Girl Scouts of Yorba Linda, California

How to Start a New Troop
Girl Scout Levels Daisy - Grades K-1 Brownies - Grades 2-3 Juniors - Grades 4-5 Cadettes - Grades 6-8 Seniors - Grades 9-10 Ambassadors - Grades 11-12
Step 1	Identify your Service Unit and find your School Liaison Yorba Linda is divided into four (4) Service Units. Each Service Unit is made up of several dozen troops of all levels. Service Units are divided geographically based on the elementary schools that are served by each area. Contact your School Liaison Your school Liaison is your best contact to help you get your new troop going. She can guide you every step of the way. Click here for a list of Yorba Linda School Liaisons. Look for the the elementary school that the majority of your Girl Scouts attend. Note which Service Unit that elementary school is attached to. It is important to know what Service Unit you will be in. If you don't know who your Liaison is, please contact: Lesley Finch - Yorba Linda Volunteer Support Specialist (VSS) Email: lfinch@gscoc.org Phone: 800/ 979-9444 or 714/ 223-7551
Step 2	Fill out necessary paperwork Every troop needs a leader and a co-leader. Both leaders must fill out all the necessary paperwork required by Girl Scouts before they can register their troop. All paperwork necessary for new leaders can be found at this link - How to Register a New leader - Your paperwork should be returned to your school Liaison.
Step 3	Complete New Leader Orientation After all your forms have been completed your Liaison will contact the Executive Orientation Coordinator to inform her that you are ready for new leader Orientation. The EOC will contact you with available dates and times for Orientation. All leaders and co-leaders must complete Orientation within one (1) month of registering a new troop. Orientation is your first training as a new leader. It lasts about 60-90 minutes and is intended to provide you with tools to get your troop going. It covers a lot of subjects including Girl Scout policies and procedures, safety rules, how your troop finances should be managed, how troop leadership should be delegated and how your troop fits into the Girl Scout Organizational structure. Most importantly it shows you how to get help and who you go to get questions answered. It is not level specific and is intended as a general nuts and bolts overview of troop structure and management.
Step 4	Open a Troop Bank Account: All Girl Scout troops must have a Troop Bank Account with (2) authorized signers on the account. It is optional for Daisy Troops to a have a troop account but it is recommended they open one too. Your Service Unit Manager will supply you with a form that authorizes you to open a troop bank account. Click here to find your Service Unit Manager
Step 5	Register your troop: Every service unit has their own Registrar who is in charge of registering troops with the Orange County Council. Click here to find who your registrar is and how to register your new troop. Your registrar will help you with any questions you have about registering your troop. Contact her and tell her you are starting a new troop. She will provide you with registration forms and also provide you with a troop number
Step 6	Complete Leader Training: All leaders and co-leaders must complete Leadership Essentials training within three (3) months of registering a new troop. This training can be completed online, by home-study course or in a classroom setting. Click here to find more information about Leadership Essential Training.
Step 7	Have a Parent Meeting You should set up a meeting with your parents as soon as possible in order to get registration fees collected and forms signed. You should go over your expectations for the parents and the girls at this meeting.
Step 8	Find a meeting spot Yorba Linda Girl Scouts are very fortunate to have their own beautiful Program Center facility. The Yorba Linda Girl Scout house is officially called the Yorba Linda Program Center (YLPC) and is located at 4652 Casa Loma Avenue. Yorba Linda, CA 92886. It is a great place to have meetings. However you will need to sign-up for a meeting time as many troops meet here. Other places to hold meetings can be schools or churches or a leader's home. If you would like to have your troop meet at the YLPC, you must contact Lesley Finch to see if there is day and time available for your troop to meet: Contact Info: Leslie Finch - Yorba Linda Volunteer Support Specialist (VSS) Email: lfinch@gscoc.org Phone: 800/ 979-9444 or 714/ 223-7551
Step 9	Plan Troop Meetings Both leader and co-leader should get together and come up with a plan for meetings. Some leaders plan a year in advance, some months in advance. The better organized you are going in, the more successful your meetings will be. Here is a great link to help you plan meetings
Step 10	Go to Service Unit Meetings (SUMs) SUM meeting are held every month for you, the leader, to keep you informed of what is going on in the Girl Scout Community and to provide you with information and tools to make your job as a leader easier. It also gives you a chance to meet other leaders to share ideas. Click here for a list of Service Unit Meetings.
Step 11	Use the Yorba Linda Girl Scout Website Visit www.gsyl.org often to stay up-to-date on what's going on within the Girl Scout community. The website has a calendar and information about all upcoming events. You can find forms and contact information for Team members. Visit the Leader's Corner with a lot of useful information and tons of useful links to help you, the leader.
Congratulations! You are a Girl Scout leader! Thank you for taking on this challenging but immensely rewarding responsiblity. The most important rule of all is to enjoy your troop and the amazing girls whose lives you are now influencing in an important and positive way.