Pet Care Badge

We are going to take steps to complete the Pet Care Badge on Thursday. Before then, take some time to consider the following:

Add It Up

What’s the cost of owning a pet? Figure this out for a pet you have now, or for an animal you’d like to have as a pet. What does the pet eat? How much does it eat? Does it need a special place to live? What will that space cost? What are its medical needs? Does it require special equipment, like a leash (dogs), a litter box (cats), a saddle (horse), or an air pump (tropical fish)? Does your community have any laws regarding that animal? Are there fees? Figure out the daily, monthly, and yearly costs for that animal.

Healthy Diet

What is a good diet for your pet? Collect ads for pet food. What information do they give you about the nutritional needs of your animal? Read labels on pet food containers and compare them for food values.

We will discuss these 2 requirements as well as To Have or to Have Not? and Animal Talk. If you have a picture of your pet or pets that you would like to bring to share with the troop, that would be great!

Free to Live

We are not meeting at our normal time this week.
We are going to visit Free to Live on Saturday at 1PM. We can meet at Oak Cliff at 12:45 for those that would like to ride together and back there at 2:15 for pick-up.

Last year when we voted with our pennies, doing something to help animals won our dollars. We will take something from their wish list (probably dog or cat food) to give to them while there. This visit is a part of our Pet Care badge.
Please reply or comment your acknowledgment of no meeting this week and your plan for Saturday (meet at Oak Cliff or at Free to Live).

Pick Badges for the Troop

Polling is now open for Badge Selection for 2009-10.

You have chosen 20 different badges individually that you would like to complete as a troop. We will try to get in as many as we can, but we need your input. You have until the morning of October 1 to vote for your top 3 badge choices.

There are 5 different art badges on the list of 20. If there is a tie, we can have a run off.
Right now we are working to complete our 1st badge of this school year which is Girl Scouting in the USA. There are a few that are not in our books that we may want to look at adding to our program this year such as CyberGirl Scout Badge and The World in my Community Badge. If you want to take a look at other GS program opportunities that are online, this is the link.
Look to the right of this post on the blog and you will find the list of badges to vote from. Please just pick 3 then click vote. Also, please only vote once.
Thanks!

Books Badge

We will meet at Edmond Public Library to complete the Books badge. We will try to make the meeting times for the summer some time during the 2nd week of the month.
For June, we will meet at Shannon Miller Park, just in front of the library on Wednesday, June 10 at 10AM for about 40 minutes. We will complete 6 of the requirements during the meeting. Please bring a gently used book(s) to donate to a local organization. (Troop will decide who will receive the books)

Books
Complete any six of the following requirements to earn this badge:

1. It's a Wide World
   Read two fold tales, stories, or poems from a culture other than your own. Share what you have learned in any of the following ways:
   - Act out one or more of the stories or folk tales.
   - Learn more about one or more of the writers.
   - Read one of the stories, poems, or folk tales to your Girl Scout group or another audience.
   - Create puppets and put on a puppet show, based on one of the stories, for a group of younger children or Girl Scouts.

2. Picture This!
   Select one or tow picture books and do one of the following:
   - Read the books to younger friends or Girl Scouts. Ask what they like about the illustrations and the stories.
   - Create two book covers to go with your selected books.
   - Create your own picture book in the same style.

3. Be a Tape Worm!
   Make an audiotape of a book, short story, magazine article, joke or riddle collection, play or poetry collection that you can give to someone who cannot read. You could, with your troop or group, make tapes at a local agency that service people who are blind or visually impaired. Practice reading aloud so that your tape will sound polished and smooth.

4. Be a Reading Helper
   Some children and adults have trouble reading. Find out from a reading specialist, teacher, librarian, or another adult about different types of reading difficulties or disabilities. Then, with the help of adults as needed, do one of the following:
   - put together and distribute a list of places to go in your community for reading help. This information is available at most libraries.
   - be a reading buddy. find out where you can help a younger child who is learning to read or having trouble reading. check with your teacher or leader, or ask your librarian if there are literacy or reading organizations in your community. volunteer to spend at least one-half hour a week for alt least a month with a reading partner.

5. The Living Past!
   When you read about something that happened a long time ago, you make the event come alive again in your mind. Read a story poem, or folk tale that reflects past life in the united States.

6. Read and Review
   In a newspaper or other source, read review of new books for your age level. Check one of the books out of the library, read it, and decide if the review was right.

7. How To? Read On!
   Become an expert in a subject by reading about it. You might read about the subject mater of another badge in this book. For example, read a book about dance, music, the life of a famous woman artist or sports hero, horses, cooking, the environment, or an historic event. Review the book in writing or discuss it with your troop or family.

8. Build a Library
   Share your love of reading with others in your community in one of two ways:
   - Set up a schedule with other Girl Scout members to bring library books in large print, in Braille, or on tape to someone who will enjoy them.
   - With the help of an adult, collect books and magazines for specific age levels and donate them to a library, camp, nursing home, youth shelter, pediatric office, clinic, day-care center, or other facility.

9. Books for Life
   Find out about careers for people who like books. If you can, visit with an author, poet, illustrator, editor, librarian, bookstore owner or book publisher or invite any of those professional to visit your troop or group.

10. Your Library's Treasures
    Explore your local library's resources. Prepare poster to encourage greater use of the library, or an advertising flyer to let the community know about all the library's treasures. Some libraries sponsor readings by local poets and authors, or concert series. What kinds of classes or lectures are available at yours?

And the Winner is . .. . .

Junior Badge & Animals!

You voted to earn another Jr Badge. A part of the requirements for the "United we Stand" badge was the flag ceremony. Another was the Pledge of Allegiance and learning a patriotic song. At the flag retiring ceremony we sang God Bless America & TAPS. We will sing them both again at our Bridging Ceremony.

God Bless America

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home

Complete the requirement below and bring with you next Monday, May 4:

The American flag isn't the only American symbol. Find out about two other American symbols and what they stand for. Share with your troop.

Now to the Animal part - You voted with your pennies for the social or environmental action project that you all researched and the winner was ANIMALS with feeding children a close second then babies and education. We will find a local animal no-kill shelters to help, such as Free to Live. If you have thoughts or suggestions, please post in the comments for all to see.