Girl Scouts Of Minnesota And Wisconsin River Valleys Inc

Programs: Girl leadership development program:girl scouts is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. At girl scouts, everything we do is designed with and for girls. Girl scouts prepare girls for a lifetime of leadership by providing a safe space where girls feel confident to be themselves and explore their interests, be challenged to grow and learn new skills. Whether it's exploring the outdoors, expressing creativity through art, or learning to code, girls learn valuable life skills at girl scouts. Our girl-led environment creates a space where girls can try new things, develop a range of skills, take on leadership roles, and feel comfortable failing, dusting themselves off, and trying again. The girl scout leadership experience (gsle), the proven framework to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, features a variety of exciting, challenging, and experiential activities that help girls empower themselves as they develop five attitudes, skills, and behaviors essential to leadership: -strong sense of self girls have confidence in themselves and their abilities, and form positive identities -positive values girls act ethically, honestly, and responsibly, and show concern for others -challenge-seeking girls take appropriate risks, try things even if they might fail, and learn from mistakes -healthy relationships girls develop and maintain healthy relationships by communicating their feelings directly and resolving conflict constructively -community problem solving girls desire to contribute to the world in purposeful and meaningful ways, learn how to identify problems in the community, and create action plans to solve themgirl scouts added 9 new journeys and 15 new badges to enrich our programs and engage girl scouts daisies, brownies, and juniors in stem and the outdoors. The new content aims to introduce stem and environmental conservation, to inspire and increase girls' confidence in these areas. During the year, girl scouts river valleys offered council hosted events which served 7,251 girls. Through these programs, girls push their problem-solving skills through hand-on experiences in robotics and stem activities, as well as explore and test their interests in all areas by trying new things. Council events range in the areas of civic engagement, stem, leadership, healthy living, outdoors, arts, and so much more. It was an exciting year, full of adventure, at each of our four girl scout camps-resident camps at camp elk river, camp lakamaga, and camp northwoods; and our troop camp at camp singing hills. At camp, girl scouts experience everything from horseback riding to archery, to making new friends and reconnecting with old friends. Camp northwoods hosted two notable high adventure sessions. Through the go north adventure and new on the loose sessions, girls took 13-day trips filled with canoeing, kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, sailing, and zip-lining. Camp elk river introduced a new session, night owls, where girls stayed up until 2 am with activities such as learning about nocturnal animals, working with an artist who paints nightscapes, and going on night hikes. Camp lakamaga's new trapeze artist session was also a hit! The girls had a blast learning the basics of how to fly through the air. In 2017, 3,109 girls registered for river valleys' camps. Resident camp is subsidized by the cookie program which results in reduced camp fees when compared to our competitors. The girl leadership board, comprised of high school students, planned, organized and led an all-girl girl-powered career fair for girl scout seniors and ambassadors, called the c3 collective. Over 100 girls attended and learned from 33 female professionals about career options, had the chance to record news clips with journalists, decorate cupcakes with bakers, and even performed surgery on stuffed animals. They challenged themselves on a climbing wall and high ropes course and learned about leadership styles through workshops led by the girl leadership board. Girl scouts connectz is dedicated to closing the opportunity gap for girls. It brings a culturally relevant girl scout leadership experience to more than 2,700 girls with diverse backgrounds from underrepresented communities throughout the twin cities metro area and southern minnesota. Connectz programming is free for girls and their families through partnerships with local schools and organizations, we reduce barriers to participation and ensure access for all girls to participate in girl scouts. Through weekly meetings and out-of-troop experiences, girls are encouraged to take healthy risks and ask questions to uncover answers to their curiosities. Connectz gives girls the opportunity to strengthen their support network, build positive relationships with peers and families, and chart a course for their future. This year, connectz girl scouts engaged in take action projects around personal safety and human trafficking and connected with community members to spread awareness about these issues. During the year, we collaborated with organizations such as mayo clinic, dunwoody college of technology, healthforce minnesota, and federal reserve bank of minneapolis to provide hands-on learning opportunities for girls to meet women professionals in career fields from which they have traditionally been excluded. These experiences uplift and motivate girls to set goals and to see themselves in these career fields in the future. The gold award is the highest achievement in girl scouts, and is the most prestigious award in the world for girls, and the most difficult to earn. The gold award is only open to girls in high school. Grounded in real-life problems, girls develop a deeper understanding of their community, master time management, and practice financial planning. Girls tackle an issue locally or globally and make the world a better place. They establish a lifetime network and create their community legacy with a sustainable solution to a problem. Young inspiring leaders are impacting the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math (stem), education, agriculture, medicine and many more through their sustainable gold award projects. Mari created an english-teaching curriculum for a local school in colonia libertad, a small rural town in costa rica. She helped train teachers and community leaders on how to use these materials to support their students in learning english. Shamily noticed a lack of comfort for pediatric patients during their recovery and treatment. She put together 350 welcome bags with small toys to help patients at maple grove hospital feel more at home. During the year, 56 girls earned their gold award, dedicating more than 4,480 hours towards their projects. During the year, 256 girls earned their silver award, the award a girl scout cadette can earn. In 2017, we celebrated 100 years of girl scouts selling cookies! A century ago, girls started participating in what would evolve into the largest entrepreneurial training program for girls in the world. Through the girl scout cookie program, girls learn what it means to become successful entrepreneurs, business women, and, most importantly, future leaders of tomorrow. The program gives them a taste of what it takes to be successful, independent, sociable, and confident. The program also raises public awareness about the value of girl scouting and supports programs and membership services for almost 42,000 girls and adults. River valleys' girls sold almost 4. 5 million packages of cookies.

membership and volunteer support:girl scouts of minnesota and wisconsin river valleys serves girls ages 5 to 18 in all or portions of 49 counties in southern minnesota and western wisconsin. River valleys served almost 29,000 girls in 2017 and over 12,000 volunteers. At the heart of every girl scout experience are volunteers our girls' role models and teachers. River valleys continues to rely on the passion and dedication of adult volunteers to serve as troop leaders, troop cookie managers, trainers, episodic volunteers and committee members. Volunteers also serve in a range of administrative and supportive roles throughout the service unit level. During the year, river valleys invested in new technology and resources for our volunteers so they can best deliver the girl scout leadership experience to girls in today's busy world including the digital volunteer toolkit to assist troop leaders as they coordinate activities, a guidebook to support our newest troop leaders, and a new website, just for volunteers. At july's fall launch volunteers participated in trainings to equip them with the tools to ensure girl scouts is inclusive. Investment in supporting volunteers paid off with improved service unit manager satisfaction and improved new leader experience. Volunteers led 34 days camps which served 2,194 girls, utilized 810 older girl volunteers and 764 adult volunteers. The 48th annual lakamaga adult education conference was held during the year. This volunteer led event allows volunteers to enjoy enrichment sessions, fulfill training requirements and network with other river valleys volunteers. Annual membership dues are remitted to girl scouts of the usa and river valleys does not retain any portion of the membership dues.

camp facilities:river valleys owns and operates four camp facilities: elk river, lakamaga, northwoods, and singing hills. All of river valleys' camps are currently accredited by the american camp association. Aca accreditation ensures that individuals have a physically, mentally, and emotionally safe camp experience. Activities at the camps include, but are not limited to day camps, resident camps, program events, and service unit encampments. During the year, river valleys broke ground on a new, modern equestrian center at camp elk river as well as made needed improvement on other camp facilities. Camp edith mayo, located on the outskirts of rochester, mn, reopened during the fiscal year with a fully remodeled edith mayo program center and renovated historic lodge. This 40-acre property is perfect for day camps, training, and programming with an outdoor focus.

retail services:retail services provide program materials to members participating in river valleys' programming and promote the girl scout brand and mission. River valleys operates retail shops at six service center and satellite locations and four camp facilities. A mobile shop serves five locations in the southwest area of minnesota and northfield. Use of the mobile shop van in parades, council events, volunteer training, and recruitment events was highly popular among members and increased visibility in communities.