Dear Girl Scout families,
We hope you are staying safe and positive as we begin another week of social-distancing. As we continue to keep connected with our Girl Scout community through our communications, we are also elevating resources for support and developing program activities to support virtual and at-home engagement for girls.
Girl Scouting at Home
Our team continues to add a variety of engaging and entertaining learning activities on our
Girl Scouting at Home
page. Check out this virtual resource for both girls and volunteers, with online classrooms, troop meetings, trainings, and enrichments. A few highlights of engagement activities for the upcoming work include:
Virtual Campsite
Show us how you can camp at home by creating your very own campsite in your living room or backyard. We have some cool prizes that you can win! The deadline is April 15
th,
so you don’t want to miss out on this fun adventure. Enter your campsite by sharing a photo to our
Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines Facebook Page
and tag #VirtualCampsite with your photo and troop number.
Facebook Live
Girl Scouts, we hope you have been tuning in on Thursdays for our Facebook Live events where we are sharing awesome activities that girls can try on
Girl Scouts - North Carolina Coastal Pines
each Thursday at 3:15 pm. This is a great opportunity for #OurGSNCCPCommunity, we look forward for you joining us this week for a sampling of Home Scientist experiments as we focus on STEM programming.
Earth Day
Next week (April 20-24), Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines will be celebrating a week of Earth Day! Each day of the week our Digital G.I.R.L. virtual activities will connect to the theme of our planet and how we can have an impact on it. Join us each day as we challenge Girl Scout families to see the difference that they can make for this great place we call home!
Virtual TechnoQuest
Virtual TechnoQuest is almost here! This is an exciting new opportunity for Girl Scout Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors to explore STEM concepts and careers in a virtual manner Girl Scout style. Each girl who signs up will receive a VTQ box with everything she needs to join in on a virtual workshop! This week-long virtual event kicks off with the STEM Expert Panel on Monday, April 27
th
. Throughout the week, each level will participate in one STEM workshop designed especially for them while exploring Citizen Science and sharing their discoveries during daily Citizen Science Hub chats. Virtual TechnoQuest ends on Saturday, May 2
nd
with a debriefing session followed by the VTQ 2020 Highlight Video release and watch party!
Register for VTQ through MYGS.
Girl Scouts Get Together (Live Virtual Troop Meeting)
Girl Scouts SAVE THE DATE! Join us on April 28
th
at 2:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. for Girl Scouts Get Together Virtual Troop Kick-Off Meeting. Girl Scouts and friends of all ages are invited to join in. Spread the word and help us practice social distancing in a fun and creative way. Activities will include identifying our own inner superheroes and having a mega virtual girl dance party.
Follow this link to sign up!
We would love for you to share your Girl Scouting at Home experience with us by using #OurGSNCCPCommunity.
Safety Online
With the increase of troops meeting online and the rise of virtual teleconferencing security concerns (see the recent
FBI warning
), please take precautions to prevent meetings from falling victim to hijacking attempts. There are several platforms that have free capabilities but please check features and initiate safety precautions.
Best practices for meetings are available
with recommendations that include creating meetings with password protection and discouraging attendees from sharing passwords on public-facing platforms.
Media Girlz
Being a Girl Scout means embracing new challenges, developing confidence, and making memories to last a lifetime – and our Media Girlz team serves as representatives for our council as we share our mission throughout central and eastern North Carolina! Applications are open through May 31
st
to rising Juniors through Ambassadors. Learn more about joining our
Media Girlz team here
.
National Volunteer Month
We are cheering on our volunteers all month long! Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines couldn’t do it without our incredible volunteers. Thank you so much volunteers for all that you do. Especially during this time of transition for all of us, our volunteers are helping girls continue to enjoy the Girl Scout program. Give thanks to your volunteers through our
ENCORE! peer recognitions program
for some awesome prizes. We will be picking winners from our submissions each week in April and announcing them on our
Facebook page
.
GS Learn for Volunteers
This past fall we launched gsLearn as our new online learning management system for Girl Scout volunteers. GSLearn is quickly becoming the go-to place for all things training! Every month we have been adding new content to help support volunteers in their roles. GsLearn is also a great space for personal and professional development, as you have access to hundreds of trainings on various topics. If you haven’t joined in the fun and learning already, it’s not too late! To join, login to your My GS account. There you will find the option to log into gSLearn. If you have any issues accessing the system, please contact our Customer Care department at
helpdesk@nccoastalpines.org
. Come learn with us virtually!
Operation Cookie Drop
Due to current events regarding COVID-19, we will not be hosting in-person Operation Cookie Drop events. Donations are still scheduled to be delivered to military bases and military support organizations throughout the month of May.
We are very excited to announce we will be donating 104,112 packages of cookies this year! Cookies will be sent to Fort Bragg, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Cherry Point, Fisher House Ft. Bragg, NC Packs for Patriots, USO Jacksonville and USO RDU. We also included two hospitals this year to support our healthcare workers. With the help of staff and volunteers, 1,200 packages were delivered to Duke Raleigh and 1,500 packages were brought to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.
We look forward to our 2021 Cookie Program and to once again be able to offer the in-person Operation Cookie Drop events to the girls that work so hard for this program!
2020 Summer Camp
With the current Stay at Home Order and school closures, we know that many of our girls and families are anxiously looking ahead to summer and may be wondering how COVID-19 could impact our ability to run our camp programming. The safety of our campers and staff is our highest priority, and we are closely monitoring the effect that COVID-19 could have on council resident, troop, family, and day camps and evaluating our plans. The outdoor experience is very important in Girl Scouts and greatly valued at GS-NCCP as we know the benefits that being in the outdoors provide. We remain committed to providing opportunities for girls that build their sense of community, teamwork and resiliency.
Though we are hopeful for a return to a state of “normalcy” allowing us to offer our traditional summer camp experience, we are also grounded in the reality of the uncertainty of the unprecedented situation and the safety and well-being of our girls. We anticipate providing additional guidance on the status of our camp program within the next two weeks and will communicate updates with you at that time. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we chart this course together.
Girl Scouts, we are resilient and stronger than ever and we keep moving forward together. Thank you for your continued engagement and support of our Girl Scout community.
Yours in Girl Scouting,
Lisa Jones
CEO
Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines
