"it's COOKIE TIME" part 2~ Taste Testing, Song Singing, and Poster Making!

Our Girl Scout troop meeting this week continued on the theme of Girl Scout Cookie Selling! To start off, we had snack, provided by Kara's mom, Roni, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

After snack we opened with our Girl Scout Promise and a quick memory refresher of the eight types of Girl Scout Cookies we are selling this year: Thin Mints, Carmel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbreads, Lemonades, Thanks a lots, and Shout Outs. After a quick pop quiz to see if the girls remembered the names of the cookies, they got to taste samples of each type~ mmm-mmm good!

Girl Scout Cookies~ Yum, Yum, Yum!
Our favorite cookie song!
(sung to the tune of "are you sleeping")

Girl Scouts making posters to help promote their cookies during direct and booth sales!

We have some very creative Girl Scouts!



Our initial order of cookies was 175 cases (2100 boxes of cookies) which we received less than a week ago. Since then, we have run out of troop inventory and had to put in two additional orders totaling an additional 175 MORE cases! They seem to be blowing out the door!
GREAT JOB, GIRLS (and parents!)

...we have made multiple trips to get more cookies!
We are blessed to have the support of school administration to use Coach Campbell's PE office in the school gym, having access to the space on an as needed basis during our cookie season!
Thanks Mr. Campbell, you ROCK!

"Organized chaos"???
...getting cookie's checked out to the girls.

Brownie Girl Scout Kara's dad, calling mom, Roni, to double check "how many more Carmel deLites do I need to get?"

By the looks of things, the girls have easily doubled the original goal set in early December of 2100 boxes. As of this post we will sell the 4,200 boxes we currently have/had in our possession(and maybe even a bit more than that as the girls continue as selling machines!)

Stay tuned... pictures of our booth sales will be posted soon.

Sweet Success: How To Sell Like A Girl Scout

GREAT ARTICAL from March 2010 ~ The Worcester Business Journal,

From reading “The Art of War” to participating in lofty corporate retreats, successful business people tend to find advice or valuable, usable information in many different places and from many different sources.

One source that may be overlooked, though, is the Girl Scouts of America.

Nationwide, the annual Girl Scout cookie sale, which takes place between Jan. 15 and March 31, will generate more than $700 million. In the scouts’ Central and Western Massachusetts region, 14,000 Girl Scouts are expected to move nearly 1.2 million boxes of cookies.

To call the sale anything but a highly successful business venture is failing to do it justice. To dismiss the lessons the scouts learn while taking part in the sale is to do one’s business a real disservice.

The scouts’ advice is in some cases practically the same as the advice sold by any number of corporate strategy hawkers, marketing gurus, grand poobahs, evangelists or ninjas. In many cases, it’s better.

“It shows you that the power of networking is incredible,” said Richard Kennedy, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and purchaser of countless boxes of thin mints.

“They engage every civic organization, every neighbor and friend, and it’s almost embarrassing not to buy them,” Kennedy said. “If one comes by, you buy from her. If 10 come by, you buy from 10.”

So, what are the lessons business leaders can learn from the Girl Scouts as they embark on their annual cookie sale? We’ll let the scouts themselves, namely Elizabeth Anderson and Hannah Schur of Westborough give the answers:

Perseverance
“The cookie sale is right in the middle of winter, and it’s cold; I spend hours on it. It takes up all of my weekends for two months,” Anderson, a 16-year-old high school sophomore, said. But it’s worth it. In the last three years, Anderson has sold about 4,000 boxes of cookies.

Promotion
“Don’t be afraid to promote your products,” Anderson said. “I would go door to door and I would be so afraid that people would just kick me out, but if people want a product,” they’ll buy it.

Be Nice
“You should always be nice to any customers,” said Schur, an eighth grader. “Even if they don’t buy anything, be polite, because they might become future customers.”
Anderson said, “Be friendly and talk to people. Some girls in the troop are really enthusiastic, and some are not.” But when it comes time to tally up the sales, “you can tell who’s been sitting there with their arms crossed, because they sell half as much.”

Be Empathetic
“Put yourself in the customer’s shoes,” said Schur. “Do everything you can to be convenient to customers,” Schur said.
By being convenient, Schur is hoping to hit the biggest sales goal she’s had in her eight years selling cookies. In the past, she’s averaged about 360 boxes per year. Now, she’s shooting for about 700.

Be Opportunistic
“Even thought I wanted to be home, I went out on Super Bowl Sunday to get more sales. Who doesn’t want Girl Scout Cookies while watching the football game?” Schur said.

The Incentives
Schur, in setting her ambitious goal of 700 boxes of cookies, knows what’s at stake. At 1,500 boxes, scouts get a Wii game system.
“The incentives are not really that big until you get to 1,000,” Schur said. At 700, though, more money out of each sale goes toward Schur’s goal. She’s saving to attend the “100 Years of Girl Scouting” event in Washington, D.C., in 2012.
Anderson has been very successful. With her sales numbers and a successful application essay picked from among the essays of scouts from across the country, she was able to take one of the scouts’ “Destinations” trips to Costa Rica last summer.

"it's COOKIE TIME!"

It was great seeing everyone back from our holiday break. We began our meeting with snack and drink graciously provided by mom's Jessica R. and Lisa S. THANK YOU! for your "snack time" contribution.

After snack, we briefly recapped the challenge the girls were given at the end of our last troop meeting in December. The challenge?...

Try to "give away" the gifts of kindness and love at least once a day (to family, friends, and strangers) over the holiday season. These gifts could be a simple smile, happily helping with chores, a kind compliment, etc.

The girls shared different ways they accomplished this challenge over the Christmas break. The girls were reminded that gifts of kindness and love throughout the entire year are actually part of the Girl Scout Promise.

We all stood together and recited the Girl Scout Promise to officially open our troop meeting.

OUR TROOP MEETING~

Our meeting was about learning the 8 types of cookies we will be selling this cookie season (from ABC Smart Cookies). We discussed goal setting, being prepared for selling, *the order form, and the incentive program (which is "cumulative" this year- meaning if a Girl Scout sold 200 boxes of cookies, they would receive the Friendship Bracelet Kit in addition to all the incentives before it: Digital Calculator, Mini FM Radio, Set of 5 Appliques, & Theme Patch.) *Please review your order form for a detailed list and pictures of incentives, for the cookie information, and safety guidelines.

We learned a new cookie song "Yum, Yum, Yum" and the girls were given a song sheet with this song and two others on it and challenged to try to learn the songs by next troop meeting. The challenge is on!!! Let's see how the girls will do...

"Yum Yum Yum"
[Tune: Are you sleeping?]

Girl Scout Cookies,
Girl Scout Cookies,

Yum, Yum, Yum,
Yum, Yum, Yum

Eat 'em by the dozen,
Eat 'em by the dozen

They're all gone,

They're all gone.[Source: Unknown]

"Girl Scout Cookies"
[Tune: Macarena -- complete with dance motions! ]

Buy some Girl Scout cookies

They are sooooo yummy

You can eat 'em all day

Ooooohhhh, Girl Scout cookies!!

Girl Scout cookies

Three fifty a box

They're so yummy

Buuuuyyyy lots!!

[Source: Dreamt up by (literally!) Rachel in Troop 343 from Scottsdale, AZ]

"Cookie Sale Song"
[Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic: 1861]

We're selling Girl Scout cookies,

Yes, it's Girl Scout Cookie time!

"Would you like to buy some?"

Is our cookie selling line.

We've got lots to choose from,

Don't you see your favorite kind?

We thank you very much!

Glory, glory we are Girl Scouts!

Smiling, cookie selling Girl Scouts!

Please buy cookies, you can help us.

We can't eat them all ourselves!

[Source: words: Pam Gibson, Citrus Council (FL); music: W. Steffe ]

As a simple craft to celebrate "Cookie Time", we made buttons the girls are encouraged to wear during cookie selling season:

Kit bought at Hobby Lobby for $4.99
(12 buttons in a kit)

Logos were printed off the ABC Smart Cookie website cut to fit the button and then snapped in place to complete the project.
Check out the website for MANY other neat clip art designs to make your own variety of buttons! (go to "Art Gallery" then click "Illustrations" - we got this one in "Logos")

This is Jessie's creation on her Brownie vest.

LAST~ We encourage all our Girl Scouts to explore the ABC Smart Cookie web site for fun games, motivation, ideas, and information. There area areas for each level and like mentioned earlier in this post, a great place to record and monitor their goals!

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com

REMINDER: Cookie selling begins Sunday, Jan. 16. (please do not start before this date) Booth sales begin Friday, Jan. 21. The last day of Cookie Sales is Sunday, Feb. 27.

Watch your email for upcoming information on troop cookie pick up and booth sale dates/times.

THANK YOU, parents, for supporting your Girl Scout in this wonderful opportunity and experience.

Parent Cookie Meeting

Mark your Calendars

Tuesday, November 30, at 3:30 PM
in the School Cafeteria

Girl Scout Cookie selling time is right around the corner! It is important we have a “Parent Cookie Meeting” to share information about what to expect and to set some goals with our Girl Scouts. Please plan on attending this information meeting with your Girl Scout (The meeting should only last 30-45 minutes).

For those of you who had a Girl Scout last year in the troop, there have been some changes to how Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas is selling cookie this year, so this meeting is going to be a benefit to you as well.

If you are unable to attend this meeting, we will do our best to get the information to you in a prompt manner. Feel free to contact your GS leader & cookie manager with any questions, comments, or concerns~ Teri

Here’s an overview of our important “Cookie Dates”:
Dec. 1-13~ Cookie Manager orders cookies to sell (this is our entire troop order)
Jan 11-15~ Troop receives their entire cookie order sometime in this time frame.
Jan 16 (Sunday)~ Girls can begin selling on their own- either taking orders or direct sales prior to city wide booth sales.
Jan 21 (Friday)~ Booth sales begin (all throughout Corpus Christi and South Texas)
Feb 27 (Sunday)~ Booth sales end.
Feb 28 (Monday)~ Girl Scout cookie money due to troop cookie manager (Teri).
March 1~ Troop must turn in cookie money to service unit.

Announcing our 2011 Girl Scout Cookies!

It's been almost 100 years since Girl Scouts® began selling home-baked cookies to raise money. The idea was so popular that in 1936, Girl Scouts of the USA enlisted bakers to handle the growing demand. Since then, selling Girl Scout Cookies® has become a successful way to help girls develop important leadership skills and earn money for activities. (1)

With the another Girl Scout year upon us, we will have the opportunity to set new goals (troop and personal) and reach new heights as we prepare for our 2011 Cookie Season. This year we will not be taking "pre-orders", but will be participating in direct and booth sales; making it easier for the girls to sell product on hand at the time of the sale- not having to go back to all the pre-order customers a second time for delivery.

Our troop #9691 will have a PARENT COOKIE MEETING in November to share all the details and give information packets to those Girl Scouts who wish to participate in this fun experience (Time and Date of meeting TBA). Below you will see the variety of cookies our Girl Scout 2011 line will include:

New! SHOUT OUTS




New Package! THANKS-A-LOT

LEMONADES

SHORTBREAD

PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH

PEANUT BUTTER PATTIES

CARMEL deLITES

THIN MINTS

• NUTRITION FACTS


• RECIPES


• COOKIE TRIVIA


• GIRL SCOUT COOKIE FAQ

(1) taken from the ABC Cookie Home Page.

Cookie Information

Cookies have been given to each GS by total order

Each Girl Scout (supervised by a parent) will need to separate her own orders per customer using her Order Card.

Consider printing a “Thank You” from the littlebrowniebakers web site.
go to side tab: CLIP ART then to GRAPHICS & DESKTOP tab; go to page 18 or 19 for Thank You

Goal set to have cookies delivered and money collected in the next 7-10 days.

Collect amount due at time of cookie delivery (checks payable to Girl Scout Troop 9691)

Do not let your collected money accumulate; turn in (to Teri) in a timely manner.

Money is due no later than Monday, March 1, 2010.

ALSO~ since we are not doing booth sales this year, we do not have a large surplus of cookies. In the event a customer wants to order more cookies, suggest they go to the littlebrowniebakers website and click on the "Cookie Locater" to find a booth closest to them.

We will be donating our "Gift of Caring" boxes after our next troop meeting.

Thank You Leaders for all your help with signing out the cookies!

Cookie Pre-Order Updates

We are so proud of each Girl Scout in Troop 9691! As a team we had a pre-order amount of 1,613 packages! This is over our goal of 1,300 by 313. Great job girls!

Many of the girls at our troop meeting asked "who sold the most?"... I didn't have the information sheet with me at our meeting, but wanted to answer this question as it was asked a number of times. I do have to emphasize, each girl did an awesome job and whether our girl scout sold 12 boxes or 112, we are very proud of you!

"Who sold the most?" ... here's the breakdown of our top three sellers per level.

DAISY:
#1) Allyson B. (131)
#2) Makayla (80)
#3) Kylie (79)

BROWNIE:
#1) Jennifer (250) SUPER PATCH achiever!!!
#2) Meredith (201)
#3) Jessie (119)

JUNIOR:
#1) Bethany (55)
#2) Becky (54)
#3) Karrah (51)

Cookie deliveries will be February 13-18 at which time the girls will collect the money due from their customers.

What A Cookie Can Do

Thank You for Supporting Girl Scouts!

Cookie Selling Underway!

We are so excited to have each of you Girl Scouts set your goals and work to achieve those goals.

Have fun, do your best, and encourage each other.

Remember: Pre-Orders begin January 9 through January 22.

Cookie Club is been a fun tool to motivate and generate excitement towards setting and reaching your goals. If you haven't already, please get your Girl ID and Password from your leader and check it out! We are given such an opportunity to grow in so many different ways though Cookie Selling. Be encouraged that the part you play makes a difference in our Girl Scout council, our community, our troop, and in you!

This year we have a line up of patches that can be earned for different aspects of your performance.

Here are the patches and their requirements:

PARTICIPATION PATCH

Girl who sells at least 12 packages.

GIFT OF CARING PATCH

Troop must donate at least two cases (24 packages) of cookies.

SUPER PATCH

Every girl who has a pre-order of at least 225 packages.

BOOTH SALES PATCH

Every Girl who participates in one or more booth sale.

GOAL ACHIEVER

Every girl who sells 225 packages or more.

RALLY PATCH

Every girl who particpates in a rally with either her service unit or troop.

I CALLED BACK PATCH

Every girl who calls back a customer on her order card for a 2nd order.

COOKIE CLUB PATCH

Every girl who signs up to join the Cookie Club.

Cookie Information for Parents

This Cookie Season, Girl Scouts across the country will be inspiring change. Girl Scouts will discover what matters most, connect with people in your community and use the power of Girl Scout Cookies to take action and make the world a better place.

As we prepare for the cookie sale season, please keep in mind that the purpose of the Girl Scout Cookie Sale is twofold: first it helps girls develop a wide range of skills such as leadership, entrepreneurship, money management, decision-making, planning, goal-setting, interpersonal skills, teamwork and many more. These skills are best learned when a girl is an active participant in all aspects of the sale.

The second purpose of the cookie sale is to generate revenue to support Girl Scouting in Greater South Texas and is also the main source of income for our troop. The sale funds programs and services throughout the year and insures that Girl Scouting will be available in the future.

Each Box of Girl Scout Cookies are $3.50. A case is sold for $42.00. Each case holds 12 boxes.

Money from the profits of sales;

• To our troop~ $.60 per box with awards.
  
• The balance of profits go to Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas to help all the Girl Scouts in our 26 county jurisdiction.

Troop Pre-order Taking Begins Saturday, January 9, 2010

Troop Pre-order Taking Ends Friday, January 22, 2010

It is not recommended to take any money during pre-order taking. Each Girl Scout and their parent is responsible for managing the money from the sales of their cookies. If any money is taken during pre-orders and is lost, the parent is responsible for reimbursement.

(Please have order forms from pre-orders to Teri NO LATER THAN Sunday, January 24)

COOKIE DELIVERIES February 13 to 18, 2010... Collect money due at this time.

DO NOT HOLD LARGE SUMS OF MONEY IN YOUR POSSESSION. THE TROOP IS RESPONSIBLE TO PAY FOR ALL COOKIES THEY RECEIVE. ENSURE YOUR COLLECTED MONEY IS KEPT SAFE AND TURNED IN TO YOUR COOKIE MANAGER (TERI). IN A TIMELY MANNER.

All Girl Scouts who want to participate in earning a patch/es for 2010 Cookie Season MUST have a parent complete a parent agreement form and returned back to Teri Wymore by Wed January 6. Girls who do not have a parent agreement form in by Jan. 6, may not be able to participate in Cookie Sales.

Girl Scouts MAY use the internet to send emails to people they know giving them information that our troop is selling cookies and your Girl Scout was interested if they would like to make an order. Text Messaging, myspace, or Facebook may also be used to get the word out and make sales contacts. However, selling cookies ON the internet is prohibited (ie: eBay, Craiglist, etc).

"Gift of Caring"~ For various reasons, some customers do not want to buy cookies for themselves. With Gift of Caring, they have a chance to give to others while supporting Girl Scouting at the same time. The girls will be donating our "Gift of Caring" to Military personnel serving oversees, to the Ronald McDonald House, and to the Corpus Christi Food Bank.

Direct / Booth Sales Begin February 20, 2010 and Ends March 7, 2010 (more information will be sent at a later time regarding booth sales)

For more information on:

• Cookie Safety... (Click Here)
• SELLING TIPS... (Click Here)
• Five Steps of Cookie Success... (Click Here)
• How your family can be involved... (Click Here)
• "Gift of Caring"... (Click Here)
• "COOKIE CLUB" (with parental permission only)... (Click Here)
• Fun Activity Kit Downloads per Girl Scout level... (Click Here)
• What cookies are available this year... (Click here)
• Cookie Locator... (Click Here)
• Girl Scout Cookies FAQs... (Click Here)