High Impact Insight

ADVICE FROM DEDICATED HIGH IMPACT VOLUNTEERS

Stephanie Marshall is in her sixth year of AHG as a member of WV0058 and is the Event Coordinator for the D.C. Metro Area Team. She loves to be creative, particularly in scrapbooking and photography. Her son and daughter keep her busy volunteering between football, church youth group, and being the PiPa Unit Leader to her daughter’s Unit! Her favorite part of AHG has been watching the girls in her Troop bloom in the gifts God has given them and gaining confidence to try new things.

I love a theme. When my kids were little, and I had more free time and energy, I was “That Mom” who planned elaborate birthday parties. Give me a Pinterest board and an Etsy account and I will rock it out! I covered a wall in white paper and a rainbow of paint chips for a photo backdrop at my daughter’s art party. I hand-dyed and aged paper, then burned the edges to resemble a pirate’s map for the invitations to my son’s pirate party. Hours spent planning activities and packing goodie bags. It brought me joy and fulfilled that need God put in me to be creative and artistic. Themes? I am all in.

While God gave me that creative need, He gave different gifts to my other mom friends. One, in particular, was a skilled accountant and business owner. She had no desire to throw over-the-top parties and was perfectly happy to rent out the party room of Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had just as much fun, and it was great! There was still a theme–birthday, fun, and laughter. We were there for the same reason and common goal–to celebrate.

AHG Program Year Themes celebrate a common goal as well–uniting Troops around a focused Bible verse and central concept such as Chrysalis, Chosen, and now, Live Free. They are meant to bring us together across the country, a rallying cry for a common purpose and goal as we enter another year in AHG. Troops from California to Texas to my own in West Virginia will be claiming 2 Corinthians 3:17 for our Troop year to pray over our girls and a vision to Live Free in God’s love and spirit. We can all celebrate together the idea of this freedom we have in Christ. Themes are not meant to be a burden, or one more heavy responsibility for a Troop Coordinator to organize and carry out. They are meant to be fun; in whatever way you choose to interpret them. Whether that is all out with decorations and goodie bags or simply completing the patch program, there are many ways to incorporate the theme into your Troop’s Program Year planning. Flag Ceremonies are a great place to introduce the year’s Bible Verse. Just like the girls memorize and recite the Oath and Creed, they can recite the verse together during announcements and work on memorizing it. It is a great way to keep God’s word at the forefront of AHG.

Flag Ceremonies are a great place to introduce the year’s Bible Verse. It is a great way to keep God’s word at the forefront of AHG.

Kick-off meetings set the tone for the year and are a very visible opportunity to introduce the new theme. Decorate your meeting space at your Charter Organization with streamers, balloons, and paper goods in the color scheme of the patch (blues, purple, and pink). Accent your decor with some themed experiential moments, like a craft and a fun snack, like bird’s nest cookies or edible bird nests. (Pinterest has several recipes and ideas!)

Continue with the bird iconography in the AHG graphics and perhaps choose the Ornithology Badge (formerly Our Feathered Friends) as a first Troop-wide badge. Hold a “He & Me” or “She & Me” family event to make bird feeders/houses. (Creating a sense of belonging in the Troop space is important. By calling these events “He & Me” and “She & Me”, rather than “Daddy & Me” or “Mommy & Me”, girls without traditional family dynamics feel welcomed and included.)

Troop Shepherds could hold a campout devotion with the older girls at a campout, probably at the PiPa Levels. After the devotion, have them write down things they want to be free from–fear, insecurity, self-doubt, whatever their prayer is to God—and place those pieces of paper in the fire as a representation of that freedom. Hillsong Worship’s “Where the Spirit of the Lord Is” is an uplifting song that would pair perfectly with this activity since, after all, it’s inspired by this year’s theme verse! Print out the lyrics and let them read, listen, and sing along.

Themes are meant to help cast a unifying vision in a Program Year. However you choose to interpret or incorporate these themes, we pray they will help guide your Troop in planning a calendar full of faith, service, and fun.