Welcome From Your Council Entrepreneurial Team

HELLO ALL OF OUR AMAZING, FABULOUS GIRL SCOUT FAMILIES!

I am Jua-Nita Williams Houston, our Council’s Chief of Mission Delivery. I have learned and lived this program right alongside each of you for the last 12 years. I have watched many of you come into this program as Daisies and grow into beautiful, phenomenal, amazing young ladies and fabulous entrepreneurs. As we move forward please allow me to reflect on a few things. We know the last 15+ months have been incredibly difficult. Life as we knew it literally changed overnight. We said goodbye to what we once knew as normal and learned to embrace change, change and more change. Through it all, this Council, our members and our programs have weathered the pandemic. We kept looking and moving forward. We added some new skills to our repertoire and rolled with the punches and we came out on top. From an all-digital Fall Product Program to virtual programming and camps, virtual troop meetings, and a mostly digital online cookie sale, our girls worked harder than ever before, knocked their goals out of the park, and learned so many new things along the way. To say we are so proud of you would be an understatement. As a Council we stand in awe of all that you have accomplished during these difficult times. We know it wasn’t easy, but each of you persevered and handled the changes and challenges like pros.

As we enter this new season and move forward with the new way of doing things I want you to take a few things with you:

• Always believe in yourself, you are stronger than you know!

• Always keep moving forward, even when there is struggle.

• Always keep reaching for your goals, when you accomplish one, set another–that’s how success is built.

• Always take care of yourself first–mind, body and soul. Take time to smell the roses, put your face to the sun and of course EAT THE COOKIES!

In this world and our current situation of facing the unknown, the easiest thing to do is Be Kind, be a good person, and accept and embrace all the differences and commonalities of your Girl Scout Sisters. Together we will continue to rise above the pandemic and, while we will never return to the normal we knew, we can create a new normal that is safe, just, equal and equitable for all members. We are so looking forward to our continued growth and success and can’t wait for the new year of adventures to begin, come and join us, we’re waiting for you.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

Jua-Nita R. Williams Houston Chief of Mission Delivery

WELCOME BACK GIRL SCOUTS!

As we enter a new year of Girl Scouting and entrepreneurial program, I challenge you to reflect back on the past year and recognize how adaptable we all really are. That is an important realization because change is inevitable and sometimes it happens really fast! The new skills we learned and used during the pandemic will not be retired, but continue to evolve as we fine-tune the right balance between virtual and in-person interactions. It is so exciting to finally be able to see real people and their faces again, but we can’t deny how awesome and convenient things like curbside pick-up are. Ultimately, expectations and priorities have been permanently shifted. So as we step back out into the world and our community, we need to be prepared to learn how to interact with each other again. I know as Girl Scouts we will continue to set a positive example and personify our core values. We will all need a little bit of patience and a lot of kindness to recover from over a year of contactless everything.

This year’s 2021 Fall Product Program provides girls with an opportunity to “Rise Up” while learning more about entrepreneurship.

Why Participate in the Fall Product Program? Girls learn and practice the Five Skills: Goal Setting, Decision Making, Money Management, People Skills and Business Ethics, as they earn proceeds for their troops, not to mention exciting rewards.

Proceeds earned stay local to benefit the Council and Troops who can earn 15-30% on all items sold: nuts, chocolates, magazines and thank you nuts (I Care). The Fall Product Program is an excellent way for Troops to earn start-up proceeds to use during the Girl Scout year to fund activities, projects and beyond!

How the Fall Product Program Works: This program allows girls to be entrepreneurs by offering family and friends the opportunity to purchase delicious nuts, chocolates and magazines. There are multiple ways to participate:

⇨ In-person by taking orders using the paper order card and collecting payment

⇨ Online by inviting friends and family to place an order using her unique codes or through email invitation. Customers can choose to have nuts, chocolates and magazines shipped directly to them, or they can select from the nut and chocolate products available for girl delivery.

Fun Facts about our Fall Program mascot the Emperor Penguin:

⇨ They are the largest of all living penguin species and breed annually during the Antarctic winter, June through August. During this time, temperatures can drop as low as -76°F with winds as high as 124 mph.

⇨ They can dive to a depth of 1,800 feet and hold their breath for up to 22 minutes! Their aerodynamic bodies and strong flippers make them excellent swimmers, reaching speeds of 7.65 mph.

⇨ Colonies of adults and chicks work together to huddle for warmth. 5,000 or more tightly packed adults and chicks shuffle around, so each takes a turn on the outside of the huddle where it’s cold.

Devon Spira Director of Entrepreneurial Program

Caryn Martin-Patino Entrepreneurial Program Specialist