1 December 2008
Something Afoot in Girl Scouts
Posted by admin under: Girl Scout Reorganization .
When you’ve got a number of high profile stories discussing the Girl Scout reorganization you know something is going on. It seems like the majority of the mergers have occurred and there is a PR push to have those who’ve heard what’s going on understand the effort underway.
The Chicago Tribute talks about it from the angle of Hispanics in Girl Scouts. United Press International discusses the fact that a quarter of a million Girl Scouts have been lost. Time Magazine is trying to brace everyone for the fact that camps will be sold off due to the decline.
It feels like there is a full court press regarding the changes in Girl Scouts. I found a money quote in the Time article.
As part of their soul-searching, the Girl Scouts found that girls were so bombarded with after-school sports, lessons and high-octane homework that neither they nor their parents found Girl Scouts compelling enough to keep on the calendar. “It was a brutal truth we had to confront,” says Cathy Tisdale, the Girl Scouts national vice president for “mission to market.” So they set out to become the “premiere leadership organization for girls.” Troops and badges will still exist — but girls can also choose to take “journeys” instead, opting, for instance, to make a six-week foray into the community for service, rather than meeting once a month in a church basement.
Remember that word – “instead” – for the future. Hopefully it remains and doesn’t get dropped and become an implied “required”. I’m interested to see where this PR blitz is going, but it sounds like it is simply an effort to sell the new changes.
- Girl Scouts – Shrinking or Growing?
- CEO Named for Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
- Org Chart Art
- Singing Hills is Silent Now
- More Reorg Pains
One Comment so far...
karen Says:
9 April 2010 at 11:17 am.
How right you are.
It’s about money. More community service=higher visibility=more contributions. Personal
skills and learning experiences will be a thing of the past. It’s now about the organization, not the girls. By the way, the “brutal truth” is money, not competition with homework and soccer practice. The new Journeys program will require more involvement and time than ever before, and will require a significant increase in the amount of time and effort the volunteers and troop leaders put in. I’m afraid it will also be the busy moms who won’t be able to keep going with the new program.
