Encouraging Membership in the Senior Branches
Last updated: February 25, 1999
Compiled by Jennifer Walker, Edmonton AB
Encouraging Senior Branch Members -
Bridging from Senior Branches to Adult Guiding
Here is the article I wrote that appeared in the March 1997 edition of Blue-Print, the Alberta Guiders' newsletter that is published 7 times a year:
Bridging - from Senior Branches to Adult Guiding? by Jennifer Walker, Provincial Link Adviser
Bridging activities allow girls to learn about the next branch of Guiding, encourage them to continue, and ease their transition to the next level. So what about Senior Branches members - there's nowhere for them to bridge to, right? WRONG! They can learn about adult Guiding (as Link member and/or Guider). We would like them to continue as Guiders, so we should allow them to learn what it's all about.
Here are some suggestions that all of us can try:
1) We can help Senior Branches members learn more about adult positions
in Guiding, and invite them to participate in activities with Guiders and/or
Link members, such as Division/Area dinners, Link activities, District/Division/Area
Council meetings.
2) We can ensure that they know all about various learning/training
opportunities for adult Guiders - especially since many of them are open
to Senior Branches members.
3) Junior Leaders, Cadets, or Rangers helping in another unit are getting
a first-hand opportunity to see what being a Unit Guider is all about.
Ask if being a Guider is right for them at this time, and if not, help
them to find out about other opportunities in adult Guiding (Link, District
Secretary, Committee positions, etc.).
Are you likely to volunteer for a position or join a group you know nothing about? Yet Senior Branches members can be left stranded with no idea of the possibilities of continuing in Guiding if YOU don't give them the opportunities to learn about them. For information about Link, for women in Guiding aged 18-30 who may or may not have another position in Guiding, contact Jennifer Walker or the Provincial Office.
(Copyright 1997 Girl Guides of Canada- Alberta Council, may be reproduced for nonprofit Guiding use providing each copy contains full acknowledgement of the source)
Leadership in the Senior Branches
15 Mar 1998
For those of us who do have Senior Branches members (Cadets, Junior
Leaders and Rangers) working in our units, please remember that WE are
an important Leadership role model to them. Let's make them part of our
leadership team. They can do a lot more than just games and campfire! They're
not just our leaders of tomorrow, they're our leaders of TODAY.
--Liz Lovis
26 Mar 1998
If you think of Guiding as a triangle (membership numbers-wise at least)
with the Sparks forming the base and then up to the Brownies, etc., the
Senior Branches are at the top. There just aren't a lot of Senior Branches
members or SB Guiders... without a good solid base, the rest of the triangle
would collapse. The way I see it, Sparks and Brownies and Guides and Pathfinders
and Lones are really all SBIT's --Senior-Branches-In-Training! ;-)
--Liz Lovis
9 Apr 1998
ISPPE (Investigate, Select, Plan, Participate, Evaulate) is an acronym
that we use in Rangers to help the Rangers plan/set goals. Could be any
goal from a fundraiser to setting up training sessions with resources from
the community, to a camp to program work. As "grown ups", we recognize
that ISPPE is pretty much how life gets planned. Maybe, as Guiders, we
could try using ISPPE, consciously, with the younger branches - as a start
to getting them more involved in the planning. If they ownership of an
event wouldn't the turnout improve? (Or is that just wishful thinking?)
--Liz Lovis
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