Leaders, Train Yourselves!

A RE you, perhaps, leader of a Lone Tr·oop in a small place, far from the nearest Girl Scout Council

or Training Course? Or are you a busy teacher or business woman or so ·cia 1 W\lrker,

turning their love of fun and adventure and pretty things into wholesome and happy channels. Here is a matchless chance to learn about human personal­ity in the making. You have the gifted

girl, the dull girl, the know - it - all or the even

busier head of a household and mother of a fam­ily, giving your­self gladly to your troop meet­ing once a week but feeling that you have no time to give to train­ing?

If you are the real leader of a real troop, you are, like the man in Moliere's play, who spoke prose without knoWing it, training your-self all the time.

LEADERS, ATTEND YOUR MID-YEAR EDUCATION

CONFERENCES

EASTERN CONFERENCE, Barnard College, New York City

]anttary 25, 26, 27 , 1924 Conference opens Friday Morning, January 25,

at 10.30, in Students' Hall, Broadway and 117th St reet.

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee

January 31, Febr1<ary 1, 2, 1924 Conference will probably open at 2.00 P. l\L

Thursday, J anuary 31, 1924.

PLEASE SEND RECISTR.I\TIONS FoR THEse CoN­FERENCEs AS EAnLY AS P osSI BLE To

Eli::robeth Kempe-r Adams, Educational Secretary 189 Lexington Avenue, New York City.

Information will be supplied about living quarters in New York. A spacious Clubhouse on the College Experimental Farm has been offered us at George Peabody College.

Rates will be kept as moderate as possible.

girl, the self-in­dulgent gi rl, the timid girl, the rattle-pate girl, the dreamy and imaginative girl, the girl - who­thinks - herself-­neglected, the all­round girl. You become an expert in straightening out kinks, in sup­plying outlets for restless energies. With little talk­ing about it and no preaching, you are learning

There is no Soout trammg so funda­mental as working from week to week with a group of growing girls, helping them in all sorts of wise and unob­trusive ways to make their own plans and face their own responsibilities, and

through practice the great Scout art of character-'building.

Even more than through indoor troop meetings, you. train yourself as well as your Scouts when you take them camp­ing or hiking. The Scout spirit of re­sourcefulness and fellowship and love

2 THE GrRL ScouT LEADER

of simple things is essentially an out­of-door spirit, whether it show itself under a roof or under a sky. But there are special ways of knowing your Scouts and of practicing Scout virtues as well as Scout crafts on the trail and around the campfire.

You may train yourselves, too, to train your Scouts, by knowing and using your community, state, and na­tional resources. Your schools will help you, your public library, your health authorities, your county farm bureau, your friends and neighbors who have special knowledge and special hob­bies-people who are campers ·Or nature lovers or musicians or craftsmen. Ask them to serve as examiners for proficien­cy badges, and see how pleased they will be! Get your librarian to establish a Scout corner or a Scout shelf with a bulletin board. If you have no library in your town, find 9ut whether your state has a library commission, and ask them to send you a t raveling collection. Write to State and National Depart­ments for bulletins and posters. The amount of free material that you may secure is almost endless. Commercial booklets .and sometimes exhibits may be had for the asking.

If you are really training yourself, you cannot afford to miss reading from cover to CQver every month both The A mer­ican Girl and THE GIRL ScouT LEAD­ER. And have you seen and made use of the mimeographed Outline of an Ex­perimental Troop Management Course for Girl Scout Leaders, which is on sale at National Headquarters, and which was prepared by a visiting English Guider who spent a summer with us two years ago?

Through these publications and through its Field, Education, and Camp­ing Departments, National H eadquar­ters is helping leaders all over the coun­try to train themselves.

Several of the Regional Directors on the National Staff also issue bulletins telling what is going on in Scouting in their Regions, and giving interesting suggestions.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island pub­lish the Trail-.11-faker and the Flash, and there are many bulletins issued by Local Councils, of which those of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Minneapolis may be cited as examples.

And the latest news is that Girl Scout talks are being broadcasted from Pitts­burgh, with the approval of the Na­tional Field Committee, and are especial­ly designed for leaders! So listen in, leaders.

For next year the National Organiza­tion is planning two or three joint sec­tional conferences on Education, Camp­ing, and Field problems. Before long there will •be, we hope, such conferences in every region. District and local coun­cils already hold them. Train yourself through attending Girl Scout conven­tions and conferences whenever possible. Plan to come to the National Training Week in Chicago, April 22-28, 1924,

'and stay on for the Convention im­mediately following.

After you have had a local course­or perhaps without having one-your thoughts may turn to a National or Regional Training School where you will meet leaders from a wider range of territory and secure special types of trammg. There are at present eight National Schools in session from two weeks to eight weeks during the sum­mer, in camp surroundings. There are two Regional Schools, one in Texas and one in California.

And you, prospective leaders, stu­dents in normal schools, colleges and universities, each year a larger number of you are thinking about your civic responsibilities and your opportunities for volunteer community service through Scouting. In 1922-23 there were over 1900 of you in Scout courses in 53 institutions. Many of you are already troop leaders; others have been camp counselors. You are our long-term in­vestment in leadership.

In the long run, the hope of Scout­ing lies in its leaders. And all good Leaders are Learners, and train them­selves !

THE GIRL ScouT LEADER 3

Some Book Helps for Leaders RE you reading the daily talks

on ·boys and girls by Angelo Patri? They often apply direct­

ly to your Girl Scout problems, and appear in a wide range of newspapers through the Bell Syndicate, Inc. Cut them out and paste them into a book for reference and for discussion at Leaders' meetings. Do you know his Child Training, published in 1922 by D. Appleton and Co., New York? It is equally thought-provoking.

A brief and unusually simple and sensible list is a Selected List of Books for Parents and Teachers, issued in 1922 by the Federation for Child Study, 2 West Sixty-fourth Street, New York. It contains sections on Adolescence, Psychology, Education, Play and Recre­ation, Fiction and Autobiography deal­ing with Adolescent Life.

A stimulating suggestion along this line is made by Helen Ferris, the always stimulating Editor of THE AMERICAN GIRL, that stories and novels about growing girls help us to understand, as ' we can in no other way, the experiences, problems, and opportunities of the girls we are ·dealing with. Try reading and discussing from this point of view such books as Willa Cather's, Jl!ly Antonia, George El iot's Mill on the Floss, Dor­othy Canfield Fisher's The Bent Twig and Understood Betsy, Beatrice Har­raden's Spring Shell Plant, Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country Doctor, George Madden Martin's Emmy Lou, May Sin­clair's The Life and Death of Harriet Frean and A1ary Olivier, Booth Tark­ington's Alice Adams and Gentle Julia, Kate Douglas Wiggin's Rebecca of Sun­nybrook Farm and Polly Oliver's Prob­lems. And why not re-read Little W o­men and Old Fashioned Girl from this point of view?

Speaking of Kate Douglas Wiggin, we have an idea that her My Garden of Memory, just published by the Houghton, Mifflin Company of Boston and New York, would be delightful

reading aloud for a group of Girl Scout leaders.

What's Right With Our Girls

In our opinion, this should really be the title of What's Wrong with Our Girls, by Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale, published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1923, price $r.so. The title is misleading, for from it one would expect anything but the whole­some, sane, happy outlook that char­acterizes the treatment. Mrs. Hale's point of vi·ew has both commonsense and imagination. She points out how the modern girl is being cheated out of her age-long inheritances of association with people of all ages, productive work in the home, and above all, knowledge of farm life and its activities. Against this background she deals with the immediate questions: proper dress and dancing, the right kind of physical training, the desirable amount of theater and movie going. Camping and country life, community b,ookshops, community theatres, handicrafts, careers are some of the things she discusses with reference to growing girls. Every leader will ibe a better leader for having read this book.

House and Horne-Greta Gray-J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Chicago, 1923, $2.50.

Leaders who are working with their Scout~ on home-making problems will welcome this book, which the author calls "a manual and text-book of prac­tical house planning." It is plentifully illustrated and easy to read and presents a broader view of its subject than many books of its kind. It seeks to lay the foundation for good taste in designing even the small country house by study­ing various styles of architecture. The problems at the end of the chapters and the suggestions to club leaders will in particular be of value to you if you are looking for new home-making projects with which to keep your Scouts busy during these winter months.

4 THE GIRL ScouT LEADER

Suggested Troop Meeting Programs (I) Games-IS minutes

Patrols in Council-IS minutes Attendance record taken, dues col­lected, inspection, report from last Court of Honor and report to next Court of Honor, patrol business.

Scout Technique- 20 minutes First-class map making given by cap­tain. Second-class signalling given by Golden Eaglet or Service Troop mem­ber. Tenderfoot work given by lieutenant.

Scout songs- 10 minutes Patrol StuntS- IS minutes

Each patrol in turn, or else one patrol for the entire period, according as decided and appointed by Court of Honor. Stunts may be pantomimes, charades, playlet, acting out a song or story or scout law.

Talk-'IS minutes Inspirational talk by captain, or talk on some scout subjeot by outsider.

Closing Court of Honor

(2) Court of Honor Hike-Nature work (with naturalist

along, perhaps). First Aid work, camp technique, outdoor cooking, or etc. might be taken up instead of nature work.

(3) Formal Opening-s minutes Games-ro minutes Patrols in Council-1 s minutes Scout Technique- 2o minutes Games- ro minutes Talk or Story or Rehearsal of Play or

Discussion of and preparation fo·r some piece of community service- IS minutes

Songs and Closing- 10 minutes Court of Honor

(4) Games-IS minutes Patrols in Council- lzs minutes

Reviewing and preparing for tests, etc. Scout cooking in backyard-2s minutes Songs aroupd fire- ro minutes Story, Talk, Game, or Stunt- IS minutes Closing Court of Honor

These suggested programs for troop meetings are planned, as will be readily seen, for a period of an hour and a half besides the Court of Honor period, which lasts from ten to twenty minutes and should never be omitted. The Court of Honor knits the troop to-

gether, does away with lengthy business meetings, and, most important of all, teaches the scouts the principles of de­mocracy and representative government. The Court of Honor is one of the big­gest things in Girl Scouting.

The leader will, of course, adapt such suggested programs to the length of the meeting, the age and advancement of her scouts, and the climate in which she lives. Outdoor acttvtttes, however, should be carried on as much as possible throughout the winter, whatever the weather.

Songs should be varied among the· patriotic, the "fun," and the inspira­tional kinds, and should as far as pos­sible 'be suggested by the scouts them­selves. New songs written by the scouts themselves, song contests among patrols, should be enoouraged.

Games should be varied between the purely fun kind and the scout tests kind. Here are some games which were sug­gested with the programs given above.

Radio 111. essage Relay. Scouts in patrols. Patrols form straight lines fac­ing one another, each scout holding hands with those next to her. At a signal the pat rol leader, standing at the head of her pat rol line, presses the hand of the scout next to her, who, in turn, passes the squeeze on, and so down the length of the line and all the way back to the leader, who then holds up her hand and calls, "Radio!" The first to receive the message wins. In this way dot-dash messages can be sent, a short pressure for the dot and a longer one for the dash. Pat rol leaders can agree in secret befor ... hand on a message to be sent and the pat rol whose end scout first reports the message wins.

Leaf Training Game. Have 12 or 15 different varieties of leaves pinned each on a sheet of white paper, each leaf numbered. Provide scouts with pencils and sheets of paper bearing the numbers corresponding to those used to number the leaves. A t a signal the leaves are passed from one Scout to ·

THE GIRL ScouT LEADER 5

another on through the patrol. Each scout writes the name of the leaf op­posite its number on her paper. The patrol having the largest number correct at the end of ten minutes wins.

Sentence Relay. Use a blackboard or large sheets of paper pinned to the wall, for this game. Patrols line up in relay formation. Patrol leaders are given a piece of chalk each. They run to the blackboard or paper and begin a sen­tence, writing only one word. The sentence must have something to do with scouting. Each scout writes one word, until the last girl, who finishes the sentence. The best sentence, as to sense, construction, and appearance wins.

TRAINING OF COMMISSIONERS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS

The training course for commissioners and council members has been given five times since last April: in Washington, D. C., at Camp Andree Clark, in Massachusetts, in Montclair, N. J., and in Niagara Falls, N. Y. It is to be given in Scranton, Pa., in February and in Chicago during the week preceding Convention.

About 200 women have taken the course, thus far, and have enjoyed it. Twenty council members have passed the tenderfoot , test at the end of the training course.

Mrs. Edey conducts these coursls and re­ports that she gets much enjoyment in them.

INTERESTING STUDY COURSES A course on NATIVE AMERICAN TREES,

Prof. Hugh Sindlay, instructor, will be given at Columbia University, N. Y., be­ginning February 6. This course is popularly preseMed yet appea>rs. exhaustive. Field trips to classify and identify trees will be conducted by a ;representative ill"'om the N. Y. Botanical Gardens. Secure further information from the Secretary of Columbia University, New York.

A course on CAMP LEADERSHIP, to begin March 10, . will be conducted at Teach­ers' College, Columbia University, by Prof. Elbert K. Fretwell. Registration may be made any time after February 2.

Two interesting cooperative courses have been planned for 1924. The Girl Scouts, the Camp-Fire Girls, and the Girl Reserves are appointing instructors to conduct a course on Recreational Leadership for Girls at the Mercer University Institute for the Training of Women for Civic Leadership, which is under the auspices of the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, and is to be held at Macon, Georgia, from June 16 to

Earth, Air, or Sea. Scouts sit in circle on floor. One scout walks around the outside of the circle carrying soft rubber ball, bean bag, or handkerchief and saying, "Earth-air-sea-." She finally throws her missile into the lap of some scout, at the same time pausing on one of the three words she has been uttering. The scout thus selected must call out the name of some living creature to be found in the place mentioned,.-­earth, air, or sea-as, "bear," "hawk," or "whale." If she fails to mention onP correctly before the thrower has counted ten she must take the thrower's pbce. No creature should be mentioned more than once throughout the game.

Jun~ 30.. The instructor from each organ­IzatiOn IS to give training in her ~pecial program, and is to assist in presenting the common background of play, drama and pageantry, out-of-door life, and girl psycho­logy. Miss Elsa G. Becker has been named as Girl Scout Instructor.

A course on the Organization of Girls' Work is to be given for credit during the spring quarter in the department of So­ciology at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Each of the three organizations men­tioned above is to send an instructor for three weeks to present the• theory and practice of her own program. Miss Pauline Wherry will represent the Girl Scouts.

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM MRS. EDEY

To all those of you who have so kindly re­membered me with Christmas messages of your good will, let me express my hearty ap­preciation and return my own best wishes for your success and happiness throughout the New Year. Let me also congratulate you on the progress which Scouting has made at your hands in the last year and share with you the hope and resolve that through the coming year the work will grow steadily, all of us working together with all our might. BIRDSALL Ons EDEY

A nation-wide "referendum" is being con­ducted this month on the plan winning Edward W. Bok's prize of $roo,ooo for the "best practicable plan by which the United States may cooperate with other nations looking toward the prevention of war." If you have not had a chance to vote upon it you are requested tQ write for a co.py of the winning plan and a ballot, furnished free, to the American Peace Award, 342 Madison Ave., New York.

•

6 THE GIRL ScouT LEADER

-Your Tools: The American Girl and The Girl Scout Leader

"LEARN to use your tools, young · ladies." With these words, a

loved college professor bade goodbye to one of his graduating classes. Tools- we find them all about us: the books and the magazines which surround us, the ideas which are given us by friends and acquaintances. Tools-ideas and plans- but of real use to us only if we can adapt them to our own purposes.

The American Girl and THE GIRL ScouT LEADER are tools for lead­ers. From many letters and contribu­tions which you so generously send us, the Editors are constantly at work glean­ing those suggestions which will be most widely useful. This is not easy. There are so many kinds of .troops, city troops, rural troops. And so many kinds of girls, from so many kinds of homes.

But from what you tell us you wish to receive, the Editors plan the next issue, hoping, deep ·down in their hearts, that every Girl Scout leader will find in The American Girl and THE GIRL ScouT LEADER at least one idea which she can use in her Scout work during the next month.

How can these publications of ours become real tools, the kind that are used ? They can become so, if every leader wishes to make of them her own. if she will read them both with the pur­pose of finding in each something which she will try out in the following month.

Perhaps what you find will be word of some definite activity which you will introduce into your troop's program for the month. In the January issue of The American Girl, you may have chanced upon the recipe for Komac Stew and, with great success, acquainted your girls with it. Perhaps Zylpha Sharpe's Winter Hike gave you some suggestions for winter nature study. Or Marjorie Edgar's article on Fairy Tale dramatics some ideas for staging and costuming your own Fairy Tale play. (Or Mrs. Hobbs's list of plays may

have enabled you to find "just the play" for your gir Is).

From the February issue, you may wish to try Anna Hempstead Branch's beautiful Flag Ceremony (Miss Branch, one of Amerioa's finest poets, is much interested in the Girl Scouts). Or for your handicraft, Edna Nichols's ideas for a new kind of beanbag rna~ appeal to you.

Hand in hand with our magazine comes THE GIRL ScouT LEADER. Whereas The American Girl is for both our girls and their leaders, THE LEADER is the leaders' own. Here, in addition to suggestions for a ll kinds of activities, you will each month find a discussion of many of the .principles of working

' with girls with which you as a leader are deeply concerned.

This month's LEADER is largely given to the subject of Training Lead­ers. Does "being trained" mean attend­ing a Training Course? Yes, partly (if one is fortunate enough to be where one can attend such a course). But only partly. For not all of us can attend these splendid, helpful courses, nor do any of us attend them all the time.

What then of the time when we are not attending a course? We are then our own teachers. We constantly train ourselves in leadership and if we find tools about us we take them in our hands and endeavor to become expert in their use. The two tools of which we speak here are being used as a basis for dis­cussion in many of our Girl Scout Train­ing Courses today.

So every leader, no matter where she is, may herself read these two publica­tions of ours each month, taking from them at least one idea w hich she puts into practice. This may be a definite ac­tivity. Or it may be some idea on how to work with girls. In this way our pub­lications become what is our great hope that they will be: useful tools for the leaders of Girl Scouts.

.I J

THE GIRL ScouT LEADER 7

Question Box Q. How can the older Girl Scouts

be kept interested in Scouting?

A. From all accounts and observa­tions "Service" is the best answer to this questi.on, and the Service Troop the best solution.

A Service Troop can relieve captains of much responsibility, for instance, the responsibility of getting up rallies, page­ants, observances of national and local events, responses to public calls, etc. They can take charge of a meeting once a month of a younger troop, even becom­ing t:he guardian troop of a younger troop and leading it jointly with the cap· tain. They might help to recruit new troops and captains. In The Oranges, N. ]., the older scouts take the lieutenan­cy of a troop, under a council member as captain. Every troop of older scouts should ·be a training school for future leaders, a field for recruiting future cap­tains.

In a Senior Service Troop in Pro­vidence, R. I., the girls themselves take charge of the meetings, in turn, the meetings being planned in advance by , the Court of Honor. Different mem­bers of the patrols take inspection, as called upon by the patrol leader. Differ­ent girls also direct the games, according · to prearrangement. The patrol leaders apportion the work to be done in patrol corners to those who have already passed it. That is, if three have done fire pre­vention they are given two girls to coach in that subject. If no one has done it the patrol leader instructs alone or calls upon the lieutenant attached to the patrol to do it. Each patrol has a lieu­tenant who acts in an .advisory capacity and is assigned to outside troops during the week besides. All these scouts go out to help new captains with new troops and are used as substitutes in the absence of captains.

A troop in Harrisburg, Pa., known as the Suni Council Fire is made up of all scouts who have won 15 merit badges. This troop specializes in community act­ivity and recently produced a community

pageant, both writing it and conducting its performance.

In Spring Valley, N. Y., they have been holding the interest of the older scouts by having outside persons talk to the troops on timely and "scouty" subjects. For instance, they have had the superintendent of the public schools speak on "Ethics for Young Girls"; a neighborhood bee culturist has talked on "Bees"; another on "Stars"; a teacher of commercial subjects has addressed them on "conduct in a Business Posi­tion"; and the subjects still in store, for which suitable speakers have been select­ed, are: Elocution .and Dramatics, First Aid, Domestic Science, and Journalism.

"I think that the reason some scouts drop out of a troop," writes a leader from Evanston, Ill., "is largely due to the fact that a captain does not sufficient­ly keep in mind that as scouts grow older they should be given definite in­struction and practice in program mak­ing, troop organization and manage­ment, and principles of leadership. Our high school girls," she goes on, "enjoy meeting young women who have already begun to 'do things.' " So they have the high school athletic instructor meet with the troop and teach them games, a nurse come and teach them something new in her work, etc., etc.

But pure play must not be forgotten, no matter how old the scouts. In West Palm Beach, Fla., the Citizen Scouts are interested in archery. These girls nearly all do office work and need recreation. So they ride horseback to the beach and have target practice there. In Birmingham, Ala., also the older scouts have formed an archery club. They practise once a week and are plan-

. ning to challenge other teams which they are organizing in the community.

One leader has solved her problem of lagging older scouts by making the weekly meeting a supper meeting. It is held in a settlement house. The scouts prepare the supper themselves, and the meeting, held at that hour, does not interfere with either afternoon or even­ing engagements and is lots of fun.

8 THE GrR:C ScouT LEADER

THE GIRL SCOUT LEADER Published on the first of every month

excepting July and August by

GIRL SCOUTS, INC. 189 Lexington Avenue, New York City

J BnmSALL OTIS EoEY Editors · · · · · · ')OLIVE C. RICHARDS

National President - - - MRS. HERBERT HoovER National Director MRS. JANE DEETER RIPPIN

January, 1924

Happy New Year! It is a very happy New Year for THE GIRL ScouT LEADER, and it was a very Merry Christmas. All because of you- you and your letters. Oh, so many and such lovely ones as we have had, telling how much you liked the new LEADER and wishing us such hearty good wishes that we were all warmed up and spurred on and we declared that the best LEADER possible isn't any too good for such appreciative Scout Leaders. We were going to acknowledge them all by name here-those letters, but that was when the first ones came. By and by there were too many to name-why, there was even one telegram, from out West too. So all we can do now is to bow our thanks to you, one and all. We appreciate you all tremendously.

<S>

Do you see that fetching page opposite? We think, at least, that those little figures are quite fetching. And we hope that they are going to fetch in some very r~al figure_s ~o N a tiona) Headquarters! Heres what It IS all about.

Girl Scouts are to have a new National Headquarters home. They . have outgro~n the old one in . every way, m space, eqUip­ment, appearance, everything. In planning for this new home it was asked, "How can we make every Scout everywhere, from Maine to California and from Florida to Washington, feel more than ever that National Headquarters is her home?" And then the answer came. Have every Scout troop own a brick. Bricks are symbo.Js of the ·share that every Scout everywhere has in her National Headquarters. It is hers to visit hers to point to with pride, hers to rely upo~ for help at all times, hers to defend if need be. If we all have helped build it by putting into it our very own bricks shall _we ever forget that we are one great, growmg family that we have our own home and that witho~t that home we couldn't be Scouts, any more than any family could be a family with­out a home?

<S>

So make a game of it, leaders. "Be pre­pared to be a brick!" THE AMERICAN GIRL for February is going to carry a whole page like the one opposite, large enough to be cut

out and pinned on the wall in your troop quarters. Set about it before it has a chance to be a burden. There's no reason why your troop shouldn't be the first one in your state to turn in their brick. Some troop has to be first. Why not yours?

<S>

And if you need extra copies of THE AMERICAN GIRL to cut out the brick page, they may be had easily by sending in _to National Headquarters. Perhaps councils and troop committees may want to try the plan. All set-let's go! Good luck to all.

<S>

Speaking of National Headquarters it oc­curs to us that since we, particularly in our traveling, meet often with the . q~e~tion, "What does 'National' do for the tndividual and l·ocal troop?" perhaps you too are con­fronted with it and called upon to answer it.

<S>

Has it ever occurred to you that without "National" the Gir I Scouts could not exist? Deprived of the National background and fountainhead the local troops would soon 'dwindle and die away, or go into some other national organization, and Scouting, that splendid program of activities, recreatio.nal, educational, character-forming, would be lost.

"National" guards the Girl Stout program and standards zealously, shaping them, adapting them to your use, studying and experimenting constantly to improve them, to make them more vital and useful. "National" pr·ovides trained women to organize troops, to give training courses, to go and help wherever help in Scouting is needed. THE GIRL ScouT LEADER, The American Girl, the Handbook, t~e Blue Book, all the pamphlets an~ Scout literature that help to make Scoutmg known, . the uniform, the insignia, all these a re natiOnal property. ''National" plans them, m,akes them, pays their original costs. "N.atio_nal" keeps in touch with all other orgamzatwns, hundreds of them, that are doing interesting and important things, and exchanges ideas and working plans with them, for the good of Scouting. "National" exists for you, for Scouting, for every Scout and every Scout Leader, to do for you, make for you what you could not accomplish by yourself, what no Scout troop could manage by itself.

<S>

Now the question is-IWhat Do You Want "National" to Do for You and for Scouting? We want your answers. We need them. We intend to tabulate them and act upon them.

THE GIRL Scou T LEADER.

BE PREPARED TO BE A BRICK Own Your Own Troop Brick in the n ew N ational Girl Scout

H eadquarters

BE THE FIRST IN YOUR STA1E

See these gi rls scu rrying along with their ten-cent pieces! They don't want to miss owning their own Troop Brick in the new National Girl Scout Headquarters.

Did you ever think the day would come when you would own part of a building in New York City? Well, the day has come. Now your Troop ma-y buy and own a brick in your Girl Scout Headquarters bu ilding. •

This is the way of it. Every scout in the troop, including ca2tain and lieutenants, pays ten cents. As each girl pays her ten cents she may print her own initials on any one of these j olly, scur rying girls. (The page, you see, will be tacked up on the wall where your troop meets).

As soon as every member of the troop has paid her dime the captain will fi li out the blank lines on the Brick itself, at the top of the page, and send it, with all the money, to The Troop Brick Committee, Care of Mrs. Frederick Edey, Girl Scouts, 189 Lexington Ave., New York.

But there is still more to tell. In the new National Head· quarters Building will be a V isitors' Room, and in this room will be a handsome leather book in which will be written the name of every troop t hat buys its brick. But the troop that registers first f•·om each state will have a special place of honor in the front of the book.

So bring your dime to the next meeting, talk it over with your captain, and be the first in your .; tate. Be an owner in your own National Girl Scout

9

10 THE GrRL ScouT LEADER

Do You Know Your Regional Directors' and

National Instructors' Schedules for January?

The Schedules for the Regional Directors and National Instructors for January are as follows ; and leaders from nearby towns are encouraged to get in touch with them to talk over any problems or ask assistance in training.

If you are NOT SURE OF YOUR RE­GION, LOOK AT THE MAP IN THE BLUE BOOK OF RULES.

REGION 1. Miss Marian E. Trott, Re­gional Director and National Instructor, 18 Mystic Ave., Winchester, l'v1ass., January Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays will answer urgent calls in the Region. January Tues­days, Training Course Massachusetts Agri­cultural College, Amherst, Mass. January Wednesdays, Training Course, Smith Col­lege, Northampton, Mass.

REGION 2. Mrs. Frederick Edey, Re­gional Director, Miss Teresa J. Carter, Assistant Director. Miss Elsa G . Becker, National Instructor, 189 Lexington Ave., New York City. Jan. 22, All-d ay Regional Conference, Hotel Onondaga, Syracuse, N. Y. Jan. 25, 26, 27, Eastern Education Con­ference under auspices of National Education Committee, Students Hall, Barnard College, 117th St. and Broadway, N. Y. C. Wednes­days until Jan. 30, Training Course at Col­lege of Sacred Heart, 133rd St. and Convent Ave., N. Y. C. Thursdays until March 27, Training Course at Fordham Univ. School of Sociology, Woolworth Bldg., N. Y. C. Feb. 1-16, Training Courses at d'Youville College, Buffalo, N. Y., and a t Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y. Courses given by Mrs. Edey or Miss Carter are announced in Regional Bulletin.

REGION 3· Without a Director in J anu­ary. Urgent calls will be met by Mrs. Edey and Mi ss Carter, 189 Lexington Ave., N. Y.

REGION 4· Miss Cora Nelson, Regional Director, 25 East 9th St., Cincinnati, Ohio; Miss Lucretia Garfield, National Instructor during January and February. Miss Nel­son: Jan. 2-24, Training classes and organi­zation work in Akron, Salem, Uhrichsville, and Leetonia, 0 . Address Northern Hotel, Canton, 0 . ; Jan. 24, Columbus, Ohio. Miss Garfield: Jan. 21-3p, Training Course, Berea

College, Berea, Ky.; Feb. 5-17, Training Course, Eastern Kentucky Normal School, Richmond, Ky.

REGION 5· Miss Corinne Chisholm, Regional Director, c/o Miss Emma Clarke, First Nat'! Bank Bldg., Birmingham, Ala. Jan. 6-15, New Orleans, La., P. 0. Box 1622. Jan. 16-23, Alexandria, La., c/o Miss M . L. Cambre, 1732 Polk St. Jan. 17-30, Baton Rouge, La., c/o Miss Katherine Doherty, 605 Third St. Jan. 31, Feb. 1, 2, Nashville; Tenn., George Peabody College for Teach­ers. Southern Education Conference under auspices National Education Committee. Jan. 28-Feb. q, Training Course George Peabody College given by Miss Pauline Wherry, Na• tiona) Instructor and Director of Region 9·

REGION 6. Miss Dorris Hough, Re­gional Director, 84 Marietta St., Atlanta, Georgia.

REGION 7· Miss Ann Hynes, Regional Director, c/ o Miss Marie Kelley, 424 So. Ashland Ave., La Grange, Illinois. Jan. 3-6, Sterling, Ill. Jan. 7-12, Rock Island, Ill. Jan. 12-15, ( ? ) Galesburg, Ill. Jan. 16-22, E. St. Louis, Ill. Jan. 23, Southern Illinois. , REGION 8. Miss Alice Sandiford, Re­gional Director. Jan. zo-Feb. 3, Sod alia, Mo., c/o Mrs. Fred Hoffman. Feb. 3-17, Fort Leavenworth, Kas., c/ o Mrs. Everett S. Hughes. Feb. 17-Mar. 2, Topeka, Kas.

REGION 9· Miss Pauline Wherry, Re­gional Director and National Instructor, c/ o Mrs. Martha Wherry, 916 Cadiz, Dallas, Tex. Jan. 1- 5, San Antonio, Tex. Jan. 7-19, Austin, Tex., Training Course, Univer­sity of Texas. Jan. 21-26, Galveston, Tex .. , Organization and Training Course.

REGION 10. Without a Regional Di­rector. Miss Carol Preston, National In­structor, 89 So. 1oth St. , Minneapolis, Minn., may be called upon for some Field work. Beginning January 7, she is to give a series of once-a-week courses in institu­tions in and around Minneapolis and Saint Paul, including the University of Minnesota and Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges in North­field , Minn.

REGION 11. Without a Regional Di­rector. Send requests to National Head­quarters, 189 Lexington Ave. , New York City.

REGION 12. Miss Vaal Stark, Regional Director and National Instructor, soo Mel­ville Ave., Palo Alto, Cal. Miss Stark is to repeat her training co-urse for leaders at Stanford University during the Winter Quarter, beginning in January.

THE GrRL ScouT LEADER

Watch this Table and See U s Grow

REGISTRATION OF GIRL SCOUTS November 30, 1923

Registered as

A. Month of

November 1923

B. Total

Year to Date

c. Cumulative Total Since

1912

1. Chartered Councils (new only) ......... . 49 (New andre- (New andre-

registered) registered) _2~.--~C~o_u_n_c_i_I =-M __ em~b_e_r_s_.~·~·-·-· ~·-·_·_·_··_·_·_·_·_·_·_·_·_· _· _· ____ ~36_~~·--------~4~,4~6~z--------~~~o,53~ 3. Troop Committee Members............. 68 397 397

327 3,611 ZZ5 Z,l40

94 857 646 6,6o8

l,o8z 11,467 6,o86 7Z,057

90 1,464 6,1]6 73.~ZI

],Z58 84,988 12. Grand Total Registered ( 8 and 11) . . . . 414,4z6 * Line 9-Associate Scouts are included.

PATROL CORNERS Does every patrol in your group have its

own corner. to meet in and what are you doing for your corner? queries the Cleve­land Signal, and goes on with these per­tinent suggestions:

When working on nature, why not make a nature chart and nature note book?

If you are passing your sewing test, why not dress a scout doll or make a sewing chart?

If you are working on History of the Flag, there are many different ways of mak­ing goodlooking and instructive flag charts.

Is the artist in your group making posters, illustrating the health habits of the scout? Oh yes! and what about making some health charts of good menus.

I am sure the little orphans will enjoy the dolls and scrap books many scouts are mak­ing in their patrol corners.

Just think how much the patrol will ap­preciate their uniforms they are making in their patrol corners.

Some patrols are even enthusiastic enough to dramatize Ballads and work on Plays. These are all to be given to their group and to be repeated, in many instances, at the

,House for Aged Wom~n.

Leaders, one more reminder! Don't for ­get to register yo,ur troops at National H cad­quarters by February first. You want all the representation at National Convention that is due to you.

Miss Elizabeth Kemper Adams, Educa­tional Secretary, is to make an extensive tnp after the Southern EducC~tion Conference in Nashville. On February 11, she is to address the Advanced Class for Girl Scout Leaders at the University oii Cincinnati, and is the~ to go to California by way of Texas, returnmg by a northerly route. In the mean­time she will be glad to correspond with Councils and Leaders about visiting local training courses and higher institutions.

I am the Captain of my Soul Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years ~inds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the goal,

I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my so'ul.

!2 THE GIRL ScouT LEADER

Postscript The February LEADER will focus on the

subject: Cooperation with Other Organiza­tions. Write in your experiences or puz­zlings or desires in regard to this.

We receive a welcome host of newsy and illuminating bulletins from all over Scout­land, but we have a suspicion that some are being published that fail to come our way. No matter how short and simple they may seem, send them to us, every one of them, please, please. What is interesting and helpful to one group of leaders will have something in it for all. Everything is grist to the LEADER'S mill.

At work all day December xz, the Consti­tutional Revision Committee considered as follows: that the wording of the Purpose and Policy might be changed slightly, to read thus, "The purpose of this corporation is to help girls in the ideals of womanhood as a preparation for their responsibilities in the home and service to the community. This corporation favors no creed, party or sect but cheerfully cooperates with any organiza­tion which shares its views of the influence for good which may be exercised by women in the home and in religious, social and civic affairs."

The Committee also advised that here­after there be a national board of directors, the members of this board to be elected by printed ballot by the National Council from among the candidates so presented. The election shall be by a plurality of the votes cast and shall represent at least six regions .

The Committee hopes to finish the first draft of the revision at its neJQt meeting.

By arrangement of the National Standards Committee with the National Association of Audubon Societies, associate membership in the Audubon Society, at an annual fee of one dollar, is granted to members of the Girl Scout organization, and the Audubon Society will supply to each associate member bird study material which costs the Society the full amount of the membership fee, one dollar. Here is an excellent opportunity for scouts in their nature study.

Report of Council Con­tributions Toward N a­donal Field Budget 1924

Pledged PAID Adirondack Council, Glens F alls,

N.Y •••••.... .•.•........ .. Allegheny County, Pittsburgh,

Pa .•......•...•... . .....•.. Beacon, N. Y . . . ... . . .. ..... . . Brockton, Mass. . ..... ..... ... . Buffalo, N. Y. . ...... . ..... . .. 500.00 Champaign and Urbana, Ill . .. . . Fall River, Mass. . ...•........ Gardner, Mass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 Groton, Mass. . . . .......... . . . Hartford, Conn. . ... . • .. .... . . Harwich, Mass. . ............. . Hingham, Mass. . ... .......... . Hinsdale, Ill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65.00* Honolulu, T. H. . ... . ........ . Knoxville, Tenn. . ............. 100.00* Lancaster, Mass. . ............ . Lawrence, Mass. . . .. ......... . Lexington, Mass. . ..... ... .... . Mahwah, N. J ..... ... ...... . . Maplewood, N. J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00* Middletown, Ohio ..... • ..• .... Millis, Mass ............ .. .... . Milwaukee, Wis. . . ............ 250.00* Moundsville, W. Va. . . . . . . . . . . 50.00*

1 Naugatuck, Conn. . ........... . New Bedford, Mass .......• . . Newton, Mass. . ......... . ... . North Adams, Mass. . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 Norwalk, Conn. . ...... . . .•. ... Paris. Texas • .•...... . • . . ..... Peoria, Ill. .................. . Pawtucket, R. I. ..... . ..... . . . Rochester, N. Y ..... . . .... . . . . Rome, Ga ... ...... .. ......... . Rome, N. Y ................. . So. Kingston, R. I. . ... ...... . Swampscott, Mass. . .. . . ...... . Thomasville, Ga. . ............ . Toledo, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 .00 Tulsa, Okla. . ..... . .......... . Waterbury, Conn ....... . ...... 100.00* Westerly, R. I. ...... .. ...... . Watertown. Mass ............. . Weston, Mass. . ............ . . . Wheeling, W. Va. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.00* White Plains, N. Y ............ 175.00* Winchester, Mass. . . ......... . Woonsocket, R. I. . . ......... . Nine Rhode Island Councils .... 1,835.00*

50.00

250.00 100.00* 100.00* 250 .00

75.00* 100.00

25.00* 640.oo·•

15.00* 52.00*

100.00

25.00* 150.00

73.00* 5o.oo•

276.00* 15.00*

75.00* 100.00 175.00

250.00* 50.00 50.00 40.00*

55o.oo• 75.oo·• 75.00* 20.00 50.00* 50.00*

100.00 75.00*

65.00* 25.00 25.00*

20.00 40.00*

(*) Councils having pledged or paid Full Quota. 37 Conncils have paid ............ $4,156.00

24 Have paid in full 13 Have made partial payments

21 Councils have pledg-ed..... . .... 3,200.00 17 Have paid in full 4 Have made partial pledges

Calendar of Coming Events National Standards Committee meets at National Headquarters, January 8

(Have all your r equests for special badges in by that date) National Field Committee meets at National Headquarters, January 9, 11 A. M.

(All commissioners welcome at this meeting every month) Conference, Region 2, Onondaga Hotel, Syracuse, N . Y., January 22 Mid-Year Education Conference, Eastern Division, Barnard College, N. Y. City, January 25, 26, 27 Mid-Year Education Conference, Southern Division, George Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn., January

31, February 1, 2. National Training Course, Chicago, Ill. , April 22-28 National Convention, Drake Hotel, Chicago, Ill. , April 29 to May 2