some photos from our adventure:

Jewelry!

Who knew we had so many talented jewelry designers in our group?!

The girls had a lot of fun earning their jeweler badge in October with the help of Elena and her grandma, Kathy Yonkman, who makes jewelry as a hobby. She is very talented and was great with the girls, showing them how to make beaded bracelets.

The girls liked it so much we decided to have a second jewelry-making meeting, where Margie and Lindsey helped the girls make necklaces and Clare and Tori helped them make paracord bracelets. We ran a bit short on time, but hope to finish those bracelets in the future!

Here are some photos:

Monday, October 20, 2014

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Brookfield Zoo recap (with photos)

I think that may have been my favorite troop field trip so far! Now that I've recovered from the sleep deprivation, I think it was a great trip! Hope all the girls and moms had fun!

I learned so many facts I didn't know myself about different animals. I thought the counselors were all fantastic. And I liked the variety of projects they had the kids do and the different activities (night hike, morning hike).

It was so great to feel like we had the zoo to ourselves. On the morning hike I saw more animals than I think I ever had in all my visits to zoos. Maybe they are especially active in the morning before the crowds get there?

I was very proud of our girls, too. They all behaved really well and asked some great questions, as well as sharing a lot of cool animals facts, themselves! I was impressed!

I will definitely recommend the Brookfield Zoo overnight to other Girl Scout troops and Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts for anyone looking into field trip possibilities. I'm very glad Linn Surd suggested sleeping at the zoo at our first meeting this year. Thank you, Linn!

Okay, on with the photos!

Fun hanging out with these animals at the zoo!

Making a craft/toy for the lemurs!

Learning about animal hides and skulls

Bear!

Bird feeder time!

Tiger!

Good morning Mr. Lion!

Ready for the morning hike!

A lemur about to enjoy a homemade craft!

Ice cream!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Woohoo!! Way to go Troop 10265!!

I'm so proud of the girls who worked at our military booth sale Saturday! They all did so well and the public was very generous!

We raised $400 in donations for the military! That means 80 U.S. soldiers, sailers, etc. will receive a can of nuts or a magazine to show them how much Girl Scouts care about all that they do!!

This was a great service project and I think everyone who contributed was happy to be involved -- from the girls and moms/dads and the public who donated! So many people seemed impressed that the girls were collecting for such a good cause.

I hope the girls learned that just donating one hour of their time can truly make a difference in someone else's life! It was also great practice in being polite, making eye contact with people and speaking clearly, working with money and making change, etc. The girls were awesome!

Thanks to Natalie Raffin for taking on the fall product sale and to all the moms and dads who helped on Saturday.

AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE GIRLS WHO PARTICIPATED!! Please pass along a big congratulations to all of them!

I'm also excited that the girls/moms didn't feel any pressure to sell anything and, instead, could focus on just doing something kind.

Again, there is no pressure to buy anything or sell in the fall product sale. If you do want to order any holiday gifts (candy/nuts, etc.) of course you can still do so until Oct. 29. That's the date we're supposed to turn in all orders. They do make nice gifts for teachers/bus drivers/coaches. Some of the materials we dropped off at your houses involve filling out postcards to family/friends and submitting email addresses. Let us know if you have any questions and thanks again to all who helped!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Friday meeting and Saturday booth sale!

Hello! This Friday (Oct. 10) we'll have a Girl Scout meeting after school. We need a parent to come if possible for the last 15 minutes of the meeting (4:30-4:45) to hear Natalie explain the fall product sale. Important info about the booth sale later in this post so please read through. Pickup time will be 4:45.

Elena's grandma, who makes jewelry, will be leading the girls through the jeweler badge Friday with Elena's help.

Dairy or crunchy snack: Naomi and Mary

Fruit or veggie snack: Margie and Barb

Drinks: Elena and Nicole

Please remember we have a NUT ALLERGY in our troop. We have 14 girls. Also if you can make sure the snack is at school no later than 3:30 p.m. it would be a big help. Consider dropping off the snack/drink at school earlier if possible, or sending it to school with your daughter. The later in the meeting we have to push the snack the less time we have to get started and we have a lot of hungry, thirsty girls asking about snack and drink right at 3:30! ;-)

If you haven't yet told me if your daughter is helping with our first community service project of the year, our military "gift of caring" booth this Saturday at Munster Jewel, please let me know ASAP. This would take just one hour of her time for a very good cause! So far we have Naomi, Ava, Margie, Kayley, Vanya, Lindsey and Julianna signed up to work shifts. It would be great to have a few more people helping so let me know if your daughter can help for one hour Saturday. The girls will be taking donations from the public so U.S. Military troops can receive candy or a magazine through Girl Scouts "gift of caring" program.

If your daughter can take a shift between Noon and 4 p.m. let me know. We especially need girls from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Girls who participate will receive a patch and the good feeling of knowing they did something to support our troops!

If your daughter is working at the booth sale we need them to wear their Girl Scout vest! If you haven't already purchased the green Junior vest you still have time. Or they can wear their Brownie vest. They also might want to wear something patriotic (red, white and blue) with their vest.

I will have posters at our meeting Friday for the girls to decorate for the booth sale.

A lot of times I know we all get tired of buying and selling things for fundraisers but this is a chance to turn a fundraiser into a service project that shows soldiers we appreciate them!

Another upcoming service project: We will be helping cook and serve another meal for the City Rescue Mission in Hammond on Saturday November 22.

We will begin cooking at Ridge United Church in Munster at 9 a.m. and serve our meal at the mission at Noon. This was, by far, one of the most rewarding things we did last year so please consider being a part of it this year! I know we can't make every event but this one is really heartwarming. I'm letting you know about it now so you can mark it on your calendar.

Families, spouses, and siblings are more than welcome to help us cook and serve the meal. We had some great dads, brothers and sisters help last year and I think everybody loved the experience!

Quickly:

At last night's leaders meeting we got our troop's top vote getter country of Ecuador for Culture Fest! This one should be a lot of fun since it includes the Galápagos Islands, home of many of the world's species! We will have lots of cool material to work with!

We also voted as a group with other Frank Hammond troop leaders for ice skating as a new event in place of the daddy daughter sock hop on March 7. We will open this event to families so, just when we all have cabin fever at the end of winter, we'll be able to go ice skating at Midwest training center in March 7!

Looking forward to our Brookfield Zoo sleepover later this month. The fun begins at 7:15 p.m. Friday Oct. 17.

Our Oct. 24 meeting will be part two of the Jeweler badge with help from Margie, Lindsey, Tori and Clare helping lead the

girls through different jewelry-making stations.

See you and your daughters this Friday! Please let me know about whether your daughter wants to take an hour shift Saturday at our booth sale if you haven't already.

Thanks!