WOW Girl Scout Community Way of Work
Our Community
The Way Out West (WOW) Community Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council (GSSJC) serves girls in the following Katy Independent School District (KISD) schools:
Elementary: Alexander, Campbell, Creech, Davidson, Exley, Griffin, Hayes, Holland, Kilpatrick, Memorial Parkway, Nottingham Country, Pattison, Randolph, Shafer, Stanley, Williams and Wilson
Junior High School: Adams, Beck, Beckendorff, Cinco Ranch, McMeans, Memorial Parkway, Seven Lakes and Woodcreek
High School: Cinco Ranch, Seven Lakes, Jordan, Taylor and Tompkins
Private, charter and home-schooled girls who are otherwise zoned to the above KISD schools.
Girl Scout builds girls with Courage, Confidence and Character and Everyone involved must uphold the basic tenet that it holds.
Community Summit Meetings
Summits will be held 4 (Four) times in the year between August and May. Details on when, where and how can be found in the calendar.
Every troop must have at least one representative attend to keep up with the most current girl scout news.
Girl Scouts are encouraged to use it as a platform to notify Community members of their:
Award projects
Lead flag ceremonies
service projects, destinations and more.
To be added to the summit agenda, Email: wowclt@gmail.com
Registration
Inquiries about registering a troop/girl can be directed to the WOW Registrar at WOWregistrar@gmail.com
Registration Fee: $25
New: New Girl registrations at www.gssjc.org.
Renewals: Re-register by troop or individually by signing in to your girl scout, gssjc account
Girl Placement
Girl placement into a troop will be handled by the WOW Community Organizer Liaisons, who can be contacted at WOWtroopfinder@gmail.com. Girls will be placed in the following priority order:
• Girls in a troop looking for a new troop
• Individually Registered Girls (IRGs) looking for a troop
• Registered Girl scouts transferring from other Councils to GSSJC
• Newly registered Girl Scouts
Accepting new girls into your troop:
Please inform wowtroopfinder@gmail.com if you are open to accepting new girls into your troop.
Troops’ status must be also be listed with the GSSJC as being “open” or “closed” to accepting new members. This is done via leader gssjc a/c.
If you have a girl interested in joining your troop, you must contact the Placement Specialist to determine if there are others on the list also looking. These girls will have priority for placement.
Disbanding Troops: If your troop is disbanding, please contact the WOW Placement Specialist immediately for guidance.
Girl Support
WOW Grants and/or Scholarship are available as follows:
GSSJC Destination – up to $100
Gold Award Projects – up to $100
WOW Lilli Curry Scholarship for up to $300 for Girl Scouts who complete the Gold Award and graduate from high school as an active Girl Scout. (Named Lilli Curry, In honor of the late Lilli Curry, who was awarded GSSJC’s first ever honorary Gold Award)
An Application is required and to be turned in to wowtreasury@gmail.com to qualify for these grants/scholarships.
Troop Support (Mentors)
New troops will be assigned with a mentor for their first year in Girl Scouting.
Upon request, existing troops needing assistance can also be provided with a mentor.
Anyone interested in being a mentor or anyone who needs a mentor please email wowmentor4u@gmail.com
Financial
All troops are required to have a bank account if participating in product sales, collecting dues, or participating in any money earning activity (Prosperity Bank recommended due to GS familiarity and friendliness).
Troops considered to be in compliance if meeting the following two criteria:
Minimum of two Adult Girl Scout Registered, Background check completed signers on troop Bank account.
Troops must have a current F-36 and F-31 including a copy of the bank statement and troop inventory list on file with the Community Financial Specialist.
Troops that are considered non-compliant may be precluded from participating in the WOW community hosted events.
Communication
WOW news and events will be communicated internally through several electronic methods. Every leader and co-leader should be registered with at least one or more of these means of communications:
Parents of Scouts are strongly encouraged to access these as well.
• Community Website: WWW.WAYOUTWESTGS.ORG
• Community Newsletter: All registered Girls/Adults will be added to receive the wow newsletter with an option to opt out. If you are not receiving it please subscribe. The newsletter is published on a minimum monthly basis between Aug – May
Email: wownewsflash@gmail.com To submit news and events to the WOW Newsletter. Information should be submitted in the manner the submitter wants it published, including pictures and graphics.
We encourage Troop leaders and parents of Scouts submit Bronze, Silver, Gold Award and destination write-ups (including photographs) for publication consideration in the Scout Recognition section of the newsletter.
• Way Out West Community Facebook Page: To subscribe send your Facebook request to WOWsocialmedia029@gmail.com. Community related information can be posted to the Facebook site; however, the WOW Facebook Administrator reserves the right to remove any information deemed inappropriate.
• CST Roster: A current roster posted on our website.
Troop Roles/Training
Troop Adult Volunteer Roles Required/a MUST for a running troop:
2 Leaders
Treasurer if holding a bank account
Others:
Fall Product
Cookie Manager
CPR/First Aide Trained
Camp Trained
ALL roles must be declared and informed to wowregistrar@gmail.com
Please record all training in your training booklet. If you do not have a training booklet or if you need information on Community training, contact our Community Training Liaison at WOWtraining4u@gmail.com.
GSSJC requires AND offers the following training:
For Troop Leaders: GSSJC requires the following Online course:
Volunteer Basics Series: With a 3 part video + 1 knowledge check (quiz)
1. Safety Basics
2. Troop Group Basic
3. Financial Basics
4. Quiz
Where and how to complete Leader training :
1. Register as an adult members
2. Chose/Declare the troop leader role (by signing into gssjc a/c)
3. Submit the Criminal Background Check (CBC), which will generate an email from council with a link to the training site. (check spam if not received in a few days and if not there then call help desk)
4. Take all three parts of the online course followed by the quiz
5. Council checks membership/CBC/and Debt List
6. Upon completion Council will generate a "Leader Appointment Letter" and email/mails it out, takes up to 10 days
** If the leader role declared and training not completed, additional reminder emails will come from council.
For Troop Fall Product Manager: Fall Product Sales training.
For Troop Cookie Sales Manager: First time has to be in-house and their after every year can be done online.
For Camp Trained Person: Outdoor training
First Aider: Health & Safety training
Program level training appropriate to a troop’s level is strongly advised.
GSSJC Council offered training and dates can be found at www.gssjc.org under “Adult” then “Volunteer Training”.
New Leader Cafés
New Leader Cafes are designed for new troop leaders, co-leaders and/or all registered adults volunteers stepping up to take on a role in the troop. Scheduled Cafes can be found in the wow community calendar.
The Cafes will reinforce trainings and answer questions for example, on how to open a bank account or how to meet with parents, etc. that are not covered in the Summit meetings but are necessary information for New Leaders in the Community.
Inquiries can be directed to the Community Cafe Team at WOWcafeteam2@gmail.com
Plus Meetings (Topic Driven)
Plus Meetings scheduled throughout the year can be found on the wow community calendar.
These meetings are designed for any Troop Leaders or members of the Troop Leadership Team. The meetings are topic driven for example, Cookie Questions, Journeys and Badge work, Girl Scout Celebrations, traditions etc. which are not covered in the Summit meetings but are necessary information for leaders.
Inquiries can be directed to the Community Cafe Team at WOWcafeteam2@gmail.com
Reports
Reports do matter.
All forms listed are available online at www.gssjc.org under “Forms”. OR some of the most used ones can also be found on our wow website under the leader tab.
• Form F-269 - Service Report:
If your troop completes service, even if within a larger Community, Region, or Council service project, this report should be filled out and returned to the Community Leadership Team. It can be turned in at the Summit meeting or emailed to WOWclt@gmail.com.
• Form F-36 - Registration of Bank Account :
This form must be turned in to the Community Financial Specialist within five days of first opening a new bank account and resubmitted any time there is any kind of change to the bank account (i.e., add/ remove signer, change of address, etc.).
• Form F-31 – End of Year Financial Report:
This form reports all troop bank activity for the year (May through April) and is due to the Financial Specialist by May 31.
The WOW Community has an Excel spreadsheet that works like a checkbook register for your bank account. When the Troop Treasurer fills in transactions, the balance will be maintained and the F-31 Form is automatically populated with the necessary information. The spreadsheet also contains a tab for troop inventory that must be submitted with the F-31. The F-31 can be obtained from the Community Financial Specialist at WOWfinancial@gmail.com.
• Form F-122 – Adult Volunteer Service Record:
The volunteer service record helps our community document service and training for all volunteers in the community. Leaders, Co-Leaders, and every adult who volunteers with Girl Scouts in Way Out West needs to have this form on file with the Community Recognitions Lead. This form can be obtained from and turned in to WOWthanks2u@gmail.com.
Recognitions
The WOW Community feels it is important to recognize leaders for their hard work and accomplishments.
Application forms, found under the "WOW Community Recognition and Awards" tab in this wow website are required including the F-122 to help identify volunteers/girl scouts eligible for recognitions,
An award ceremony will be planned at the end of the year to present Adult Recognitions.
For more information on recognitions, awards, and the nomination process, contact the Recognitions Lead at WOWthanks2u@gmail.com.
Events
Most events in the WOW Community are encouraged to be Girl Planned. Girl planning is one of the most important things we, as leaders, can let the girls do. We are in the business of teaching girls how to become responsible, functioning individuals and allowing them to learn how to plan, problem solve are some of the ways we can foster decision making and leadership skills.
Want to Attend an Event:
All Girls and Adult will need to be registered girls scouts unless specified by event coordinator otherwise
All Registered Girls and Adults will need to satisfy the availability of Permission Slips, Medical Forms and Adult Emergency forms per the event coordinator needs.
All Troops in the WOW Community can participate in programs and activities in the Community as long as they are in compliance. To be considered as such, a troop must have:
• turn in its F-31 End of Year Report (existing troops)
• turn in its F-36 Registration of Bank Account form with a minimum of two (2) signers who are registered and have completed background checks.
• have a minimum of two (2) trained leaders within 90 days of appointment. Existing troops have until October 1, 2014 to meet this requirement.
• have no financial debt with the Community or Council.
• have no unregistered girls participating in product sales.
To Host a community or money earning event:
Any Girl Scout Registered person or troop is welcome to host a community or money earning events, if they are in compliance. To be considered as such, a troop must:
• turn in an events proposal form
• have at least 2 trained leaders
• have participated in Fall Product
• have participated in Cookie Sale
• have at least two signers on the troop bank account
• have turned in the end of year Financial Report F-31 and F-36 form to WOW.
• have taken Event Basics Training or Weekend Events Training
• have no outstanding Event Reports from prior events
• be in good standing with Council.
Event reimbursement requests:
Reimbursement for community events have to be pre-approved in the budget. Also, Receipts must be turned in to the WOW treasurer no later then 30 days from the receipt date or the day of the event else reimbursements will not be honored.
Pleas note when hosting a money earning event there will be reimbursements will not be approved by the wow community clt.
Guidance and instruction if you are interested in either hosting an event already on the calendar or anyone of your owns please first read the "how to run an event" page on this site. And if you still have more questions, email: WOWeventfun@gmail.comTo obtain
Community Closet
The WOW Community has items that can be borrowed by troops for a variety of activities from camping to crafts.
Email wowclt@gmail.com for a list of items available for borrowing. Not all items are guaranteed to be available because the item might already be borrowed during the requested time.
Library/Patch Catche
The WOW Community has a variety of troop resources available for check out including Journey books and badge binders. Email: wowlibrary029@gmail.com for a list of items available for checkout.
Missing a patch or two - please check with us too if we have one before going to purchase.
Conflicts
Conflicts or disagreements with leaders, co-leaders and/or parents should be directed to the WOW CLT at wowclt@gmail.com
Your Community is here to help you in any way possible. It is best to bring situations to the attention of the Community before they escalate and also know that Issues brought to the attention of Council will be re-directed to the Community.