Last week we had our second Cadette meeting of the year. At our previous meeting, several major decision were made, including the one to sell cookies. This ties in nicely with the marketing badge, which the girls will be earning in conjunction with this traditional Girl Scout fundraiser.
Each girl arrived and went to the playroom to hang out while waiting for the others to arrive. One girl was chosen to lead the meeting, as our big goal for the year is making this as girl led as possible. After everyone had arrived, we gathered in the family room, did the pledge, law and promise, and got down to business.
Image from Ivory Mix and altered by the author in Canva
The girls had an assignment to complete for the Cadette Marketing badge, and it was to pick a logo from a favorite brand and be prepared to discuss it. My daughter picked Dunkin Donuts, another girl picked Starbucks, and an assortment of cookies and chocolate (Oreos, Kit Kats and Reese’s) were also discussed.
It got quite loud during our discussion, and the girls decided to pick a signal that the girl in charge would use to quiet everyone down and get them to focus on the task at hand. Need I tell you that it was used quite a bit that night? The leaders and I are still getting used to things being girl led, and the problem of letting them social mixed in with completed the necessary badge work.
Our discussion led to Girl Scout cookies and what people thought of the brand. Then they discussed how to sell them door to door with an adult and at our booths (manners, smiles). I then shared with them that they could bling their booth and attract customers. This really excited them, as they do love arts and crafts! They sketched a few ideas.
The last portion of the meeting had the girls going through supermarket circulars to see the price of cookies in the store. They noticed the price difference between those on sale and Girl Scout cookies. Again, we talked about brand, what people think about when they see girls selling cookies, and how they are out for a limited time.
I read in the Babycenter Girl Scout Mom forum how one leader turned a “No” into a sale. When people say they do not want a box, her girls asked if they would buy one for the troops. Almost every time, a person either bought a box or gave a donation towards a box. We have a local organization that ships items to the troops regularly, so this is something our girls will try at our booth sales.
The meeting ended with discussing next month’s agenda, which will be to create artwork for blinging their booths. We will also be discussing potential field trip ideas from the list they generated at our October meeting. Then the girl in charge of the meeting played Freeze Dance and then it was time to go home.
It was productive, but loud. Hopefully next month will be calmer as they have markers and glue in their hands!
